Other Details

Other Works:

Height:

Sukumari is an Indian film actress who has primarily acted in Malayalam and Tamil films. She has been acting since she was 10 years old and has acted in various roles. The total number of her films is presumed to be about two-thousand five hundred. In 2003, she was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India for her contributions towards the arts. And she recently won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Namma Gramam (2010).

She was born in Nagercoil, Travancore in 1941. Sukumari is a first cousin of the Travancore Sisters, Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini (their mothers are sisters). She learned dance with the sisters and mastered dance forms like Keralanadanam, Kathakali and Bharathanatyam. She went for an all-India tour with the sisters. Sukumari was noticed by a director when she went to the sets of a film with Padmini, and she debuted in the lead role in the Tamil film Orarivu. She was married to director A. Bhimsingh until he died when she was barely 30. 

She has acted in various Malayalam films of the black and white age, like Chettathi, Kusruthikkuttan, Kunjali Marakkar, Thacholi Othenan, Yakshi and Karinizhal. She later became popular acting in various films of Priyadarshan like Poochakkoru Mookkuthi, Oodarathuammava Aalariyam, Boeing Boeing and Vandanam. She was also noticed in various films directed by Balachandra Menon like Manicheppu Thurannappol and Karyan Nissaram. In later years she played a major role in Nizhalkkuthu (2002) directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan. She has played many notable mother roles. She has acted in films in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi, and used her own voice in all languages without using dubbing artists. She is still actively involved in films, TV serials and stage dramas.