Before he was Soori, before he was even Surya, he was Ramalakshmanan. A twin boy from Madurai, named alongside his brother Lakshmanan in the traditional Ram-Laxman pairing that Hindu families have used for generations. He grew up in a modest household with six siblings, watching Rajinikanth films in single-screen theatres and dreaming about a world that had no reason to let him in.

Now, speaking publicly about the origin of his name, Soori has traced the journey from Ramalakshmanan to the screen name the entire Tamil film industry knows him by, and in doing so, has told a story about fandom, desperation and survival that is more compelling than most of the scripts he has acted in.

Actor Soori, born Ramalakshmanan Muthuchamy, has spoken about how his screen name traces back to his fandom of Rajinikanth

“I changed my name from Ramalakshmanan to Surya after being inspired by Rajinikanth,” Soori said in an interview with Behindwoods. “The Soori you see today came from that inspiration. From being a fan named Suriya, I entered cinema as Surya, and eventually became Soori in the film industry.” He added, without any hesitation: “I am an absolutely crazy fan of Rajinikanth.”