Showing all artists born in 1937

Thengai Srinivasan or Thengai Seenivasan (21 October 1937 – 9 November 1987) was an Indian actor and comedian, who appeared in Tamil-language films in the 1970s and early 1980s. He was given the title Thengai (coconut) after his role as a coconut-seller in the play Kal Manam, staged by actor K. Kannan. Although originally a comedian, he also performed in other genres and enacted several lead and antagonistic roles.

Early life

Thengai Srinivasan was born to Rajavel Mudaliar (Chennai) and Subammal (Srivaikuntam in Tuticorin district) on 21 October 1937.  He had two sisters. When he was aged seven years old, his family moved to Chennai. Srinivasan's father was an artist who staged several plays and it was his influence which stimulated Srinivasan's interest in an acting career.

After school, Srinivasan joined the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai and later started his theatrical career in the Railway Dramatic Club.  Srinivasan's first stage appearance was in his father's drama Galatta Kalyanam.  Srinivasan was also part of the drama troupe of K. Kannan and portrayed a coconut vendor in one of his plays Kal Manam. Comedian K. A. Thangavelu upon watching the drama, announced he should be called "Thengai" (coconut) Srinivasan thereafter.

Career

Srinivasan's first feature film was the mystery thriller Oru Viral in 1965.  The film, which saw him playing a detective, was a financial success.  Srinivasan was, however, supposed to make his feature film debut in Iravum Pagalum (1965) that marked the acting debut of Jaishankar, but was dropped after distributors raised concerns about two newcomers being featured in the lead roles. He and Jaishankar nonetheless would become close friends later and Srinivasan was featured in almost 80 per cent of Jaishankar's early films.

Srinivasan mostly enacted the role of a comedian or a sidekick. Notable roles in his subsequent career include that of a fake Swami and that of an idealistic industrialist in the cult comedy films Kasethan Kadavulada and Thillu Mullu, respectively.  Behindwoods cited that the former was "probably Thengai Sreenivasan's best role" and the latter "would come a close second". In 2013, Forbes India included his performance in Thillu Mullu, along with that of Rajinikanth in the same film, in its list of the "25 Greatest Acting Performances of Indian Cinema". Srinivasan also played antagonistic roles; one of which was that of a blackmailing photographer in S. P. Muthuraman's Mayangukiral Oru Maadhu, which was described as "brilliant" by The Hindu.  He played the lead in Vaali's play Sri Krishna Vijayam, which was later made into a feature film named Kaliyuga Kannan. The makers originally intended to cast Sivaji Ganesan in the role, but Ganesan, being impressed by Srinivasan's performance in the play, suggested that Srinivasan may be retained for the film version. Kaliyuga Kannan went on to become a high commercial success and is considered as one of Srinivasan's most notable films.  Other films featuring Srinivasan in the lead role were Nandri Karangal, Sri Ramajayam, Porter Ponnusami and Adukku Malli, which was a box office success.  In 1987, Thengai Srinivasan produced the film Krishnan Vandhaan with Sivaji Ganesan in the lead. The film did not fare well and got him into deep financial trouble.

Death

When Thengai Srinivasan went to Bangalore, Karnataka to attend the rituals following his aunt's death, he suffered a brain haemorrhage. Despite intensive treatment, he died at the age of 51 on 9 November 1987.  His body was brought to his house at Ramasamy Street in Gopalapuram, Chennai. His death was marked by tributes from film fans and industry insiders alike.

Personal life

Srinivasan was married to Lakshmi. The couple have two daughters, Geethalakshmi and Rajeshwari, and a son, Shivshankar.  Geethalakshmi's son Yogi, and Shivshankar's daughter Shrutika have also appeared in a few Tamil films during the 2000s.

Manorama is a veteran Tamil actress who has acted in more than 1000 films, 1,000 stage performances, and a few television series. She is affectionately called Aachi by the Tamil people. Manorama was born as Gopishantha to Mr.Kasi Kilakudaiyar and Ramamirtham on 26 May 1943 at Mannargudi, Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu. She belongs to the Thanjavur Kallar (Mukkulathor) community. Later her family moved to Pallathur near Karaikudi owing to poverty. She started her acting career at 12 years as a drama artist. When she started her stage performances she was rechristened as Manorama by the drama director, Thiruvengadam, and the harmonist, Thiayagarajan. She continued to act in plays and also performed on stage as a playback singer.

Manorama, in her early stage was an drama artist,acted in few dramas of  Vairam nataka sabha in small roles.Once she went to see a drama of S.S.Rajendran who camped in Pudukkotai, Tamilnadu, she was introduced to SSR by one Mr P.A.Kumar. She showed her talent of dialogue delivery to SSR who offered her to join in S.S.R NATAKA MANDRAM and played in hundreds of stages all over tamilnadu the dramas named Manimagudam,Thenpandiveeran and pudhuvellam. Manorama slowly migrated from dramas to the silver screen with the role of a heroine in the Tamil film Maalayitta Mangai.A lead role given to her by Kavignar Kannadasan. Then, 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.

