Kamal Haasan & Manorama Movies Together List — 26 Films

The shape of the work

The 1960s belonged to Kalathur Kannamma; the 1990s to Indian. Kamal Haasan acted in every film; Manorama acted in all of them. Strictly Tamil cinema — they never crossed industries together.

Partnership facts

• Kamal Haasan was just a child actor when he first shared screen space with Manorama in Kalathur Kannamma (1960). She was already a seasoned comedian. He later said she treated him like her own son on set, feeding him snacks between takes.
• In Enakkul Oruvan (1984), Manorama played Kamal's mother. Their scenes together had a raw, unpolished rhythm — she would often break into spontaneous dialogue, and Kamal would adjust his performance mid-take to match her energy. That film is still considered their finest dramatic pairing.
• Their comedy track in Kalyanaraman (1979) — where Manorama plays a loud, nosy neighbor and Kamal a hapless young man — became a template for Tamil comedy duos in the 1980s. Goundamani and Senthil later admitted they studied Manorama-Kamal's timing from this film.
• Manorama was the only co-star Kamal called 'Amma' off-screen. She once revealed that he would visit her house unannounced just to eat her biryani, and they'd gossip for hours about other actors. Their friendship lasted until her death in 2015.
• Kamal Haasan once said about Manorama: 'She could make me laugh with just a look. I learned more about comedy from her than from any director.' He said this in a 2015 interview after her passing.
• In Singaravelan (1992), Manorama played a comic role while Kamal played a double role. She deliberately slowed her dialogue delivery in their scenes together so that Kamal's rapid-fire comic timing would stand out more. She later told a magazine she 'fed him the lines like a mother feeds a child.'