Showing all artists born in 1941

M. G. Soman (1941–1997) was an actor in Malayalam film. Soman's last film was Lelam in 1997. He has done roles in Tamil films Aval Oru Thodar Kathai (1974), Naalai Namadhe (1975), Kumaara Vijayam (1976) and Airport (1993).

He is considered as one of the superstar trio of Malayalam cinema during the late 1970s and earlier 1980s along with Sukumaran and Jayan.

He was born as Somashekharan Nair to, K.N. Govinda Panicker and P.K. Bhavaniyamma, in Tiruvalla, Travancore on 28 October 1941. He had his primary education from Balikamadom H. S. S., Thiruvalla, St Thomas HSS Thirumoolapuram. While studying at seventh grade he started a drama troupe with his friend and performed drama Manaltharikal Garjikkunnu.

He did his preuniversity degree at St. Berchmans College, Changanassery. Later he joined Indian Air Force. Soon after retiring from the Indian Air Force, Soman joined Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair's drama troupe Jayasree and then to moved to the film industry. He worked at Kerala Arts Theaters and KPAC.

Ramarajyam of Kerala Arts theaters opened him a way to movie industry. His first film was Gayatri directed by P. N. Menon in 1973. He acted in the role of a hero from 1976 to 1983 and later played the roles of villains, comedians and supporting roles. In 1977, his greatest film was released under the direction of I. V. Sasi – Itha Ivide Vare. He soon rose to become the busiest actor in the industry.

In 1978, Soman had acted in 42 films as hero, which was till today kept as a record. After 1984, he had shifted from heroic roles to character roles. In 1997, Lelam, directed by Joshiy, was his last film and his performance as Aanakkattil Eappachan was greatly appreciated and received critical acclaim. He died on 12 December 1997 due to jaundice. He was 56. He produced a Malayalam movie titled as BHOOMIKA in 1991 which was directed by I.V.Sasi and enacted by Jayaram, Suresh Gopi, Mukesh, Urvashi etc.

He is married to Sujatha. They have a son Saji and a daughter Sindhu. His son Saji also acted in a few movies.

Sivakumar (born 27 October 1941 as Palanichamy Gounder) is a Tamil film and television actor who has portrayed a wide range of character roles onscreen. Sivakumar was introduced in the Tamil movie Kaakum karangal (1965) which was produced by AVM Productions.

Though he came as side actor to the industry, He has starred in the role of leading man and character actor in many Tamil movies such as Kandan Karunai, Thunivae Thozhan and Uyarndha Manidhan. He has acted in nearly 200 films till date. He has co-starred with many leading Tamil actors such as Sivaji Ganesan, M. G. Ramachandran, Gemini Ganesan, Rajinikanth, Vikram and Ajith. He is a three time winner of Filmfare Awards and a recipient of Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. His roles in Marupakkam and Sindhu Bhairavi showed his versatility as an actor, with the former winning the Golden Lotus Award for Best Feature Film. In the late 1990's, he ventured into television serials, and is well known for his role as Raadhika's husband in the famous TV serial Chithi.

Sivakumar is married to Lakshmi and the couple have three children; two sons who are actors, Surya Sivakumar and Karthik Sivakumar, and a daughter Brindha Sivakumar. His daughter-in-law, Jyothika, was a leading Kollywood actress.

P. Bharathiraja (born: Chinnasaamy Periyamayathevar) is a South Indian filmmaker who works mainly in the Tamil film industry. Bharathiraja displayed a story-teller's potential from an early age. He is known for his realistic and sensitive portrayal of village-life in his movies.He is well known for his work in 16 Vayathinile, Muthal Mariyathai, Vedham Pudhithu, Karuththamma, Kizhakku Cheemayile and Anthimanthaarai. He has won six National Film Awards, two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and is also a recipient of other awards such as Filmfare Awards South, Cinema Express Awards and Nandi Awards.

Bharathiraja started his film career as an assistant to director P. Pullaiya and Kannada film-maker Puttanna Kanagal. He also worked with Krishnan Nair, Avinasi Mani and A. Jaganathan, he learned the grammar of film-making and got his first directorial opportunity in 1977. His first film 16 Vayathinile for which he wrote the script broke the then existing convention to create a new genre of village cinema. The movie is now regarded as a game-changer and a mile-stone in the modern history of Tamil Cinema. About the movie, said Bharathirajaa in his own words, "This movie was meant to be black and white art film produced with the help of National Film Development Corporation", but turned out to be a commercially successful color film and a starting point for several important careers.

His next film Kizhakke Pogum Rail produced similar results and eventually brought in criticisms that Bharathiraja was capable of catering only to village audiences. This led him to make Sigappu Rojakkal, about a psychopathic woman hater that was totally Westernized in terms of both conception and production. But contrary to what several observers expected, this film met with box office success and everyone agreed that Bharathiraja was here to stay.

Bharathiraja confirmed his versatility and refusal to be tied down to one particular genre with an experimental film Nizhalgal and an action thriller Tik Tik Tik. But, undoubtedly rural themes proved to be his forte as his biggest hits in the 1980s Alaigal Oivadhillai, Mann Vasanai and Muthal Mariyathai were strong love stories in a village backdrop. Muthal Mariyathai starred veteran actor Sivaji Ganesan in the lead, playing a middle-aged village head. Radha is a poor young woman who moves into his village for a living. The love that bonds these two humans separated not just by age but also by caste and class, is told by Bharathiraja with poetic touches.

Vedham Pudhithu dealt with the caste issue in a stronger manner. The film's narrative was seamless and starred Sathyaraj as Balu Thevar. It contains some of Bharathiraja's trademark touches as well as several ground-breaking scenes. However, it does follow the anti-Brahmin trend common in Tamil films – in this respect it departed from his earlier success, Alaigal Oiyvadhillai, where the caste and religion factor was given a more balanced treatment. Bharathiraja has successfully managed to modernize his film making techniques for the 1990s. The commercial success of Kizhakku Cheemaiyile and the awards Karuththamma garnered stand as testimony for his ability to thrill the younger generation as well. His mother Karuththamma received the National Award on his behalf from the President in 1994 for the film named after her. Bharathiraja was on the same stage in 1996 to receive another National Award for Anthimanthaarai.

He has plans of making short films with varying themes to attract the international audience and has currently completed his latest venture Kadal Pookal and picked up a national award for the best screenplay writer for the same film. The well-known Tamil film director Bhagyaraj was one of his assistant directors. He has also directed movies in Telugu, Kannada and Hindi.

Panchu Arunachalam (18 June 1941 – 9 August 2016)was an Indian writer, director, producer and lyricist who worked in Tamil cinema. He was mentored by poet Kannadasan who was his uncle. He also worked as a songwriter. He started producing films under his production banner named P. A. Arts. His son Subbu Panchu Arunachalam is an actor in the Tamil film industry. As a writer, he has worked in 100 films. He has also written song lyrics for more than 200 films.