Manorama (actress) - Trivia

Trivia

• Manorama shared the screen space in the Hindi movie Kunwara Baap with the legendary comedian Mehmood.
• Manorama stated in an interview with a Toronto TV channel that one of the most challenging characters she played was the role of the 50-year-old unmarried woman she played in the film Nadigan with Sathyaraj. Playing that character was a tight-rope walk, since one wrong step could have made the character seem vulgar.

• In the same interview, Manorama also mentions that she is highly indebted to her mother for her upbringing and success. It seems many of the mother roles that she has played so far in films, resemble the character of her own mother a lot.

• Manorama in her lifetime award function said...

“Those were days when even a fleeting presence on the screen was considered a huge achievement. It was Kannadasan Sir who offered the role. But actually I owe all this to S. S. Rajendran. It was he who invited me to Madras to act in the Kalaignar’s (M. Karunanidhi) play ‘Manimakudam.’ That play was a resounding success and I was recognised as an actress. Later, I faced the camera for the first time in an unfinished film that had Rajendran and Devika in the lead roles. Then came ‘Maalayitta Mangai.’” recounts the actor.

• When asked about the secret of her youthful charm and beauty, Manorama quipped in Tamil "Agathin azhagu mugathil theriyum", meaning "The beauty of the mind is reflected on the face." She went on to say that her heart and mind are still youthful, which is the secret of her youth.

• The last time that Manorama met Sivaji Ganesan, before his death was on May 26, 2001, when she had gone to his home to receive his blessings on her birthday. At that time, she was extremely pleased to hear him telling his wife that no one can do better than Manorama when it comes to speaking different dialects of Tamil.

• When asked which character of hers she found extremely 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 did this role along with Thengai Srinivasan and was delighted to note that one of the light operators on the set, came over to her personally and mentioned that he found her scene quite funny.

• Manorama personally believes that although people acclaim her performance in Thillana Mohanambal as a cornerstone in her career, she values the character she was given by K. Balachander in the film Unnal Mudiyum Thambi since it displayed a new acting facet of her.

• Manorama was bitten by a Kattuviriyan snake (Bungarus fasciatus) during the shooting of a film called Manjal Kungumam and was admitted to hospital. Coincidentally, after recovery, the next scene she acted in was in a film called Aadi Viradham, in which she had to bathe a snake statue and sing a lullaby for it.

• The first time Manorama stood before the camera was for a Sinhalese film, in which she played the heroine's friend. Her dance master Suryakala was the one who took her to director Masthaan to play the character. Manorama, however, could not recollect the name of this film when asked in an interview.

• The first film in which Manorama acted as the heroine was Konjum Kumari in 1963