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Manorama | |
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 Manorama at Cinema Journalist Association Event | |
| Born | Gopishantha (1937-05-26)26 May 1937 Mannargudi,Madras Presidency,British India (present-dayTamil Nadu,India)Now Thirukannamagai,Thiruvarur District,Tamil Nadu,India |
| Died | 10 October 2015(2015-10-10) (aged 78) |
| Other names | Aachi |
| Years active | 1958–2015 |
| Works | Filmography |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
Gopishantha (26 May 1937 – 10 October 2015), better known by her stage nameManorama, also calledAachi, was an Indian actress, comedian and playback singer who had appeared in more than 1000 films and 5000 stage performances predominantly in theTamil and also inTelugu,Kannada,Malayalam, andSinhala.[1][2] She was honoured withKalaimamani award in 1995. In 2002,Government of India awarded Manorama thePadma Shri for her contribution to the arts. She is a recipient of oneNational Film Award, oneFilmfare Award South and sevenTamil Nadu State Film Awards.[3][4]
Manorama was born to Kasiyappan Kilakudaiyar and Ramamirtham inMannargudi Thirukannamangai, a town in the erstwhileThiruvarur district ofTamil Nadu in aKallar (Thevar) family.[5][6] Her mother brought her up working as a maid.[citation needed] She mentioned being indebted to her mother for her success: Many of the mother roles that she has played in films resemble her own mother. Her family moved toPallathur nearKaraikudi owing to poverty.[7] While inPallathur, her mother had started vomiting blood. To cover her mother's medical expenses, Manorama decided to start working as a maid and dropped out of school at the age of 11. Once a drama troupe had come to Pallathur, but the actress who was to play a small part, suddenly dropped out due to her inability to sing and the troupe was looking for an artiste who could act and sing as well. The drama troupe decided to give her this role in the drama titledAndhaman Kadhali. Thus, her acting career began at the age of twelve, acting in plays. During this time, she was rechristened Manorama by one of her dramas' director Thiruvengadam and harmonist Thiayagarajan. Manorama went and met S S Rajendran (SSR) when he camped at her native district with his drama troupe. She was selected for a role in his ManiMagudam drama written by Kalaignar M Karunanidhi.She continued to act in plays and performed as aplayback singer as well. After watching her performance in plays, she was offered her first film, namedInbavazhvu, by Janakiraman, which remained 40% incomplete and later Kannadasan offered her lead role in a second film,Unmayinkottai, which were shelved after shooting for about 40%. She lost hope of becoming a film actor when both these films remained incomplete.
Manorama fell in love with her manager in the drama troupe;S. M. Ramanathan and married him in 1954; the couple have a son named Bhoopathy born in 1955. However, they divorced in 1956 and started to live separately in Chennai. She quoted in an interview in 2015, "My mom wanted me to study medicine. But it was not easy to become a doctor in those days, and I became an actress. So, if I hadn't taken up acting, I would have tried to become a doctor as my mom wished for it. But now, fortunately, my grandson is a doctor, and I am proud of it."[8]
She acted in small roles in fewVairam Nataka Sabha dramas. Once she went to see a drama ofS. S. Rajendran, who was residing atPudukkotai, in Tamil Nadu, and P.A. Kumar introduced her to Rajendran. She showed her skill in dialogue delivery and was offered a job in S.S.R. Nataka Mandram company and played in hundreds of stage productions all over the district: The dramas includedManimagudam, Thenpandiveeran andPudhuvellam. She credits her work inManimagudam as where she was first recognized as an actress.[9] She then took part in an unfinished film starringS. S. Rajendran andDevika.
She migrated from dramas to the silver screen with the role of a heroine in the 1958 Tamil filmMalayitta Mangai:Kannadasan gave her the lead role in this film.[10] The first film in which she played the heroine was the 1963Konjum Kumari.[11] Then, she concentrated more on comedy from 1960. She was given equally challenging roles alongside the well known comedian Nagesh in 50 films.
