About
Suresh Gopi

Suresh Gopi was born on 26 June 1958 in Alappuzha, Kerala. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology and a Master of Arts degree in English Literature, both from Fatima Mata National College in Kollam.

He first appeared on screen as a child, in the 1965 Malayalam film Odayil Ninnu, and returned to cinema as an adult performer in the mid-1980s. Across the following decades he worked in a very large number of Indian films — predominantly in Malayalam, and also in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi — and became particularly associated with the roles of uncompromising police and investigative officers. He won the National Film Award for Best Actor at the 45th National Film Awards for his performance as Kannan Perumalayan in Kaliyattam, Jayaraj’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello set against the Theyyam ritual of north Kerala, and the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor for the same film.

Alongside acting he has worked as a playback singer and as a television presenter, hosting the Malayalam edition of the quiz format Ningalkkum Aakaam Kodeeshwaran on Asianet across several seasons from 2012.

Public service and philanthropy

The Press Information Bureau, announcing his appointment to the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, recorded that his entry into politics “was marked by his commitment to philanthropy and social work”, and that during his Rajya Sabha term he was known for advocacy on environmental issues and social justice. His charitable giving is widely reported to be carried out through a trust named for his daughter Lakshmi, who died in a road accident in infancy.

He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha on 29 April 2016 under the provision of the Constitution allowing the President to nominate members with special knowledge or practical experience, and served until 24 April 2022. He joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in October 2016. He contested the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat in 2019 and the Thrissur assembly seat in 2021 without winning either, before taking the parliamentary seat in 2024.

In government

Following the 2024 general election he was sworn in as a Union Minister of State on 9 June 2024 and assumed charge of both portfolios on 11 June 2024. At the Ministry of Tourism he was welcomed by the Secretary, Ms. V. Vidyavathi; at the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas he was welcomed by the Cabinet Minister, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, succeeding Shri Rameswar Teli.

In both ministries he serves as a Minister of State under a Cabinet Minister. The distinction matters for reading anything on this site: national programmes belong to the Government of India and to the ministries that run them, while the events he attends, the addresses he gives and the replies he lays before Parliament are his own documented work. Those are set out on the ministerial responsibilities and parliamentary work pages.