Jyothika and Suriya: Love that blossomed on screen – Valentine's Day special

This is about two individuals who are a pair, both on screen and off it.

Suriya and Jyothika first acted together in Poovellam Kettuppar (1999). The film did reasonably well and the two were again seen in Uyirile Kalanthathu (2000), which had nothing special to offer either.

By then, Jyothika was making great strides in her career. She had delivered superhits such as Vaali (1999), Mugavaree (2000), Kushi (2000), Rhythm (2000), Tenali (2000) and Dhool (2003) while Suriya had done films that were critically acclaimed but were not commercially successful. Suriya only had Nerrukku Ner (1997), Nandha (2001) and Mounam Pesiyathe (2002) to show as hits during this early period.

Jyothika was to do a film titled Kaakha Kaakha (2003), directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. Interestingly, the actress recommended Suriya for the role of Anbuselvan in the film. The director, after watching Nandha, agreed to cast Suriya. Kaakha Kaakha became a blockbuster, Suriya's first, and gave him the star status he was looking for.

Suriya and Jyothika were good friends before Kaakha Kaakha, but the friendship developed further during the shooting of the film. The romantic portions in Kaakha Kaakha were a big draw as were its action sequences. Soon producers sensed that audiences liked this couple and began casting them together in several other films such as Perazhagan (2004) and Maayavi (2005). Although these films were hits, they could not match Kaakha Kaakha.

The two came together again for another brilliant romantic film titled Sillunu Oru Kaadhal in 2006. The film had Jyothika and Suriya playing a married couple with a daughter and the audiences simply loved them. Sillunu Oru Kaadhal was a superhit. The same year, Jyothika married Suriya and chose to end her film career.

However, she decided to make a comeback in 2015 with Roshan Andrews's 36 Vayadhinile. Interestingly, the film was produced by none other than her husband, Suriya.