Radhe Krishna 01-10-2013
Manorama (Tamil actress)
Manorama (born Gopishantha[citation needed]) is a veteran Tamil actress who has acted in more than 1000 films, 1,000 stage performances, and a few television series.[2] She is affectionately called Aachi by the Tamil people.
| Manorama | |
|---|---|
Manorama
| |
| Born | Gopishantha Kasi Kilakudaiyar 26 May 1943 Mannargudi, Tamil Nadu, India[1] |
| Other names | Aachi |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1958 – present |
| Children | Bhupathi |
Birth and early life
Manorama was born as Gopishantha to Mr.Kasi Kilakudaiyar and Ramamirtham on 26 May 1943 at Mannargudi, Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu. Later her family moved toPallathur near Karaikudi owing to poverty.[1] She started her acting career at 12 years as a drama artist.[5] When she started her stage performances she was rechristened as Manorama by the drama director, Thiruvengadam, and the harmonist, Thiayagarajan. She continued to act in plays and also performed on stage as a playback singer.
Entry into cinema
Manorama, in her early stage was an drama artist,acted in few dramas of 'Vairam nataka sabha' in small roles.Once she went to see a drama of S.S.Rajendran who camped in Pudukkotai, Tamilnadu, she was introduced to SSR by one Mr P.A.Kumar .She showed her talent of dialogue delivery to SSR who offered her to join in S.S.R NATAKA MANDRAM and played in hundreds of stages all over tamilnadu the dramas named Manimagudam,Thenpandiveeran and pudhuvellam. Manorama slowly migrated from dramas to the silver screen with the role of a heroine in the Tamil film Maalayitta Mangai.A lead role given to her by Kavignar Kannadasan. Then, she concentrated more on comedy. She was given equally challenging roles alongside the well known comedian Nagesh. They made an excellent pair and acted in many praiseworthy comedies.
The first song that Manorama sang in cinema was in a film called Magale Un Samathu. The producer of this film, P. A. Kumar had seen Manorama perform in dramas and gave her the opportunity to sing.[6] The song was composed by G. K. Venkatesh, famous yesteryear music director, with whom Ilaiyaraja had worked as an assistant. Manorama sang this song along with L. R. Eswari, another famous yesteryear Tamil singer. "Thaatha thaatha pidi kudu... Indha thalladha vayasila sadugudu..." were the beginning lines of this song. However, "Vaa vaathiyaare uttaande..." composed by music director V. Kumar for the film Bommalattam, was the first song that became a hit for her. She performed along with Cho Ramaswamy in this song.
Critical acclamation
Manorama's role in the film Thillana Mohanambal was much appreciated and noticed even with the presence of great stalwarts likeSivaji Ganesan and Natiya Peroli (Danseuse) Padmini in the movie. Manorama personally shared in an interview that initially she was extremely nervous of acting in front of veterans like T. S. Balaiah. But, the director A. P. Nagarajan made her understand that the scenes in which Jil Jil Ramamani appears, she would be the centre of attention and not anyone else. This gave her the confidence to portray the wildly expressive, loud-talking but tender-hearted character on screen in an admirable fashion.[7]
Cho Ramaswamy claimed on the Tamil TV show Koffee with Anu that he was the first one to call Manorama as the female Sivaji Ganesan. He admired her for her versatility in acting and the ability to surprise with her performance.
Trivia
- Manorama shared the screen space in the Hindi movie Kunwara Baap with the legendary comedian Mehmood.
- Manorama stated in an interview with a Toronto TV channel that one of the most challenging characters she played was the role of the 50-year-old unmarried woman she played in the film Nadigan with Sathyaraj.[9] Playing that character was a tight-rope walk, since one wrong step could have made the character seem vulgar.
- In the same interview, Manorama also mentions that she is highly indebted to her mother for her upbringing and success. It seems many of the mother roles that she has played so far in films, resemble the character of her own mother a lot.[10]
- Manorama in her lifetime award function said...
“Those were days when even a fleeting presence on the screen was considered a huge achievement. It was Kannadasan Sir who offered the role. But actually I owe all this to S. S. Rajendran. It was he who invited me to Madras to act in the Kalaignar's (M. Karunanidhi) play ‘Manimakudam.’ That play was a resounding success and I was recognised as an actress. Later, I faced the camera for the first time in an unfinished film that had Rajendran and Devika in the lead roles. Then came ‘Maalayitta Mangai.’” recounts the actor.
- When asked about the secret of her youthful charm and beauty, Manorama quipped in Tamil "Agathin azhagu mugathil theriyum", meaning "The beauty of the mind is reflected on the face."[11] She went on to say that her heart and mind are still youthful, which is the secret of her youth.
- The last time that Manorama met Sivaji Ganesan, before his death was on 26 May 2001, when she had gone to his home to receive his blessings on her birthday.[12] At that time, she was extremely pleased to hear him telling his wife that no one can do better than Manorama when it comes to speaking different dialects of Tamil.
- When asked which character of hers she found extremely hilarious to play, she specified the role of a talkative female, who is forced to act dumb in a film called Unakkum Vazhvu Varum. She did this role along with Thengai Srinivasan and was delighted to note that one of the light operators on the set, came over to her personally and mentioned that he found her scene quite funny.[13]
- Manorama personally believes that although people acclaim her performance in Thillana Mohanambal as a cornerstone in her career, she values the character she was given by K. Balachander in the film Unnal Mudiyum Thambi since it displayed a new acting facet of her.[14]
- Manorama was bitten by a Kattuviriyan snake (Bungarus fasciatus) during the shooting of a film called Manjal Kungumam and was admitted to hospital. Coincidentally, after recovery, the next scene she acted in was in a film called Aadi Viradham, in which she had to bathe a snake statue and sing a lullaby for it.[15]
- The first time Manorama stood before the camera was for a Sinhalese film, in which she played the heroine's friend. Her dance master Suryakala was the one who took her to director Masthaan to play the character. Manorama, however, could not recollect the name of this film when asked in an interview.[16]
- The first film in which Manorama acted as the heroine was Konjum Kumari in 1963.
Distinction and awards
She has the distinction of having acted with five chief ministers of Andhra and Tamil Nadu. She was the female lead in the stage plays written, directed and acted by Mr C. N. Annadurai, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. She has also acted in stage plays with another Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Dr. M. Karunanidhi. She has acted in films with Dr. M. G. Ramachandran and Dr. Jayalalitha Jayaram who both became Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu later. She has also acted in Telugu films with Dr. N T Rama Rao, who became the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh[18] She was awarded the Padma Shri in 2002. She won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for the movie Pudhiya Pathai in 1989.[19] She holds a Guinness World Record for acting in most number of films. She was the recipient of the Kalaimamani award by the Government of Tamil Nadu.
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