Suraj is a familiar face these days with his excellent performance in the poplar Teledarama 'OLU' now being aired on Swarnavahini on weekdays from 7:00 pm onwards. Manjula Kumari who did great justice to the Doctor's role in "Meeduma Obai" gives another excellent performance opposite Suraj in "OLU". Both of them giving a true to life and a memorable performance.

 

Suraj who is 26 years of age hails from Kandy. He gave up a lucrative career as a hotelier to entertain people. He is an old Trinitian and having completed his Advance Level examination in 1999, Suraj followed a course in Hotel Management earning a Diploma in Hotel Management following which he worked for one year in his father's hotel - 'Hotel Zurich Park'. He further studied at IDM and gained a Diploma in Computer Studies. 

 

His heart strings were pulling him on a different direction. The call of the entertainment world and its glamour was too much to resist and he quit what he was doing and followed a course in modeling. During this period he worked for 'Suntel' as a customer care executive. As a model he has walked the ramp for Lou Ching Wong the fashion designer and for Nayana the popular hair dresser.

 

He is a versatile dancer as well. Having being tutored by Ms. Naomi Rajaratnam of "My Feet" fame he won the Fresher's & Beginners award at the Latin American Dancing competition of 2002.

There was no stopping Suraj and he ventured out on to the Teledrama and the celluloid world. To date he has appeared in about 12 tele dramas and films. His acting in his first ever Teledrama, "Mage Sanda Obai" with Keshini Gomez and Nirasha Ekanayake brought him a nomination as the Up and Coming Actor in year 2002. He appeared in many TV soap opera's and his portrayal in "Pooja" won him the Most Popular Actor Award in 2005. "Jeewa Chakra" (Wheel of life) a translation of East of Eden by John Steinberg is yet to be released and you are assured of a scintillating performance by Suraj. He has acted in "Surya Daruwo", "Tharu Prbha", "Sihinayak Pata pata" (A colourful dream) and "Pooja".

Suraj has appeared in "Clean Out" and "Dhana saha Rina" (plus and minus) two films and also starred in "Semi Tower" directed by an award wining Belgian director.

Suraj Mapa is 5' 8½" tall and tips the scale at 70 kg and is a devote Buddhist. A Brand Ambassador to Coke he is still a bachelour and we ask him why he selected a career from the entertainment world. His sincere answer was that he likes to make other people happy and a smile on their faces gives him immense joy. We were curious to find out whether there was anyone from the entertainment world in his family. Our guess was right! His mother's sister Ms. Suneetha Ratnayake was a popular dancer from the silver screen of yesteryear. Suraj's was born on 2^nd January 1980.

Suraj has two elder sisters besides his parents. His eldest sister is married and living in Italy whilst the other sister is working and living in London. His father is a businessman of repute and his mother a homemaker.