Contents
Who is Suraj Sharma?
Indian actor Suraj Sharma was born in New Delhi, India on 21 March 1993, making his zodiac sign Aries. He has 18 acting credits and is perhaps known best for his debut film role, starring as Pi Patel in the critically acclaimed 2012 adventure fantasy movie “Life of Pi”, which also starred Irrfan Khan and Adil Hussain, and was directed by Ang Lee. It follows a young man who’s found himself lost at sea with various animals, and the film won 81 of its 215 award nominations, including four Oscar wins, some of which for Best Achievement in Directing, Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures and Best Achievement in Cinematography.
Education and early life
Suraj was raised alongside his younger sister Dhruvatara Sharma and younger brother Sriharsh Sharma in New Delhi, by their mother Shailaja Sharma who’s an economist, and father Gokul Churai who’s a software engineer and professional chess player.
Surah studied at Sardar Patel Vidyalaya high school and became interested in acting while there; he was cast to play the lead character in a number of school productions, but still remained focused on his education as urged by his parents. Suraj matriculated in 2011 and then enrolled St. Stephen’s College, from which he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in philosophy in 2014; he then also attended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in acting.
Roles in movies
Suraj portrayed Rinku in the 2014 biographical sports movie “Million Dollar Arm”, which starred Jon Hamm and Aasif Mandvi, and was directed by Craig Gillespie. It follows a sports agent who’s come up with a strategy to recruit Indian cricket players into American Major League Baseball (MLB), and the film won one of its three award nominations.
In 2015, Suraj portrayed Older Ramakant in the comedy “Umrika”, which starred Aashish Bhatt and Uplaksh Kochhar, and was written and directed by Prashant Nair. It follows an Indian man who’s left his village for America, and the movie won four of its six award nominations. Some of Suraj’s following roles were in the 2016 adventure comedy “Burn Your Maps”, the 2017 fantasy comedy “Phillauri” and the 2017 drama “The Hungry”.
He starred as Samar Ghosh in the mystery horror comedy “Happy Death Day 2U”, which also starred Jessica Rothe and Israel Broussard, and was written and directed by Christopher Landon. It follows college student Ryan Phan who’s working on his quantum reactor, and the movie was nominated for four awards.
Samar’s also known for playing the lead character Hassan in the 2021 drama “The Illegal”, which also starred Shweta Tripathi and Adil Hussain, and was written and directed by Danish Renzu. It follows a young film school student from India who’s been forced to drop out of college to support his family, and the movie won eight of its 12 award nominations.
Suraj’s since appeared in only two movies: the 2022 romantic comedy “Wedding Season” and the 2023 family drama “Gulmohar”.
Roles in TV series
Suraj’s debut TV series role was playing Aayan Ibrahim in seven episodes (2014) of the crime mystery “Homeland”, which starred Mandy Patinkin and Claire Danes, and was created by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa. It follows the work of a bipolar CIA operative, the series aired from 2011 through 2020 and won 61 of its 243 award nominations.
In 2020, Suraj played Kabir in the episode “The Manager” of the comedy “Little America”, and from 2018 through 2020, he starred as Rakesh in all 42 episodes of the fantasy comedy “God Friended Me”, which also starred Violett Beane and Brandon Michael Hall, and was created by Bryan Wynbrandt and Steven Lilien. It follows an atheist who’s been added as a friend on Facebook by God, and the series won two of its four award nominations.
The year 2022 heard Suraj voice IT Officer in the episode “The Gods Will Not Be Slain” of the animated action “Pantheon”, and he voiced Charuk in the 2023 episode “The Bandits of Golak” of the animated action adventure “Star Wars: Visions”.
Long distance relationship still going strong! Ashley Reyes and Suraj Sharma are going LIVE on #HIMYF's Instagram to talk all about episode 3 today at 2pm PT / 5pm ET. See you there! pic.twitter.com/eeFesFSXQc
— How I Met Your Father (@HIMYFonHulu) February 8, 2023
His only other TV series role has been playing Sid in all 30 episodes (2022-2023) of the comedy “How I Met Your Father”, which stars Hilary Duff and Christopher Lowell, and was created by Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker. It follows Sophie and her friends as they’re figuring out what they want out of life, and the series has won five of its 13 award nominations.
Other credits
Some of Suraj’s most recent talk-show appearances have been in “Hollywood First Look”, “Made in Hollywood” and “The Kapil Sharma Show”.
Awards and nominations
Suraj’s won four of his 12 award nominations. He won a 2012 Las Vegas Film Critics Society Sierra Award for Youth in Film, a 2013 MTV Movie Award for Best Scared-As-S**t Performance and a 2013 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Saturn Award, all of his performance in “Life of Pi”; Suraj also won a 2021 Yellowstone International Film Festival Award for Best Actor in a Feature Film, for “The Illegal”.
Love life and relationships
Suraj prefers not to speak about his love life in public, but we still know about one girl whom he’s been with.
He met Gyaytri Alma while they were both attending Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, and Suraj proposed to her on her birthday on 7 October 2009; the two broke up in 2010 for unknown reasons, while it’s widely believed that Suraj had decided to focus on his acting career and not settle down.
Some of Suraj’s fans believe that the popular actor is today in a relationship with a non-celebrity Indian-born American woman, as they’ve claimed to have seen the two walking hand-in-hand in the streets of Los Angeles, California on multiple occasions, however, this is yet to be confirmed by the popular actor.
Suraj seems to be single as of August 2023, hasn’t married and doesn’t have children.
Interesting facts and hobbies
Suraj’s quite active on Instagram and is today followed by more than 55,000 people on the network, while he’s posted 38 pictures and videos; most of his content is about the movies and TV series in which he’s appeared.
He enjoys playing tennis and golf in his spare time, and also has several training sessions at the gym every week.
Suraj likes to travel and although he’s today living in Los Angeles, he still goes back to India at least twice a year.
He’s a philanthropist and has, together with some of his colleagues donated money to a number of charity organizations, while he’s mostly into helping the underprivileged youth and the elderly.
Suraj enjoys spending his spare time in nature, especially in national parks.
One of his favorite Indian actors is Aamir Khan, and some of his favorite movies include “Dangal”, “Taare Zameen Par” and “Secret Superstar”.
Appearance and net worth
Suraj’s age is 30. He has brown eyes and black hair, is 5ft 7ins (1.7m) tall and weighs around 150lbs (68kgs).
Suraj’s net worth’s been estimated at over $2 million, as of August 2023.
