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Shanmugasundaram was an Indianactor who has appeared in Tamil films. He began his career as an actor by starring inRatha Thilagam (1963) andKarnan (1964), and continued his career for seven decades. He is also a dubbing artist.^[2] He has acted in over 500 films in Tamil cinema industry.^[3] He died on 15 August 2017.^[4][5]

Shanmugasundaram was born in Chennai to a family of businesspeople. When he was studying in college, he had accompanied one of his actor friends to a drama performance, and as one of the junior artists did not perform well, he was brought in spontaneously. To the surprise of many, he had done that role with efficiency, which earned him appreciation spontaneously. He then moved on to work in Tamil theatre, notably appearing asAdolf Hitler in a play also featuringKannadasan.Sivaji Ganesan was impressed by his performances and recruited him to make film acting debut withRatha Thilagam (1963), where he portrayed a Chinese army major. He next went on to play the mythological character ofSalliya Chakravarthy inB. R. Panthulu's critically acclaimedKarnan (1964),^[6] a disabled man inK. S. Gopalakrishnan'sVazhaiyadi Vazhai and a prince inDasavatharam (1976).^[7]

Shanmugasundaram's role in the 1989 Tamil film,Karagattakaran directed byGangai Amaran, won him critical acclaim and prompted several film makers to offer him roles as a village chieftain and the scene where he pleads innocence to his sister (Gandhimathi) made him popular among mimicry artists. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he moved on to feature in television serials, and collaborated withRadhika in series such asAnnamalai,Selvi and its sequel,Arasi. In the 2010s, he has regularly featured in films directed by Gangai Amaran's son,Venkat Prabhu.

Shanmugasundaram died on August 15, 2017, due to age related ailments.^[8] on his age at 78.^[9]

This is a partial filmography. You can expand it.He has acted with demigod status of 3 golden generations namely MGR,Sivaji Ganesan,Rajinikanth, Kamala hassan,Ajith Kumar and Vijay

• Annamalai

• Raja Rajeshwari

• Sorgam
• My dear bootham
• Ketti Melam
• Megala
• Vasantham
• Vamsam

• Shanmugasundaram atIMDb
• Shanmugasundaram atIMDb

• 1940s births
• 2017 deaths
• Tamil comedians
• Tamil male actors
• Male actors in Tamil cinema
• Indian male film actors
• Tamil male television actors
• 20th-century Indian male actors
• 21st-century Indian male actors
• Indian male comedians
• People from Mayiladuthurai district

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