Life is beautiful
AMBIKA VARMA
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Manju Pillai has made her mark as a comedienne.
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Photo: C. Ratheesh Kumar
Versatile actor: Manju Pillai
Manju Pillai's ingenuity and sense of humour have helped her match her wits with the best actors in the Malayalam film industry. Granddaughter of S.P. Pillai, one of the best comedians of Mollywood, Manju Pillai says that acting is in her blood. .
Manju's innate talent was spotted by film director, V.N. Mohandas, who happened to see her in a show organised by Soorya Krishnamurthy. Mohandas offered her a role in his serial, `Sathyavum Mithyayum' and 15-year-old Manju never looked back. With its success, more offers came her way. `Thathamme Poochapoocha,' a telefilm, won her accolades as an actor. I have always been content doing serials rather than films,'' she says.
The reason: "I find many good roles in films, but I also find capable actors to do them.'' However, she did a few remarkable roles in films in between. Among them are `Golantharavarthakal,' `Mazhayethum munpe,' `Irattakuttikalude achan,' `Kathiloru kinnaram,' `Guru sishyan,' `Mr. Butler,' `Swayamvarapanthal,' and so on. Although many films still come her way, she seems to prefer serials to films. After her marriage to cameraman Sujith Vasudevan, son of thayambaka exponent Sadanam Vasudevan, and the birth of her two-year-old daughter, Manju likes to take things easy. "I was pregnant when I was working in `Veendum Chila Veetukaryangal.' `Life Is Beautiful,' in which I am working now, is a continuation of `Veenudum Chila Veetukaryangal," she says.
Manju also does negative roles in serials such as `Kavyanjali.' Manju won the 2000-2001 State Award for the best actress for V.N. Mohandas's serial `Devaranjini' and Venu Nair's `Sethuvinte Kathakal.' She also bagged the Film Critics' Award in the same year. In 2002-2003, she again won the State Award for the Best Actress for Ali Akbar's `Sundaranmarum Sundarikalum.'
"Once I don make-up for a role, I become that character. When I remove my makeup, I am back to my old self. This makes it easier to move between comic and negative characters,'' she says.
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