Manivannan

S. Manivannan Rajagopal (31 July 1953 – 15 June 2013), better known by his mononym Manivannan, was an Indian film director, actor and activist who worked mainly in Tamil cinema and also worked in a few Telugu & Malayalam films. In a career spanning three decades, he went from being a story and dialogue writer for director Bharathiraja from 1980–82 to a successful director who thrived in experimenting with different genres, before becoming an actor. With over 400 films to his name, Manivannan was one of the most experienced actors in the field and directed exactly 50 films. Manivannan was mainly a supporting actor in films and often played the comedian, supporting character and villainous roles.

He supported various political parties, including the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. He later became affiliated with the Naam Tamilar Katchi and had long supported its ideology of Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism.

Personal life

Manivannan hailed from a small town called Sulur in Coimbatore District. He was born on 31 July 1953 to R S Maniam, a rice merchant, textile trader, and a well-known politician in Coimbatore and Maragatham who has contested in the elections and won a seat in the panchayat. Manivannan married Sengamalam, has a daughter and a son Raghu, who is acting in the films and is popularly known as Raghuvannan.

Career

Manivannan attended the Sulur Government Boy's High School and later enrolled at Government Arts College. While completing his pre-university course in Kovai, he became acquainted with Sathyaraj and became friends. According to Sathyaraj, he provided poor guidance to Manivannan and made him pursue a degree in history in advanced English, which made him struggle with topics such as Shakespeare, forcing him to drop out later. While still at college, Manivannan was bitten by the stage-bug and consequently he staged a few performances. Inspired by the impact the film ''Kizhake Pogum Rail'' (1978) made on him, he wrote a fan mail to the film-maker Bharathiraja and the letter ran to more than a hundred pages. Bharathiraja took him under his fold as an apprentice. Manivannan joined Bharathiraja's camp around 1979, when the director was acting in and was directing by P S Nivas, ''Kallukkul Eeram''.

He penned the story and dialogues for some of his mentor's films between 1980 and 1982 like ''Nizhalgal'', '' Tick Tick Tick'', ''Alaigal Oivathillai'' and ''Kaadhal Oviyam''. Manivannan assisted Bharathiraja in a handful of films like ''Koththa Jeevithaalu'' (Telugu), '' Red Rose'' (Hindi) starring Rajesh Khanna and ''Lovers'' (Hindi).He learned trade hard and fast within two years under Bharatiraja and by 1982 made his directorial début. He had also penned the story and dialogues for a bunch of other films like ''Lottery Ticket'' acted by Mohan and Prabhu, ''Agaya Gangai'' acted by Karthik, ''Nesam'' acted by Ajith Kumar. In ''Kodi Parakuthu'', directed by Bharathiraja, Manivannan did the villain's role.

Although Manivannan directed 50 films in Tamil and had around 34 films as box-office hits, he was most known for his acting skills among public. He was considered unique in the industry for his wisdom and his character roles. He had acted alongside many stars including Sivaji Ganesan, Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Sathyaraj, Karthik, Mohan, Madhavan, Vijay, Ajith Kumar, Surya and among others. He has starred in over 400 films. ''Amaidhi Padai'', directed by Manivannan, is believed to have given him headway as an actor. He started getting plush offers and was seen acting in as many as thirty films a year from 1990 to 2011.

Manivannan directed 50 films including a few ventures in Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi. As a director, he made films in different genres – from romance to thriller to drama. He made his directorial début with ''Gopurangal Saivathillai'' in 1982. The Hindu wrote that his film ''Amaidhi Padai'' (1994) "has set the standards for political satire in Tamil cinema".

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Manivannan prioritised his acting career. At the height of his acting career, six of his film released on the same day in January 1998. Certain directorial ventures which he had started including ''Aaruvathu Sinam'' featuring Sathyaraj and Prabhu, were delayed and then dropped. In 2013 he directed his 50th and last film ''Nagaraja Cholan MA, MLA'', a sequel to ''Amaidhi Padai''. Manivannan directed his best friend Sathyaraj in a good 25 films and gave 12 successive hits as the director of Tamil films with Sathyaraj as the lead hero – ''Jallikattu'', ''Chinna Thambi Periya Thambi'', ''Ganam Kortaar Avargale'', ''Manidhan Marivittan'', ''Ullathil Nalla Ullam'', ''Vazhkkaichakkaram'', ''Pudhu Manithan'', ''Therku Theru Machan'', ''Government Mapillai'', ''Amaidhipadai''.

His protégés include directors Vikraman, R K Selvamani, Sundar C, Seeman, K Selva Bharathy, Radha Bharathi, C V Sasikumar, E Ramadoss, Jeeva Balan and Rasu Madhuravan.

Politics

Manivannan was first a staunch supporter of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) as his father R S Maniam was the DMK town secretary of Sulur, which made Manivannan develop an interest in the ideology of the Dravidian movement. However, later he became a Marxist and an activist in the naxalite movement. He had political differences even with his father.

Manivannan was a Tamil patriot and joined the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) political party and campaigned for them during the 2006 Assembly elections. He later joined Naam Tamilar Katchi and has been as supporter of Tamil Eelam. Manivannan once said: "If I were born in Tamil Eelam, I would have certainly joined the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam as a warrior and sacrificed my life for the Eelam, since I am born in Tamil Nadu, there is Eelam feeling in me".

Death

Manivannan died shortly after the release of his 50th directorial venture ''Nagaraja Cholan MA, MLA'' due to a cardiac arrest (heart attack) on 15 June 2013 at the age of 59 in his Nesapakkam residence at Chennai. His body was wrapped in the flag of Tamil Eelam as he wished. Two months after his death, his wife died on 15 August 2013.

In 2021, Manivannan's bust and images were featured in the film ''Maanaadu'' as a tribute to the actor.

References

External links

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Manivannan
on Moviebuff

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1953 births
2013 deaths
Tamil comedians
Male actors from Tamil Nadu
Male actors in Tamil cinema
Tamil film directors
People from Coimbatore district
Telugu film directors
20th-century Indian film directors
21st-century Indian film directors
Indian male comedians
21st-century Indian male actors
20th-century Indian male actors
Film directors from Tamil Nadu
Indian male film actors