Birthday Special: A Look At Comedy Queen Manorama’s Journey In Tamil Cinema

Manorama, popularly known as Aachi, was a Tamil actress who has ruled the hearts of cinema lovers for over 50 years with her impeccable performances and skilled comic timing. The veteran who passed away in 2015 would have been celebrating her 85th birthday today on May 26. On the occasion of her birthday, let us take a look at her inspiring journey into films and into the hearts of thousands.

Born as Gopishantha, she was brought up by a mother who used to work as domestic help to make ends meet. She credited her success to her mother, saying that many of the characters she has done in films are based on her own mother.

Taking on the screen name Manorama, she entered the world of cinema as a comedian in 1958 with the film Maalayitta Mangai. Manorama has made a name for herself in Tamil cinema by starring in several hit films such as Kalathur Kannamma, Konjum Kumari, Thiillana Mohanambal, Ethir Neechal, Pattikkada Pattanama and Kasethan Kadavulada.

Actor Nagesh and Manorama have teamed up for 19 films including Chandrodayam, Annamitta Kai, Saraswathi Sabatham and Galatta Kalyanam. The two became the comic couple that would incite laughter from the audience. She had done playback singing for 300 Tamil films, most of which featured her. She sung her first song in a film named Magale Un Samathu, which was composed by G. K. Venkatesh, and she was given this opportunity by the film’s producer P.A. Kumar.

In the film Dharisanam (1970), she was teamed with Cho and sang a classical-based song with TM Sounderajan. Thaatha thaatha podi kodu was a song Manorama performed with L.R. Eswari. Vaa Vathiyaare Utaande, composed by music director V. Kumar for the film Bommalattam, which starred her and Cho, was her career’s most successful song sang by herself.

After pairing with Nagesh, Cho and Thangai Srinivasan in the 1960s and 1970s. Manorama co-starred with the next generation actors Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan in character roles and even worked with the generation after that including Suriya and Vijay.

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