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  • Birth NameSuhasini Charuhasan
  • Date of birth Aug 15th, 1961
  • Birth Place Paramakudi
  • Occupation Heroine

"Mani Ratnam says that whenever he has to direct an emotional sequence for his films, he will leave the directorial responsibility to Suhasini!"

Did You
know

Mani Ratnam was amazed to watch Suhasini in her first film appearance itself and he fell in love with the film Mouna Geetham.

Overview

Telugu Cinema is fortunate to have many talented artists and actors throughout its tenure. It had the culture of embracing actors from all the regions with equal affection and appreciate them-provided the talent is present! But very few actresses who came from outside Telugu land could gain the hearts of the audience- in such a way that people felt they are from our Telugu household! One such phenomenal actress who graced the Telugu Silver screen during the 80s era is none other than Suhasini Maniratnam.  In fact, she still continues to amaze the audience with her superior acting skills and wonderful presence she gives for every character she adorns.

Personal Life:
Suhasini was born as Suhasini Charuhassan on August 15th 1961 in the Hassan family- where most of them were connected to the South Indian Film industry. She is related to the pride of South India in Films- Kamal Hassan.

She later married one of the most versatile and creative directors in India – Mani Ratnam in 1988 and the couple have a son.  Her film career as actress and a director continued even after the marriage where she consistently appeared in many breakthrough Telugu films.

Career:
Born in a film industry family, Suhasini was initially interested in the “behind the camera” departments such as camera work, and direction. This prodded her to work as an assistant to Ashok Kumar- one of the prominent cinematographers in Tamil Cinema. She even worked as a Make-up artist for many of the leading actors of that age and later got offers to act in Kannada Films initially. She rapidly rose to prominence in Kannada films during late 70s.

Her first Tamil film was Nenjethai Killathe (Mouna Geetham) which had Mahendran as director and was a huge success. Right from then, Suhasini became well known to the Telugu Audience with her unique persona as far as acting is concerned.  However, it was Manchu Pallaki (1982)which released a year later got her wonderful accolades regarding her acting and freshness in histrionics.  It also paved way for the classy combination Chiranjeevi- Suhasini in Telugu Cinema- which rocked the whole of 80s era!

Challenge (1983) followed next, in which Suhasini played a memorable role of an independent woman who morally supports the hero throughout the film. She also acted opposite Balakrishna as a rural belle in Mangamma Gari Manavadu which is termed as one of the most successful films during the year 1984.

Little did people know that the best from Suhasini was in store next. Her Sindhu bhairavi won the hearts of Tamil as well as Telugu Cinema tremendously with her superior acting performance. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say she took the film forward with her mesmerizing individuality.  She won her first National Award in the best actress category for this film.

While she was busy in acting Tamil films at a stretch, Suhasini never took Telugu Cinema for granted. She continuously appeared in some most memorable films of Telugu Cinema. It is incredible to notice that at this time line she was working in Malayalam films as well.  One cannot forget the dumb girl role she played in K.Vishwanath’s Sirivennela, or the talkative telephone service agent Jwala in Jandhyala’s Chantabbai. In short, every role she played was so believable that Suhasini became one of the members in the huge Telugu Audience family!
Suhasini ventured out to act in many women oriented films which brought a new wave of Telugu Films in the 80s. Films such as Swathi, Amma and Akka Mogudu are examples of such subjects. Her role of a considerate mother in Amma Cheppindhi released in 2005 is another great example of her wonderful acting skills.
She continued her brilliant acting marathon even with recent successful films like Nuvu Naaku Nacchav, Leader, Gabbar Singh as well.

Interesting Facts:
  • Suhasini is wonderfully fluent in Telugu though she hails from Tamil Nadu. Her Telugu is crystal clear and she dubs her own characters even till date- though for some films she had dubbing artist initially.
  • Suhasini always feels Telugu Land is like her home because she acted and got more name in Telugu Cinema than her native Tamil Film Industry. Whenever she comes to Hyderabad, she says it is like coming to her Parent’s house!
  • Mani Ratnam was amazed to watch Suhasini in her first film appearance itself and he fell in love with the film Mouna Geetham. Five years later, he made a film with almost same story but with different touch. The film is none other than Mouna Raagam starring Revathi, Mohan and Karthik in the lead roles.
  • Suhasini is a director as well. She directed a serial named Penn in Tamil- which featured many of the popular actors of the age such as Radhika, Amala, Bhanupriya, Sobhana, Geetha, Saranya, Raghuvaran, Parthiban etc. Music for the serial was composed by Maestro Ilaiyaraaja and the serial is still admired by many people. She directed a feature film named Indira which had A.R.Rahman in the music department.
  • Mani Ratnam says that whenever he has to direct an emotional sequence for his films, he will leave the directorial responsibility to Suhasini! This itself shows the tremendous capability of Suhasini not only as an actress but also as a director.
  • Suhasini worked as dialogue writer for Mani Ratnam films such as Thiruda Thiruda (Donga Donga), Iruvar (Iddaru) and Raavanan (Villian).

 

 
Acting Style:
Suhasini has an own mark of acting style all the way in her career. She can be termed as one of the trendsetters in Telugu Cinema who could appear graceful, earthly as well as glamorous in the same frame. She is especially wonderful in emotional sequences where she never over does anything but still the impact is made.

Awards and Accolades:
National Film Awards
  • National Film Award for Best Actress – Sindhu Bhairavi (Tamil) (1986)
Kerala State Film Awards
  • Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress – Ezhuthappurangal (1987)
  • Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress – Theerthadanam (2001)
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards
  • Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress – Nenjathai Killathe (1980)
Nandi Awards
  • Nandi Award for Best Actress – Swathi (1984)
  • Nandi Award for Best Supporting Actress – Nuvvu Naaku Nachav (2001)
Filmfare Awards South
  • Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Kannada – Benkiyalli Aralida Hoovu (1983)
  • Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Kannada – Bandhana (1984)
  • Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu – Swathi (1984)
  • Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Kannada – Suprabhata (1988)
  • Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Kannada – Muthina Haara (1990)
  • Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Kannada – Amrutha Varshini (1997)
 
 


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