Sujatha (actress)

Sujatha
Sujatha
Born	10 December 1952; Galle, Dominion of Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka)
Died	6 April 2011 (aged 58); Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1968–2006
Spouse	Jayakar (m. 1977)
Children	Sajith, Divya
Parents	Sankaran Menon (father); Saraswathi (mother);
Relatives	Gopi Menon (Young brother)

Sujatha (10 December 1952^[1] – 6 April 2011) was an Indian actress who performed and starred in a variety of unique characters in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films- in addition to few in Kannada and Hindi languages as well. The actress was best known for restraint and subtlety in portrayal of varied emotions. After starring in numerous Malayalam films in her mother-tongue, Sujatha later got introduced to the Tamil film industry by veteran director K. Balachander and producer P.R. Govindarajan as a protagonist in her first Tamil film, Aval Oru Thodar Kathai (1974). It was a critically acclaimed film and launched the actress's first commecrical breakthrough in her acting career. Whereas, her first Telugu picture happened to be a Telugu/Tamil bilingual titled as Guppedu Manasu (1979) in Telugu and was simultaneously shot as Nool Veli in Tamil of the same year.^[2]^[3] She died of a cardiac arrest on 6 April 2011 in Chennai (aged 58).

Early life[edit]

Sujatha was born in a Malayali-speaking family on 10 December 1952 in Galle, Sri Lanka where she spent most of her early days of childhood over there. She participated in school plays, and later moved to Tamil Nadu when she was about 15. She acted in Ernakulam Junction, a Malayalam movie.

Career[edit]

Sujatha made her debut in the Malayalam film Thapasvini. Her first Tamil film was Aval Oru Thodar Kathai directed by K. Balachander. She again collaborated with K. Balachander in Avargal (1977). Sujatha acted in over 240 films in five languages namely Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi movies. She appeared in films like Aval Our Thodar Kadhai, Annakkili, Avargal as a tortured wife, Vidhi, Mayangugiraal Oru Maadhu, Sentamizh Paattu and Aval Varuvaala, and in Telugu such as her debut in Guppedu Manasu.

Character roles[edit]

During the 1980s, she started playing character roles, often portraying mothers. Her performances as a senior actor in films like Kodi Parakuthu, Uzhaippali, Baba in all which she played the mother of Rajinikanth; and Villain in which she played Ajith Kumar's wellwisher. Varalaru (2006) was her last film.^[1]^[4]

Death[edit]

While undergoing treatment for a heart ailment, Sujatha died of cardiac arrest in Chennai on 6 April 2011.^[4]

Awards and honours[edit]

Filmfare Awards South

1975 – Filmfare Best Tamil Actress Award for Uravu Solla Oruvan^[5]
1976 – Filmfare Best Tamil Actress Award for Annakili^[5]
1977 – Filmfare Best Tamil Actress Award for Avargal^[5]
1979 – Filmfare Best Telugu Actress Award for Guppedu Manasu^[6]

Nandi Awards

1997– Nandi Award for Best Character Actress for Pelli^[7]

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards

1981 – Special Best Actress for Thunaivi
1982 – Special Best Actress for Paritchaikku Neramaachu

Government of Tamil Nadu

Kalaimamani

Notable filmography[edit]

1960s[edit]

Year	Film	Role	Language	Notes
1965	Ammu	Sharadha	Malayalam	Debut film
	Kattupookkal
	Kadathukaran	Kadambari
1966	Rowdy

1970s[edit]