Manorama's role in the film 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. Manorama personally shared in an interview that initially she was extremely nervous of acting in front of veterans like T. S. Balaiah. But, the director A. P. Nagarajan made her understand that the scenes in which Jil Jil Ramamani appears, she would be the centre of attention and not anyone else. This gave her the confidence to portray the wildly expressive, loud-talking but tender-hearted character on screen in an admirable fashion.

Cho Ramaswamy claimed on the Tamil TV show Koffee with Anu that he was the first one to call Manorama as the female Sivaji Ganesan. He admired her for her versatility in acting and the ability to surprise with her performance.

Manorama had been unwell for some time recently, she passed away at 11.20 P.M on 10 October, 2015 due to multiple organ failure in Chennai, She was 78 and is survived by her son and singer-actor Bhoopathy. 

Ragini (1937–1976) was a South Indian danseuse and actress. She was the youngest of the famed Travancore Sisters: Lalitha, Padmini, and Ragini.  With sister Padmini, she started her acting career in the mid-1950s and has acted in movies of different Indian languages including Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu. The era of dance in Hindi cinema is considered to have begun with the entrance of Ragini and other South Indian actresses.  Ragini died of breast cancer in 1976.She had acted in many dramas also.

Family

She was married to Madhavan Thampi. The couple had two daughtes, Lakshmi and Priya.  Actress Sukumari was the trio's maternal first cousin. Malayalam actors Shobana, Ambika Sukumaran, Vineeth and Krishna are her relatives. Her husband left her for U.S.A. in 1972, but returned after his wife became ill from cancer.

Samuel Joseph, better known as Shyam, is a Malayalam music composer from Tamil Nadu, India.

From the mid-1970s to the late 1980s, Shyam had a prolific run as a composer in the Malayalam film industry, composing for nearly 200 films. Working with all major directors of the time, Shyam had scored for many hits of Jayan and the early films of Mammootty and Mohanlal.

Shyam assisted legendary Malayalam film composer G. Devarajan, joining him as his violinist. He also apprenticed under maestros M. S. Viswanathan and Salil Chowdhury, the former rechristening him 'Shyam'.He debuted as an independent film composer in Malayalam cinema through the 1974 film, Manyasree Viswamithran.

Sobhan Babu (born Uppu Sobhana Chalapathi Rao) (January 14, 1937 – March 20, 2008) was an Indian film actor known for his works exclusively in Telugu cinema. He made his film debut in Bhakta Shabari (1959), but Daivabalam (1959), was released earlier at the box office. Sobhan babu has garnered five state Nandi Awards for Best Actor, and four Filmfare Awards for Best Telugu Actor.

Background

The son of Uppu Suryanarayana Rao, Babu had three sisters Dhanaranga, Jhansi and Nirmala and a brother, Sambasiva Rao. Babu completed his initial schooling in Kuntamukkula Mylavaram. He pursued his Intermediate in Vijayawada and finished his degree at Andhra-Christian College in Guntur. Later, he studied law in Chennai, but ultimately discontinued it.

He married Shanta Kumari on 15 May 1958; they had a son, Karuna Seshu and three daughters: Mrudula, Prashanti and Nivedita.

Babu's first film was Bhakta Sabari. Chitrapu Narayana Murthy was his first director. His film Manushulu Maarali ran for 25 weeks which was a record at that time.  His first colour film was Kannavari Kalalu.For the first time he went abroad for a film shooting for Ramudu-Parasuramudu. He made a dual role in Potti Pleader for the first time.

He was honored with several Nandi Awards by the state of Andhra Pradesh. He was given the honorific, "Natabooshana", which became his last name in movie credits.

During the 1970s he was also linked romantically to Jayalalitha who later went on to become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. In reply to a report in a 1978 issue of the Bombay-based Star and Style magazine, implying that she and Shobhan Babu had parted ways, Jayalalitha confirmed that the relationship was strong and they were "going steady".

Career

In a film career as a matinee idol, spanning more than thirty five years, Sobhan Babu was starred in a variety of roles in works such as Seetarama Kalyanam (1961), Nartanasala (1963), Lava Kusa (1963), Veerabhimanyu (1965), Bangaru Panjaram (1969), Manushulu Marali (1969), Tara Sasankam (1969), Kalyana Mandapam (1971), Chelleli Kapuram (1971), Sampoorna Ramayanam (1972), Sharada (1973), Manchi Manushulu (1974), Jeevana Jyothi (1975), Soggadu (1976), Kurukshetram (1977), Mallepoovu (1978), Gorintaku (1979), Karthika Deepam, (1979), Mosagadu (1980), Maharaju (1983), and Aswamedham (1992).

