Suresh Gopi

Suresh Gopi (born 26 June 1958) is an Indian actor, politician, playback singer and television presenter. He works predominantly in Malayalam cinema and has also appeared in some Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bollywood films. Suresh made his acting debut as a child in the 1965 film Odayil Ninnu, since then, he has acted in more than 200 films. He is a recipient of a National Film Award and a Kerala State Film Award. He currently serves as a Member of Parliament (MP) in Rajya Sabha from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Early life
Suresh Gopi was born on 26 June 1958 in Alappuzha, Kerala, India to K. Gopinathan Pillai, a film distributor, and V. Gnanalekshmi Amma, as their eldest son. He has three younger brothers—Subhash Gopi, Sunil Gopi and Sanil Gopi (the latter two are twins). Suresh was brought up in Kollam. He completed his school education from Infant Jesus Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School in Kollam. Suresh joined Fatima Mata National College in Kollam for higher studies. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology and Master of Arts degree in English literature.

Film career
Suresh Gopi played a small role as a child artist in Odayil Ninnu (1965). Later he made his adult acting debut through the minor role of a prospective groom in T. P. Balagopalan M. A. (1986). After playing various villain and supporting roles throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, Suresh Gopi got a break through Shaji Kailas's Thalastaanam (1992) which was written by Renji Panicker.

Shaji and Renji's combination films turned Suresh Gopi into an overnight star during the 1990s especially through police and army roles. Popular films Ekalavyan (1993), Mafia (1993), Commissioner (1994) along with Lelam (1997) and Pathram (1999) has given Suresh Gopi, the status of a new Malayalam superstar after Mohanlal and Mammootty, although his fanbase has diminished over years following his self-imposed sabbatical from the industry. The role of Kannan Perumalayan in Jayaraj's Kaliyattam (1997) won him the National Film Award for Best Actor and the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor.

In 2010 he appeared in the film Christian Brothers. In 2011, Gopi acted in the film Melvilasom. In 2012 he acted in The King & the Commissioner. Gopi also worked in Tamil film I as Dr. Vasudevan. In 2012, he hosted the game show Ningalkkum Aakaam Kodeeshwaran on Asianet, which was the Malayalam version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. He continued to host its four seasons. In March 2019, he made a comeback announcement in acting by joining Vijay Antony starrer Tamil film Thamilarasan.

Politics
During his college days, Suresh was an active member of the Students' Federation of India (SFI), the students' wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPIM). Later in his life, he developed an admiration for stateswoman Indira Gandhi and the Indian National Congress (INC). In the 2006 Kerala Legislative Assembly election, he campaigned for both Left Democratic Front (LDF) and United Democratic Front candidates. He campaigned for LDF candidate V. S. Achuthanandan in Malampuzha constituency and UDF candidate M. P. Gangadharan in Ponnani constituency.

On 29 April 2016, Suresh Gopi was sworn in as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the Rajya Sabha, nominated by the President of India in the category of eminent citizens as per the provisions of Article 80 of the Constitution of India. He opted Thiruvananthapuram district as the nodal district of operation under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme. In May 2016, he was enlisted as a member in the standing committee for Information Technology and in the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Civil Aviation (India). In October 2016, Suresh officially joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.

He contested in the 2019 Indian general election in Kerala as a candidate of BJP in Thrissur constituency. During the election campaign he invoked the name of the Sabarimala deity Ayyappan and hence District Collector of Thrissur, T. V. Anupama issued notice to actor and report to the CEO of Kerala, Teeka Ram Meena. Meena found that Mr.Gopi has violated the model of conduct (MCC). He lost in this election to the Congress candidate T.N. Prathapan and secured third position behind the CPI candidate Rajaji Mathew Thomas who came second.

During the 2020 Kerala local body elections, Gopi advised the local BJP representatives about his stance on accepting requests from people. He said that people from allover Kerala write to him about different requests, and he only accepts the letters of request from individuals if they are attached to letters of recommendation from BJP district party chiefs. This was described by Gopi as a move that would strengthen the party. This controversial statement was shared widely on social media.

Personal life
On 8 February 1990, Suresh married Radhika Nair, the granddaughter of actress Aranmula Ponnamma. They have five children—Lakshmi Suresh, Gokul Suresh, Bhagya Suresh, Bhavni Suresh, and Madhav Suresh. Lakshmi died in a car accident while she was one-and-a-half years old. Gokul Suresh is a young actor in Malayalam cinema. Suresh resides with family in Sasthamangalam, Thiruvananthapuram.

Gopi made headlines in 2015, when he gave his support to Maharashtra's controversial ban on beef while he was talking to the media. He said he never tasted beef in his life, and he never cooked it in his home and nobody in his home eats beef. He also added that if such a ban comes to the state, he would obey the government. However, a new video appeared online which captured Gopi, conversing on a radio show and speaking about his weight gain after a latest trip to Zurich. He shared how he had eaten beef continuously for 4 days when there was only pork and beef available, which led him to gain weight.

Luxury vehicle tax evasion
On December 2017, The Kerala state police arrested Suresh Gopi on charges of forging documents to register his luxury vehicle. The state police alleged that Gopi had used fraudulent home address to register his luxury vehicles in Pondicherry to escape the 20% vehicle-tax in Kerala on cars costing over ₹20 lakh. On Januray 2020, the Crime branch reported that Gopi had registered his two Audi cars at a price of ₹60 lakh and ₹80 lakh each and evaded paying a tax of ₹3.6 lakh and ₹16 lakh for each of the cars. He was later released on anticipatory bail.

Awards

 * National Film Awards:
 * 1998: Best Actor – Kaliyattam


 * Kerala State Film Awards:
 * 1998: Best Actor – Kaliyattam


 * Filmfare Awards South:
 * 2014: Nominated – Best Actor – Apothecary