Guru Somasundaram is an indian actor. He was born on September 3, 1975, in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. In addition to Aaranya Kaandam (2011), he has appeared in the Tamil action films Pandiya Naadu (2013), Jigarthanda (2014), and Joker (2016). His biggest role was Shibu, the supervillain in Minnal Murali, a 2021 Netflix Malayalam film.
In 2008, the director called up Somasundaram and offered him a role in his neo-noir film Aaranya Kaandam, for the character of the drunkard Kaalaiyan. Accepting the offer, Somasundaram lost seven kilograms and underwent rehearsals to change his hairstyle, moustache, walking styles, body language, and mannerisms.
Upon release in 2011, the film went on to gain two National Film Awards, while Somasundaram’s performance was well received by critics. Rediff.com’s critic praised the ensemble cast but added “the honours undoubtedly go to Guru Somasundaram.
His gleeful cackles at the rooster fight, pathetic rumblings to his son, and wide-eyed act in the Lodge are wonderful to behold.”Similarly, Behindwoods.com noted that the actor had delivered a “superior” performance. After seeing his performance, director Mani Ratnam signed him on to play a small role in Kadal (2013).
After leaving Koothu-P-Pattarai, he toured as a freelance theatre actor, before venturing into Malayalam cinema by portraying a photographer in 5 Sundarikal (2013), after being impressed by Shyju Khaled’s narration.
Later that year, he was seen in a character role in Suseenthiran’s critically acclaimed Pandiya Naadu, portraying the slain brother of Vishal’s character.
In between feature films, he appeared in the short silent film The Lost Paradise, portraying a prisoner heading home after fifteen years. He also won acclaim for his performance as an acting coach in Karthik Subbaraj’s gangster film Jigarthanda (2014), where he was seen giving acting training to the character portrayed by Bobby Simha.
Somasundaram had previously trained Simha as an actor in real life during the pair’s theatre performances. He is also known for his role as a district collector in the 2019 Tamil film Petta which starred Rajinikanth in the lead role.