Varkala Sathyan

Varkala Sathyan Biography

Varkala Sathyan is a Malayalam film actor best known for his brief character roles on screen. He also appears in TV shows and stage plays. He has acted in over 12 Malayalam films, 5 Malayalam TV serials and 2 Arabic TV serials. He has formerly worked in AIR and moved to Gulf and once he returned he became active as an actor on stage, films and television. He has done only 12 films since late 1980s.

His birth name is Narayanan Sathyaseelan, and he hails from Varkala of Thiruvananthapuram district. Hence he added ‘Varkala’ tag to his name. P. Narayanan and Kamalakshi are his parents. He started his career in All India Radio in Kozhikode, in the year 1965 and worked there for five years. During his stint with AIR, he got opportunity to record some important speeches of well-known politicians such as V. K. Krishna Menon, and Indira Gandhi. In 1970 he shifted to Radio Abu Dhabi, UAE and worked as a senior engineer for the next 43 years till his retirement in 2004. In between he also appeared in brief roles on Malayalam screen.

He was seen in Malayalam movies such as – Thanthram, Adharvam, Innale, Varthamana Kaalam, Mukha Chitram, Aardram, Dhaivathinte Vikruthikal, Arthana, Kanyakumariyil oru Kavitha, Bhagyavaan and the last release, Dhada Sahib in 2000. After that he appeared in several TV soaps – Sthree, Anveshanan, Bhagya Nakshatram, Amma, Air Mail, Ashafaan, Thawal Aamer Thamaasa etc. Most of them have been brief roles. His father was a theatre artist who influenced him a lot since childhood days. He also fully supported Sathyan’s career as an actor. Thus he has written and acted in 5 Malayalam stage plays.

Published: January 12, 2020

Updated: January 12, 2020