# Suriya warns students against Reels, urges focus on studies 2026-10-18T05:37:21+00:00 | Entertainment | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets Actor Suriya advised students to limit their consumption of Instagram Reels and instead focus on studies and long-form content like podcasts. Speaking at the 47th anniversary of the Sivakumar Educational Trust in Chennai on Saturday, 17 October 2026, he said, “If you keep watching Reels, you are only watching a story. You may not learn anything from it.” Suriya urged students to study real-life journeys of successful personalities and explore podcasts for deeper learning. He compared life to filmmaking, saying, “The director never says, ‘You have failed.’ Instead, he says, ‘One more.’” The actor also shared that he did not know acting at the start of his career and credited three decades of consistent effort for his success. At the event, Suriya and his father Sivakumar distributed financial assistance worth Rs 13.78 lakh to students and educational institutions. Artist Jeevanandhan was honoured with an award and a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Both NDTV and The Indian Express covered the event as straight reportage, with no discernible slant. NDTV led with Suriya’s warning against Reels and included his upcoming film release. The Indian Express added context on Suriya’s Agaram Foundation, noting it has helped 51 students become doctors and 1,800 pursue engineering. The coverage is uniform wire-style reporting. The key takeaway is Suriya’s call for students to replace short-form video with podcasts and long-form research. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral - ndtv.com (neutral report) Straight event report with no editorial slant - indianexpress.com (neutral report) Straight event report with no editorial slant This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Tags: Chennai, Sivakumar, Sivakumar Educational Trust, Suriya Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/suriya-warns-students-against-reels-urges-focus-on-studies/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/suriya-warns-students-against-reels-urges-focus-on-studies/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/