Year	Film	Role	Language	Notes
1970	Olavum Theeravum		Malayalam
1971	Avalalpam Vaikippoyi
	Thapaswini
	Ernakulam Junction	Jaya
1972	Devi
	Manushya Bandhangal
	Snehadeepame Mizhithurakku	Gouri
	Mayiladumkunnu
	Punarjanmam	Janu
	Anweshanam	Vasanthi
	Ananthashayanam	Geetha
	Azhimukham
	Aaradimanninte Janmi	Nirmala
	Akkarapacha
	Aadhyathe Katha	Nalini
	Brahmachari
	Maaya	Omana
1973	Driksaakshi	Sumathi
	Thekkan Kattu	Annakkutty
	Ajnathavasam	Geetha
	Ladies Hostel	Reema
	Bhadradeepam	Usha
	Chukku	Clara
	Football Champion	Thulasi
	Manassu
	Kaattuvithachavan
	Chuzhi	Neena
	Achani	Uma
	Interview	Sreedevi
	Kaliyugam	Jaanu
	Raakkuyil	Usha
	Swarga Puthri	Jolly
1974	Sapthaswarangal	Rukmini
	Shapamoksham
	Chakravakam	Devaki
	Aval Oru Thodar Kathai	Kavitha	Tamil	Kollywood debut
	Chattakari	Usha	Malayalam
1975	Uravukku Kai Koduppom		Tamil
	Malsaram		Malayalam
	Thennankeetru		Tamil
	Sammanam		Malayalam
	Aan Pillai Singam		Tamil
	Chuvanna Sandhyakal	Susheela	Malayalam
	Uravu Solla Oruvan		Tamil
	Thiruvonam	Sujatha	Malayalam
	Chumaduthaangi	Mini
	Niramaala
	Vaazhnthu Kaattugiren		Tamil
	Aayirathil Oruthi	Srikanth's lover
	Mayangukiral Oru Maadhu	Kalpana
1976	Perum Pugazhum
	Oru Oodhappu Kan Simittugiradhu
	Idhaya Malar
	Aayiram Janmangal		Malayalam
	Janaki Sabadham		Tamil
	Muthana Muthallava
	Nee Oru Maharani
	Udayam Kizhakku Thanne		Malayalam
	Oru Kodiyil Iru Malargal		Tamil
	Ungalil Oruthi
	Lalitha	Lalitha
	Annakili	Annam
1977	Thunai Iruppal Meenakshi
	Uyarndhavargal
	Aasai Manaivi
	Dheepam
	Nandha En Nila
	Sonnathai Seiven
	Enna Thavam Saithen
	Avargal	Anu
	Pala Parikshai
	Annan Oru Koyil
	Andaman Kadhali
1978	Shri Kanchi Kamakshi
	Iraivan Kodutha Varam
	Bhrashtu		Malayalam
	Mariamman Thiruvizha		Tamil
	Kaipidithaval
1979	Gnana Kuzhandhai	Thilagavathi
	Sri Rama Jayam
	Guppedu Manasu	Vidya	Telugu	Tollywood debut and bilingual film
	Adukku Malli		Tamil
	Gorintaku	Swapna	Telugu
	Raja Rajeshwari		Tamil
	Kandhar Alangaram
	Poonthalir
	Nool Veli			Shot simultaneously in Telugu as Guppedu Manasu

1980s[edit]

Year	Film	Role	Language	Notes
1980	Yedanthasthula Meda		Telugu
	Neer Nilam Neruppu		Tamil
	Vishwaroopam
	Anbukku Naan Adimai
	Sandhya		Telugu
	Pappu	Herself	Malayalam
	Pasupu Parani		Telugu
	Bebbuli^[8]	Lalitha
	Circus Ramudu
	Maadi Veettu Ezhai		Tamil
	Sirimalle Navvindi		Telugu
	Prema Tarangalu	Sujatha
	Sujatha
1981	Ragile Jwala
	Guru Sishyulu
	Pranaya Geetham
	Maha Purushudu	Lakshmi
	Kadal Meengal	Kamal's wife	Tamil
	Ek Hi Bhool		Hindi	Bollywood debut
1982	Pandanti Jeevitham		Telugu
	Vaa Kanna Vaa		Tamil
	Oru Vilippadakale		Malayalam
	Paritchaikku Neramaachu		Tamil
	Preeyasakhi Radha		Malayalam
	Theerpu	Radha	Tamil
	Idho Varukiren
	Thaai Mookaambikai
	Garuda Sowkiyama
	Thunaivi
	Vamsa Gowravam	Lakshmi	Telugu
	Bangaru Kanuka
	Sitadevi
	Yuvaraju (1982 film)
	Nayakkirin Magal		Tamil
	Nanna Devaru		Kannada
	Thyagi		Tamil
1983	Justice Raja	Radha	Malayalam
	Neethibathi		Tamil
	Sandhippu		Tamil
	Bahudoorapu Batasari		Telugu
	MLA Yedukondalu		Telugu
	Kodugal Illatha Kolam		Tamil
	Sumangali		Tamil
	Abhilasha		Telugu
	Thudikkum Karangal		Tamil
1984	Vellai Pura Ondru
	Veetuku Oru Kannagi
	Unnai Naan Santhithen
	Kudumbam
	Kanoonige Saval^[9]	Sudha	Kannada
	Justice Chakravarthy		Telugu
	Vidhi	Shakunthala	Tamil
	Alaya Deepam		Tamil
	Anubandham		Telugu
	Thiruppam		Tamil
	Bhola Shankarudu		Telugu
	Agni Gundam		Telugu
1985	Nermai		Tamil
	Naam
	Perumai
	Sivappu Nila
	Mangamma Sapatham	Kamal's mother
	Karpoora Deepam
	Uthami
1986	Vidinja Kalyanam
	Revathi
	Thaaiku Oru Thaalaattu
	Meendum Pallavi
	Kanne Kaniyamuthe
	Kannukku Mai Ezhuthu
	Mahashakthi Mariamma	Mariamma Devotee
	Ariyaatha Bandham		Malayalam	Actress Amala's Malayalam debut
	Mannukkul Vairam		Tamil
	Maaveeran	Raja's mother
1987	Mupperum Deviyar	Saraswati
1987	Challakutti
1989	Dharmam Vellum
	Pen Puthi Mun Puthi
	Bidisada Bandha^[10]	Kamala Devi	Kannada
	Srirama Chandrudu		Telugu
	Rajakeeya Chadarangam		Telugu
	Dharmam Vellum		Tamil
	Kodi Parakuthu	Rajini's mother	Tamil

