Manorama & C. V. Sridhar Movies Together List — 6 Films

The shape of the work

The 1960s belonged to Meenda Sorgam; the 1990s to Thanthu Vitten Ennai. Manorama acted in every film; C. V. Sridhar directed all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Sridhar was a huge star director in the 60s, but by 1973 his career was sliding. Manorama was already a comedy queen. He cast her in 'Alaigal' not as a comedian but as a serious character — a gamble that paid off and revived his dramatic side.
• On the sets of 'Alaigal', Sridhar let Manorama improvise her lines. She was known for ad-libbing, but he was a strict script director. He later admitted she taught him to loosen up — and that her spontaneity saved several scenes from being too melodramatic.
• After 'Alaigal' flopped at the box office, Sridhar didn't call Manorama for 11 years. She thought he was angry. But when he finally rang her for 'Alaya Deepam' in 1984, he said, 'I was waiting for the right script. Only you can play this mother.' She cried on the phone.
• Their 1991 film 'Thanthu Vitten Ennai' is infamous — it's the only Tamil film where Manorama played a ghost. The director Sridhar was so desperate for a hit that he wrote a horror-comedy around her. It bombed so badly that neither worked with each other again.
• Manorama once told a magazine: 'Sridhar sir was the only director who made me cry on screen without using glycerin. He'd just whisper the scene to me before the take, and I'd break down.'