When asked in an interview as to how she got into films, she quoted, "It's all because of Kannadasan. It was he who changed my life by casting me in the filmMaalayitta Mangai in 1957. It was a comical role, and he trusted me so much and said that I will be able to pull it off. I was very doubtful about it, but he told me, "If you are going to act in films only as a heroine, people here will throw you out of the industry after three or four years, but doing such roles will take you places. And you have the talent, too, to reach higher peaks." That is when I got confidence and continued doing comedy roles."[8]
The first time Manorama stood before the camera was for a Sinhalese filmSukumali in 1957, in which she played the heroine's friend.[12] Her dance master Suryakala recommended her to the director Masthaan to play the role. She has acted predominantly in Tamil films since 1958, but also acted in Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada movies as well. Her on-screen pair with Tangavelu was appreciated in the filmVallvanakku Vallavan in 1965. Her on-screen pair with Nagesh was very popular in 1960–69 and then with Cho in the 1970s and 80s and later with Thengai Srinivasan, Vennira Aadai Moorthy, and Surali Rajan in the 70s and 80s.[13] She had done playback singing for 300 songs, mostly pictured on herself, in Tamil films. The first song that she sang was in a film calledMagale Un Samathu, composed byG. K. Venkatesh[14] and this opportunity she got due to the film's producer P.A. Kumar. She has sung a classical-based song with TM Sounderajan in the filmDharshinam (1970), where she was paired with Cho. Manorama sang a song with L.R. Eswari named "Thaatha thaatha pidi kudu". Her career's biggest hit song sung by herself was Vaa Vaathiyaare Uttaande composed by music director V. Kumar for the film ''Bommalattam", which was picturised on her and Cho. She also sang forM. S. Viswanathan andA. R. Rahman.
Some of her best Tamil films includeAnbe Vaa,Thenmazhi,Ethir Neechal,Galatta Kalyanam,Chittukuruvi,Durga Devi,Annalakshmi andImayam. In Telugu, she starred in films such asRikshavodu,Krishnarjuna andSubhodayam.[15] When asked in an interview as to which are her memorable roles, she said "It is Nadigan, which had Sathyaraj and Khushbu in the lead. I cannot forget that role of Baby Amma in my life. Also my role inChinna Gounder, for which I had to sport weird, artificial teeth, is something which I always think about.[8]
Manorama was paired with Nagesh regularly in films with M.G. Ramachandran in lead likeEn Kadamai, Kanni Thai, Thayin Madiyil, Kadhal Vaganam, Chandrodhyam, Anbee Vaa, Padagotti, Kadhal Vagahnam, Vivasaaye, Thaikku Thalaimagan, Vettikaran andTher Thiruvizha. Other directors cast the Nagesh-Manorama pair in films likeAnubhavi Raja Anubhavi, Kungumam, Saraswathi Sabadham, Panjavarnakilli, Navarathiri, Puthiya Paravai, Patthu Matha Bandham, Anbu Karangal, Micheal Madan Kamarajan, Annamitta Kai, Gowri Kalyanam, Anbe Aaruyire, Server Sundaram, Ner Vazhai, Ninaivin Nindraval, Poojaikku Vandamalar, Deiva Thirumagal, Rakta Thilagam, Aannavin Asai, Thiruvarutchelvar, Seetha andKarunthel Kannayiram. Manorama, actress Sachu and Jayalalithaa have acted together in 2 films as a combination —Galata Kalyanam andBommalattam. Manorama and Jayalalithaa have acted in 25 films together.
Her work was noticed even among stalwarts likeSivaji Ganesan and Natiya PeroliPadmini. Manorama shared in an interview that initially she was nervous acting in front of veterans likeT. S. Balaiah, but, the directorA. P. Nagarajan made her understand that the scenes in which Jil Jil Ramamani appears, she would be the center of attention.[16] She acted alongside the well-known comedianNagesh in 50 films and in 20 films with Cho Ramaswamy. They made a notable pair and acted in many well-received comedies. In 1974 she shared the screen space with the legendary comedian Mehmood in the Hindi movieKunwara Baap. Cho and Manorama were paired together in 20 films which includedMalligai Poo, Annaiyum Pidhavum,Dharisanam, Anbai Thedi, Nanaivin Nindraval, Nirai Kudam, Ayiram Poi, Mohammed Bin Tughlaq, Bommalattam, Delhi Mappilai, Vilayattu Pillai, Kanavan, Rojavin Raja andSuryagandhi.
The character she was given byK. Balachander in the 1989 filmUnnal Mudiyum Thambi she personally considers a cornerstone as she was giving a new challenge as an actor. She related in an interview on Toronto TV that one of the most challenging characters she played was the role of the 50-year-old unmarried woman in the 1990 filmNadigan withSathyaraj.[17] She has acted with all of the lead comedians across five different generations, which includesM. R. Radha,K. A. Thangavelu,J. P. Chandrababu, A. Karunanithi,Ennatha Kannaiya,V. K. Ramasamy,Nagesh,Cho Ramaswamy,Thengai Seenivasan,M. R. R. Vasu,Suruli Rajan,Vennira Aadai Moorthy,Janagaraj,Pandiarajan,Goundamani,Senthil,Vivek andVadivelu.[18]
She has been in films with five chief ministers. She played the female lead in the plays written, directed and acted byC. N. Annadurai, former chief minister of Tamil Nadu. She has also appeared in plays with another chief minister of Tamil Nadu,M. Karunanidhi. She has acted in films withMGR andJ. Jayalalithaa, who both later 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.[19] When asked which character of hers she found most hilarious to play, she specified the role of a talkative female, who is forced to act dumb in a film calledUnakkum Vazhvu Varum. She had played this role along with Thengai Srinivasan.[20] She was bitten by a Bungarus fasciatus/ Kattuviriyan snake during the shooting ofManjal Kungumam and was admitted to hospital. Coincidentally, after recovery, the next scene, she had to act was in ''Aadi Viradham,'' where she had to bathe a snake statue and sing a lullaby for it, and the director asked her whether she would like to perform and she replied "Yes very much!" and she did the film.
