Suriya plays Sethuraman, Athreya, and Mani in the 2016 Tamil film 24.
These are three connected characters rather than unrelated roles. Sethuraman is a scientist and watchmaker who invents a time-travel watch. Athreya is his twin brother, the film’s principal antagonist, while Mani—short for Manikandan—is Sethuraman’s biological son and grows up as a talented watch mechanic.
Suriya’s triple performance is central to the film’s design. The story moves between different ages, personalities, physical conditions, and moral positions, requiring the actor to distinguish each character through voice, movement, makeup, costume, and performance style. Athreya’s villainy and Mani’s lighter romantic storyline provide especially sharp contrasts.
The film was written and directed by Vikram Kumar and released in 2016. It was produced by Suriya under 2D Entertainment, with Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Nithya Menen in leading supporting roles. A common mistake is to say Suriya plays only twins: Sethuraman and Athreya are twins, but Mani is Sethuraman’s son, making the performance a triple role rather than a simple dual role.