1990s[edit]

Year	Film	Role	Language	Notes
1990	Sutradhaarulu		Telugu
1990	Nalla Kaalam Porandaachu		Tamil
1992	Chanti	Mother of Chanti	Telugu
	Simhadhwani		Malayalam
	Soori Gadu		Telugu
	Madhavayya Gari Manavadu
	Ahankari	Jayanthi
	Abhirami	Abhirami	Tamil
	Senthamizh Paattu	Kalaivani	Tamil
1993	Nippu Ravva		Telugu
	Aadarsham
	Kondapalli Raja
	Uzhaippali	Janaki	Tamil
	Uzhavan	Subbammal
1994	Watchman Vadivel	Sarassu
	Rajakumaran	Rajakumaran's mother
	Maa Voori Maaraju		Telugu
	M Dharmaraju M.A
	Nannagaru
	Thozhar Pandian		Tamil
	Senthamizh Selvan	Janaki
	Kanmanai
	Amaithipadai	Sivakami
1995	Karna	Arjun's mother
	Simha Garjana		Telugu
	Vetagadu
	Big Boss	Chiranjeevi mother
	Vajram
1996	Pelli
	Sivasakthi	Siva's mother	Tamil
	Poovarasan	Karthik's mother
1998	Aval Varuvala	Simran's mother-in-law
	Subbaraju Gari Kutumbam		Telugu
	Auto Driver	Jagan's mother	Telugu
	Natpukaaga	Lakshmi	Tamil
	Thutta Mutta	Anusuya	Kannada	as Ramesh Aravind's mother
1999	Paattali	Lakshmi	Tamil	as Ramya Krishnan's mother
	Ninaivirukkum Varai	Jani's mother
	Azhagarsamy	Thayama
	Sneham Kosam	Lakshmi	Telugu

2000s[edit]

Year	Film	Role	Language
2000	Sandhitha Velai	Aadalarasu's mother	Tamil
2001	Chitrathoonukal		Malayalam
	Vyjayanthi		Telugu
	Prematho Raa
2002	Nee Sneham	Aarthi Aggarwal's grandmother
	Tappu Chesi Pappu Koodu
	Seema Simham
	Gemini		Tamil
	Nettru Varai Nee Yaaro	Meenakshi
	Baba	Rajini's mother
	Villain	Head of disabled home
2003	Kiccha	Sharada (Kiccha's mother)	Kannada
	Neeku Nenu Naaku Nuvvu	Raghavayya's wife	Telugu
	Villain		Telugu
2004	Jalothsavam	Bhanumathi	Malayalam
	Arul	Vikram's mother	Tamil
	Maanasthan	Sarathkumar's mother
	Attagasam	Ajith Kumar's mother
2005	Chandrolsavam	Bhavani	Malayalam
2005	Mayookham	Devaki	Malayalam
2006	Sri Ramadasu	Pokala Damakka	Telugu
	Neelakanta		Kannada
	Vathiyar	Arjun's mother	Tamil
	Varalaru	Shiva Shankar's Mother-in-law	Tamil

Kannada films of Sujatha

1.) Nanna Devaru - 1982

2.) Akrosha - 1983

3.) Prema Sakshi - 1984

4.) Kanoonige Saval - 1984

5.) Rowdy Raja - 1984

6.) Super Boy(3D) - 1986

7.) Bidisada Bandha - 1989

8.) Thutta Mutta - 1998

9.) Kiccha - 2003

10.) Neelakanta - 2006

Voice artist[edit]

