Manorama (Tamil actress)

Manorama was born to Kasiyappan Kilakudaiyar and Ramamirtham in Mannargudi Thirukannamangai, a town in the former Thiruvarur district of Tamil Nadu in a Kallar (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: saying that many of the motherly roles that she has played in films resemble her own mother. Her family moved to Pallathur near Karaikudi due to poverty.^[7] While in Pallathur, 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 and one of the actresses who was to play a small part suddenly dropped out due to her inability to sing, so the troupe was looking for an artist who could act and sing as well. The troupe decided to cast Manorama as a replacement in the drama titled Andhaman Kadhali, thus starting her acting career at the age of twelve. During this time, she was rechristened Manorama by one of her drama directors 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 a playback singer as well. After having success in the world of plays she was offered to work on a film, named Inbavazhvu, by Janakiraman, which remained mostly incomplete. Later on Kannadasan would offer her a lead role in another movie, Unmayinkottai, which was shelved after shooting less than half of it. She lost hope of becoming a film actor when both these films remained incomplete.

Manorama fell in love with her manager, S. M. Ramanathan and married him in 1954; the couple has a son named Bhoopathy born in 1955. However, they divorced in 1956 and started to live separately in Chennai. She would later state 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 a few Vairam Nataka Sabha dramas. One time she went to see a drama of S. S. Rajendran, who was residing at Pudukkotai, in Tamil Nadu, and P.A. Kumar introduced her to Rajendran. She showed her skill in dialogue delivery and was offered a job in the S.S.R. Nataka Mandram company and played in hundreds of stage productions all over the district: The dramas included Manimagudam, Thenpandiveeran and Pudhuvellam. She credits her work in Manimagudam as where she was first recognized as an actress.^[9] She then took part in an unfinished film starring S. S. Rajendran and Devika.

She migrated from dramas to the silver screen with the role of a heroine in the 1958 Tamil film Malayitta Mangai: Kannadasan was the one to give her the lead role there.^[10] The first film in which she played as an heroine was Konjum Kumari.^[11] From there moving onto comedy in the 60s. In this period she would be 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 film Maalayitta 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 film named Sukumali in 1957, in which she played a friend of the main hero.^[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 film Vallvanakku Vallavan. Her on-screen pair with Nagesh was very popular in the 60s, 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 centered on herself, in Tamil films. The first song that she sang was in a film called Magale Un Samathu, composed by G. K. Venkatesh^[14] and she got this opportunity due to the producer P.A. Kumar. She has sung a classical-based song with TM Sounderajan in the film Dharshinam (1970), where she was paired with Cho. Manorama would also perform with L.R. Eswari in a song named Thaatha thaatha pidi kudu. Her career's biggest hit songf was Vaa Vaathiyaare Uttaande composed by music director V. Kumar for the film ''Bommalattam", which was centered around her and Cho. She also sang for M. S. Viswanathan and A. R. Rahman.

Some of her best Tamil films include Anbe Vaa, Thenmazhi, Ethir Neechal, Galatta Kalyanam, Chittukuruvi, Durga Devi, Annalakshmi and Imayam. In Telugu, she starred in films such as Rikshavodu, Krishnarjuna and Subhodayam.^[15] When asked in an interview which were her most memorable roles, she replied:

"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 in Chinna 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 the lead like: En Kadamai, Kanni Thai, Thayin Madiyil, Kadhal Vaganam, Chandrodhyam, Anbee Vaa, Padagotti, Kadhal Vagahnam, Vivasaaye, Thaikku Thalaimagan, Vettikaran and Ther Thiruvizha. Other directors cast the Nagesh-Manorama pair in films like Anubhavi 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 and Karunthel Kannayiram. Manorama, actress Sachu and Jayalalithaa have acted together in 2 films as a combination: Galata Kalyanam and Bommalattam. Manorama and Jayalalithaa have acted in 25 films together.

Her work was noticed even among stalwarts like Sivaji Ganesan and Natiya Peroli Padmini. Manorama shared in an interview that initially she was nervous acting in front of veterans like T. S. Balaiah, but the director A. P. Nagarajan made her understand that in the scenes in which Jil Jil Ramamani appeared she would be the center of attention.^[16] In 1974 she shared the screen with the legendary comedian Mehmood in the Hindi movie Kunwara Baap. Cho and Manorama were paired together in 20 films which included Malligai Poo, Annaiyum Pidhavum, Dharisanam, Anbai Thedi, Nanaivin Nindraval, Nirai Kudam, Aayiram Poi, Mohammed Bin Tughlaq, Bommalattam, Delhi Mappilai, Vilayattu Pillai, Kanavan, Rojavin Raja and Suryagandhi.

The character she was given by K. Balachander in the 1989 film Unnal Mudiyum Thambi is considered a cornerstone by her as it was completelly new to her. She stated 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 film Nadigan with Sathyaraj.^[17] She has acted with many lead comedians across five different generations, which includes M. 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 and Vadivelu.^[18]

She has been in films with seven chief ministers. She played the female lead in the plays written, directed and acted by C. 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 with MGR, J. Jayalalithaa and Vijay, who later became chief ministers of Tamil Nadu. She has also acted in Telugu films with Dr. N. T. Rama Rao, who became the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh.^[19] She also acted with Vijay (actor) in Rasigan and Senthoorapandi. 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 called Unakkum Vazhvu Varum. She had played this role along with Thengai Srinivasan.^[20] She was bitten by a Bungarus fasciatus snake during the shooting of Manjal Kungumam and was admitted to hospital. Coincidentally, after recovery, the next scene she had to act in was ''Aadi Viradham,'' where she had to bathe a snake statue and sing a lullaby for it, and after being asked by the director whether she would like to perform she agreed enthusiasthically.

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 her friend in the 1996 elections.^[18]

In one of her last interviews, in 2015, she was asked if she had any regrets about her life. 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 the same people around me. Most of all, I want my mom with me again."^[8] In an interview with BBC in 2015 she said: "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 comedic roles, thats why 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. 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 named Thaaye Nee Kannurangu, directed by LGR Saravanan, in which acted as a cancer patient and the 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] due to multiple organ failure at the age of 78.^[25]

• Guinness World Records – 1985 – for acting in over 1000 films.
• Padma Shri – 2002

Manorama also holds a record of singing for many notable music directors. She has rendered her voice for M. S. Viswanathan, Ilayaraja, A. R. Rahman and many other composers.