
He joined the drama troupe of Komal Swamynathan. Producer Maathampatty Sivakumar supported him with sending money every month. Sivakumar vehemently criticized his interest in acting and advised him to immediately return home. Sathyaraj entered the film industry after witnessing the shooting of the film Annakili, where he met actor Sivakumar and producer Thiruppur Manian and started pestering them to help him fulfill his cinematic ambitions. In 1976, in spite of his mother's opposition, he left Coimbatore to enter the Tamil film industry based in Kodambakkam, Chennai. Sathyaraj's dream was to become an actor, but his mother was against it and forbid him to join cinema. He went to Government Arts College, Coimbatore, for a Bachelor of Science degree in botany. Sathyaraj completed his primary school education in St Mary's Convent school, Coimbatore and later studied for tenth standard from Suburban High School, Ramnagar, Coimbatore.

Ramachandran and Hindi actor Rajesh Khanna. Sathyaraj was born as Rangaraj on 3 October 1954 to Subbiah, a doctor, and Nathambal, with two younger sisters, namely Kalpana Mandradiar and Roopa Senapathy. He has also served as a brand ambassador for Pothys, Susi Emu farms, and Kumaran jewellery Shop. In 2011, he had a brief career as a television host for the game show Home Sweet Home on STAR Vijay. He was also the director of the film Villadhi Villain (1995), starring himself in three different roles.

He also received acclaim for supporting roles in Nanban (2012), Mirchi (2013), Raja Rani (2013), Baahubali (2015), Baahubali 2 (2017) and Kanaa (2018). He met with success through lead performances in Vedham Pudhithu (1987), Nadigan (1990), Amaidhi Padai (1994), Periyar (2007) and Onbadhu Roobai Nottu (2007). He started his career in antagonistic roles and later played lead roles.


His 240 films also include works in Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi. Rangaraj Subbiah (born 3 October 1954), professionally known as Sathyaraj, is an Indian actor, producer, director and a media personality who predominantly appears in Tamil and Telugu films.
