Manorama life and biography

Manorama is a veteran Tamil actress who has acted in more than 1500 films, 1000 stage performances, and a few television serials.

She started her acting career as a drama artist, which was more popular those days. She slowly migrated from dramas to cinemas just as most actors did those days. During her initial days in the cine field, she concentrated more on comedy. She was given equally challenging roles alongside the well known comedian Nagesh. They made an excellent pair and received many praiseworthy comedies. Her role in Thillana Mohanambal was much appreciated and noticed even with the presence of great stalwarts like Sivaji Ganesan and Natiya Peroli (Danseuse) Padmini in the movie. Ever since, she was provided with more scope in varied roles in addition to comedy. She took each responsibility with such an ease which made the Tamil industry recognize her immense talent. She has the distinction of having acted with five chief ministers of South India. 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. She holds a guinness world record for acting in most number of films.

Manorama slowly migrated from dramas to the silver screen with the role of a comedienne in the Tamil film Malayitta Mangai. During her initial days in the cine field, 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. 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.

She has the distinction of having acted with five chief ministers of South India. 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 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. She holds a Guinness World Record for acting in most number of films. She has given the Kalaimamani award by the Government of Tamil Nadu.

Filmography:

2009 : Laadam
2009 : A Aa E Ee
2010 : Irumbu Kottai Murattu Singam
2010 : Singam
2011 : Ponnar Sankar

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