Manorama, being a close friend of Jayalalithaa and of the firm belief that Jayalalithaa would never be corrupt, campaigned against actor Rajinikanth in support of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa in the 1996 elections.[18]
In one of her last interviews, in 2015, she was asked if she had any regrets about her life. To this, she answered: "I've no regrets at all. I'm blessed in this life. Even in my next birth, I want to be born as Manorama again. I want this same life, and same people around me. Most of all, I want my mom with me again."[8] In an interview to BBC in 2015, "If I had chosen to act only as a heroine then I would have disappeared from the scene long ago. So, I decided to take up comedienne roles, so I survived in the industry for nearly six decades".[21]
When asked as to how she was able to do more than 1500 films, she said in her interview in September 2015, "I believe I am a blessed person. Without God's will, I couldn't have acted in so many films. It all just happened in my life, and you won't believe it, but I still have the urge to act. The one person who is the reason for all my success is my mom. She did everything for me in life, and I miss her the most now (she breaks into tears). Whatever I achieve or have achieved in life is only because of her."[8]
She supported young talents and budding directors in her old age. In 2013 she acted in a Tamil short film namedThaaye Nee Kannurangu, directed by LGR Saravanan. She acted as a cancer patient and a mother of Mr. Srikanth.
Between 2013 and 2015, Manorama had suffered ill-health resulting in hospital stays.[22][23] She died in Chennai at 11.20 pm on 10 October 2015[24] as a result ofmultiple organ failure at the age of 78.[25]
Tamil Nadu reacted to Manorama's death with an outpouring of grief; numerous tributes were paid to the deceased actor across the state and on social media. Chief MinisterJayalalithaa laid a wreath on the body at the actor's home in T. Nagar, Ms. Jayalalithaa said, "There had been no accomplished achiever like Manorama in the Tamil film world and there would be none in the future as well."[26] Jayalalitha was quoted as saying, "I was shocked to hear about her death. She was an elder sister to me. I used to call her Manorama while she called me Ammu. We used to visit each other's houses whenever we didn't have shootings."[27] The chief minister also said, "If Sivaji Ganesan was Nadigar Thilagam, Manorama was Nadigai Thilagam." Others who paid homage to the actress includeRajinikanth,Kamal Haasan,Vijay,Vikram,Sivakumar,Dhanush,Ajith Kumar,M. Karunanidhi,K. Veeramani,G. K. Vasan,Delhi Ganesh,R. Sarathkumar,Ilayaraja,Vairamuthu,Karthik,S. Ve. Shekhar,Vijayakumar,Goundamani,K. Bhagyaraj,R. Parthiban,Radhika,Vimal,Silambarasan,Suriya,Karthi,Vikraman,S. Thanu,T. Rajender andPandiarajan.[28]
| Event | Year | Category | Movie | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Film Awards | 1989 | Best Supporting Actress | Pudhiya Padhai[3][29] | Won |
| Filmfare Awards South | 1995 | Lifetime Achievement Award – South | Won | |
| 2009 | Best Supporting Actress – Telugu | Arundhati | Nominated | |
| 2010 | Best Supporting Actress – Tamil | Singam | Nominated | |
| Tamil Nadu State Film Awards | 1968 | Best Character Artiste (Female) | Thillaanaa Mohanambal | Won |
| 1979 | Special Prize | Avan Aval Adhu | Won | |
| 1981 | Best Comedian | Ethir Veetu Jannal | Won | |
| 1982 | Best Comedian | Oru Vaarisu Uruvagiradhu | Won | |
| 1983 | Best Comedian – Female | Paayum Puli | Won | |
| 1990 | Honorary Award – MGR Award | Won | ||
| 1992 | Honorary Award – Jayalalitha Award | Won | ||
| Tamil Nadu Cinema Kalaimandram Awards | 2013 | Favourite Film Star | Won |
Manorama also holds a record of singing for all the notable music directors. She has rendered her voice forM. S. Viswanathan,Ilayaraja,A. R. Rahman and many other notable music composers.
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