Sulabha (or Sulbha) Deshpande (Marathi: सुलभा देशपांडे; born 1937) is an acclaimed Indian film, theatre and television actress and theatre director. Apart from Marathi theatre as well as Hindi theatre in Mumbai, she has acted in over 73 movies mainstream Bollywood as well as art house cinema, like Bhumika (1977), Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan (1978) and Gaman (1978) as a character actor, apart from numerous TV series and plays. A leading figure in experimental theatre movement of the 1960s, she was associated with Rangayan, and personalities like Vijay Tendulkar, Vijaya Mehta, and Satyadev Dubey. In 1971 she co-founded, theatre group, Awishkar with her husband Arvind Deshpande, and also started its children's wing, Chandrashala, which continues to perform professional children theatre.


She was born and brought up in Mumbai, where she studied at Siddhartha College in Fort, Mumbai and later received a degree in education.



Deshpande started her career as a teacher at Chhabildas Boy's High School in Dadar, Mumbai, while working here she asked noted playwright, Vijay Tendulkar to write a few plays for her students, this started her association with theatre, and in time made one of the pioneers in experimental theatre movement of the 1960s, as she joined the group Rangayan, which was founded by Vijaya Mehta, Tendulkar, Arvind Deshpande and Shriram Lagoo. Soon, she started her acting career, though she first received acclaimed when she won state-level competitions for her plays like Madhlya Bhintee, Sasaa Ani Kasav, After Rangayan dispersed, she along with her husband Arvind Deshpande, and Arun Kakade formed the theatre group, Awishkar in 1971. Having played the lead role of Leela Benare in Vijay Tendulkar's noted play Shantata! Court Chalu Ahe in 1967 she established her calibre, later she reprised her role in the 1971 film version of the play directed by Satyadev Dubey, which turned out to be breakthrough role in feature films, thereafter she went on to work extensively both in Hindi cinema as well as Marathi cinema, and directors like Shyam Benegal, through the height of Indian new wave cinema, in the 1970s and 1980s.



Awishar was housed in the Chhabildas Hall at the Chhabildas Boy's High School, Mumbai, and thus gave rise to Chabildas theatre movement of amateur theatre. It also hold adult education workshops and trains young adults. Soon, she established the Chandrashala, the children's theatre wing of Awishkar, and directed plays like Baba Harvale Ahet, Raja Ranila Ghaam Hava and Pandit Pandit Tujhi Akkal Shendit and notably the Sangeet Natak, Durga jhali Gauri (Durga Became Gauri) in 1982, a dance drama with a cast of seventy children. She later directed the Hindi film version of the play Raja Ranila Ghaam Hava in 1978. After nearly 18 years of its establishment, Awishkar's association with Chhabildas school ended and the group restarted at the Mahim Municipal School, where it continues to hold its theatre productions, workshops and annual school production of Durga jhali Gauri performed by a new cast each year. Notable Bollywood actors Nana Patekar and Urmila Matondkar have been students of Chandrashala.

Leelavathi (born Leela Kiran in 1937) is a Kannada film actress who predominantly worked in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu. She has acted with actors such as Rajkumar, Vishnuvardhan, M. G. Ramachandran, N. T. Rama Rao, Sivaji Ganeshan, Gemini Ganesan, Shankar Nag, Kamal Hassan, Rajinikanth, Chiranjeevi, V Ravichandran, Sudeep and various popular artists. She has acted in more than 600 films (more than 400 in Kannada alone) throughout her career for more than 50 years. Her performance in Nagarahavu, Avargal are remembered and prominent among the people.

Leelavathi has won various awards throughout her career, including the "Rajkumar Award" in 1999, State awards and Filmfare Awards.
After moving to Mysore, she got a small role in Chanchala Kumari and then in Shanker Singh film Naga Kannika.

She joined the Mahalinga Bhagavathar team Sri Sahitya Samrajya Drama troupe. She got a chance to act in Subbainaidu ‘Bhakta Prahallada. Mangalya Yoga, Dharma Vijaya and Ranadheera Kanteerava she got paltry roles. It was from Rani Honnamma, Leelavathi became the heroine and never turned back.

Santha Thukaram, Kantheradhu Nodu, Kaivara Mahatme, Gaali Gopura, Kanyarathna, Kulavadhu, Veera Kesari, Mana Mechchida Madadhi. She proved her mettle as a competitive heroine. Even when started accepting the supporting actress the power of acting was more graduated with films like Gejje Pooje, Sipayi Ramu and Doctor Krishna for which she received the state award.