Jayapradha - Ninaithale Inikkum, 47 Natkal

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c "NDTVMovies.com : Bollywood News, Reviews, Celebrity News, Hollywood news, Entertainment News, Videos & Photos". movies.ndtv.com. Archived from the original on 9 April 2011.
^ "Sujatha Passes Away - Sujatha - Aval Oru Thodakathai - Tamil Movie News". behindwoods.com.
^ "timeschennai.com - Diese Website steht zum Verkauf! - Informationen zum Thema timeschennai". ww1.timeschennai.com.
^ ^a ^b Srinivasan, Meera (6 April 2011). "Actor Sujatha dead". The Hindu. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c Reed, Sir Stanley (1984). "The Times of India directory and year book including who's who". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ Reed, Sir Stanley (1984). "The Times of India directory and year book including who's who". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
^ "నంది అవార్డు విజేతల పరంపర (1964–2008)" [A series of Nandi Award Winners (1964–2008)] (PDF). Information & Public Relations of Andhra Pradesh. Retrieved 21 August 2020.(in Telugu)
^ "Bebbuli (1980)". Indiancine.ma. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
^ "Kanoonige Saval (1984) Kannada movie: Cast & Crew". chiloka.com. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
^ "Bidisada Bandha (1989) Kannada movie: Cast & Crew". chiloka.com. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

External links[edit]

Sujatha at IMDb

[ndtv-1] "NDTVMovies.com : Bollywood News, Reviews, Celebrity News, Hollywood news, Entertainment News, Videos & Photos". movies.ndtv.com. Archived from the original on 9 April 2011.

[2] "Sujatha Passes Away - Sujatha - Aval Oru Thodakathai - Tamil Movie News". behindwoods.com.

[3] "timeschennai.com - Diese Website steht zum Verkauf! - Informationen zum Thema timeschennai". ww1.timeschennai.com.

[hindu-4] Srinivasan, Meera (6 April 2011). "Actor Sujatha dead". The Hindu. Retrieved 7 January 2015.

[ff1975-5] Reed, Sir Stanley (1984). "The Times of India directory and year book including who's who". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

[6] Reed, Sir Stanley (1984). "The Times of India directory and year book including who's who". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

[7] "నంది అవార్డు విజేతల పరంపర (1964–2008)" [A series of Nandi Award Winners (1964–2008)] (PDF). Information & Public Relations of Andhra Pradesh. Retrieved 21 August 2020.(in Telugu)

[8] "Bebbuli (1980)". Indiancine.ma. Retrieved 18 January 2024.

[9] "Kanoonige Saval (1984) Kannada movie: Cast & Crew". chiloka.com. Retrieved 5 February 2024.

[10] "Bidisada Bandha (1989) Kannada movie: Cast & Crew". chiloka.com. Retrieved 28 December 2023.

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v t e Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Actress
1972–1979	Jayalalithaa (1972) Jayalalithaa (1973) Lakshmi (1974) Sujatha (1975) Sujatha (1976) Sujatha (1977) Latha (1978) Shoba (1979)
1980–1999	Saritha (1980) Sridevi (1981) Poornima Jayaram (1982) Lakshmi (1983) Saritha (1984) Radha (1985) Radhika (1986) Radhika (1987) Archana (1988) Bhanupriya (1989) Radhika (1990) Gautami (1991) Revathi (1992) Revathi (1993) Revathi (1994) Manisha Koirala (1995) Shruti (1996) Meena (1997) Kausalya (1998) Ramya Krishnan (1999)
2000–2019	Jyothika (2001) Laila (2002) Simran (2003) Laila (2004) Sandhya (2005) Asin (2006) Bhavana (2007) Priyamani (2008) Parvathy Thiruvothu (2009) Pooja (2010)) Anjali (2011) Samantha (2012) Nayanthara (2013) Malavika Nair (2014) Nayanthara (2015) Ritika Singh (2016) Nayanthara (2017) Trisha (2018) Lijomol Jose (2020–2021)

v t e Filmfare Award for Best Telugu Actress
1972–1980	Jayalalithaa (1972) Vanisri (1973) Vanisri (1974) Vanisri (1975) Jayasudha (1976) Jayasudha (1977) Talluri Rameshwari (1978) Sujatha (1979) Jyothi (1980)
1981–2000	Radhika (1981) Jayasudha (1982) Jaya Prada (1983) Suhasini (1984) Vijayashanti (1985) Lakshmi (1986) Vijayashanti (1987) Bhanupriya (1988) Vijayashanti (1989) Vijayashanti (1990) Sridevi (1991) Revathi (1992) Vijayashanti (1993) Aamani (1994) Soundarya (1995) Tabu (1996) Vijayashanti (1997) Soundarya (1998) Soundarya (1999) Richa Pallod (2000)
2001–2018	Bhumika Chawla (2001) Sadha (2002) Asin (2003) Trisha (2004) Trisha (2005) Genelia D'Souza (2006) Trisha (2007) Swathi Reddy (2008) Anushka Shetty (2009) Anushka Shetty (2010) Nayanthara (2011) Samantha (2012) Nithya Menen (2013) Shruti Haasan (2014) Anushka Shetty (2015) Samantha (2016) Sai Pallavi (2017) Keerthy Suresh (2018)
2020–present	Sai Pallavi (2020–2021)