Sukumaran was born at Edappal, Ponnani taluk, Malabar District, Madras Presidency, British India (Present-day Malappuram District, Kerala, India) in the year 1948 as the eldest son of Parameshwaran Nair and Subhadra P Nair.^[3] He had two younger brothers and a sister. Dr Sethumadhavan, Dr Sivadasan and Smt Sathee Devi.

Sukumaran was educated at St. Thomas Higher Secondary School, Pala,^[4] and at Church Mission Society Higher Secondary School, Thrissur. After completing his master's degree in English literature from University College, Trivandrum with gold medal, he began a job as a college lecturer for three years at Government College, Kasaragod and Scott Christian College, Nagercoil.

During his tenure teaching English at Scott Christian College in Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, Sukumaran got an offer to act in the Malayalam movie Nirmalyam, directed by M. T. Vasudevan Nair. He accepted the role of a defiant youngster in the film. The film went on to win accolades from all over and won a couple of National Film Awards as well. Despite being noted as a talented actor, Sukumaran did not receive any offers for some time after. He was thinking of returning to the teaching profession, when he was offered a role in Shankupushpam.^[5] With that film, Sukumaran carved a niche for himself in the Malayalam film industry. He worked with director P. Venu in the film Thacholi Thankappan (1983). Thakilu Kottampuram, directed by Balukiriyath was one of his Best films in the 80s, He then went on to act in substantial roles in films such as Avalude Ravukal, Angadi, Bandhanam, Etho Oru Swapnam, Manasa Vacha Karmana, Ahimsha, Spodanam, Shalini Ente Koottukari, Angakkuri, Kolilakkam, Theekkadal, Sandarbam, Witness and Kottayam Kunjachanan. By the year 1985, he had stopped playing hero roles.^[6] His role as a defiant police officer in Oru CBI Diary Kurippu and its sequel Jagratha, directed by K. Madhu, was noted for its characterisation and earned cult status when the third sequel in the series, Sethurama Iyer CBI, had Sai Kumar portraying the son of the police officer, with the mannerisms and voice tone of Sukumaran. Sukumaran won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor in 1978 for his role in Bandhanam.^[3] Sukumaran had his own production company, called Indraraj Creations. One of his productions Irakal, directed by K. G. George, was selected for the Indian Panorama in the International Film Festival of India (IFFI).^[3] The Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) had sidelined and unofficially banned Sukumaran from films for around three years during the mid-90s, for some of the comments he made on the industry and its politics.^[7] His last film was Shibiram, directed by T. S. Suresh Babu.

Sukumaran married actress Mallika Sukumaran on 17 October 1978.^[8] They have two sons who both work in Malayalam film industry; Indrajith Sukumaran and Prithviraj Sukumaran. Actress Poornima Mohan and journalist Supriya Menon are his daughters-in-law.^[9] His grand daughter Prarthana Indrajith is a playback singer. Sukumaran died due to a massive heart attack on 16 June 1997.

• Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor – 1978 – Bandhanam (directed by M. T. Vasudevan Nair)

1970s edit

1980s edit

1990s edit

• Irakal (1985)
• Padayani (1986)

• Sukumaran at IMDb
• Sukumaran at MSI