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Subramaniyan Karuppaiya (born 25 May 1939), known by his stage name Goundamani, is an Indian actor and comedian who works in
Tamil cinema Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Ch ...
. He is known for his comic duo partnership in
Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
films with fellow actor
Senthil Senthil (born 23 March 1951) is an Indian comedy actor who works in Tamil cinema. He is famous for his comedian roles along with fellow actor Goundamani. The pair dominated the Tamil industry as comedians in the 1980s and 90s. He has the ability to give counter dialogues on the spot and off the script on stage and during shooting. He was at his peak of his career as a comedian in Tamil cinema for nearly 40 years. Despite his popularity, Goundamani is known for being a social recluse.


Early life

Goundamani was born as Subramaniyan on 25 May 1939 in Vallakundapuram, a village near Udumalaipettai in
Coimbatore Coimbatore (Tamil: kōyamputtūr, ), also known as Kovai (), is one of the major Metropolitan cities of India, metropolitan cities in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyy ...
, Tamil Nadu, India. His father is Karuppaiya and his mother is Annammal. He married Shanthi in 1963 and has 2 daughters.


Career

On having interest in acting, he went to
Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
and initially started acting in theatre dramas and then entered into the
Tamil film industry Tamil cinema is the segment of cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to the production of Film, motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the nam ...
(Kollywood) due to his strong theatrical background. He portrayed a role of Ramasamy Gounder in an play and many started to call him Gounder which led him to add it to his real name Mani and named himself Goundamani. He made his film acting debut in '' Server Sundaram'' where he featured in a minor and uncredited role as a driver. He made his full-fledged debut in 1977 film ''
16 Vayathinile ''16 Vayathinile'' (; read as ''Pathinaaru Vayathinile'') is a 1977 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language romantic drama film co-written and directed by Bharathirajaa in his directorial debut. The film stars Kamal Haasan, Sridevi, and Rajinika ...
'' where he played the role of Rajinikanth's sidekick. His role in the 1977 P. Bharathiraja directorial was also Goundamani's first credited role in his film career. Goundamani has played lead roles in a few films during his career, but is predominantly a supporting actor playing comedy roles. While performing roles of a solo comedian in films, he often co-starred with
Senthil Senthil (born 23 March 1951) is an Indian comedy actor who works in Tamil cinema. He is famous for his comedian roles along with fellow actor Goundamani. The pair dominated the Tamil industry as comedians in the 1980s and 90s.comedy duo. The pair was described as "Tamil cinema's
Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...
" and have performed slapstick humour in many
Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
films from the mid-1980s until the early 2000s. Both of them are also remembered as partners-in-crime and also known for their chemistry. Both Goundamani and Senthil were critically acclaimed for their career defining performance in Gangai Amaren's directorial '' Karakattakkaran'' (1989). Karakattakaran also coincidentally marked Goundamani and Senthil's 100th film as comedians together. Senthil and Goundamani both reportedly spent full 28 days on set during the shooting of the film. Goundamani's phrases in one of the comedy scenes featured in Karakattakaran, "Adhu enda enna pathu andha kelvi ketta?" () when Senthil asked him "Intha cara vachiruntha Sopanasundhariya yaaru vaichiruka" () became the highlight of the film and later became viral internet memes. Goundamani's comedy scene from '' Thangamana Raasa'' (1989) is also best remembered by critics for dreaming of singing under the music of Ilaiyaraja when he was spending a jail term for petty crime. His one line phrases "Start the music", "Arasiyal la ithellam saatharnamappa" () and "Kosu thollai thaanga mudiyala pa" () which featured in the 1992 film ''Suriyan'' also later became a viral meme and trendsetter in Internet. After recuperating from
diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...
and respiratory illnesses during the late 2000s, he featured in '' Vaaimai'' and also played the lead role in '' 49-O'', which began productions in 2013. It was directed by debutant Arokiadoss, a former assistant of
Gautham Vasudev Menon Gautham Vasudev Menon (born 25 February 1973) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, film producer and actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, Tamil film industry. He has also directed Telugu cinema, Telugu, Hindi cinema, Hindi and Ma ...
. In 2019, he was approached by film director R. Kannan and actor Santhanam to cast him in a supporting role for their film project but Goundamani reportedly turned down the offer as he was sceptical about the role.


Filmography


1960s


1970s


1980s


1990s


2000s


2010s


2020s


References


External links

* {{authority control Tamil comedians Living people Male actors in Tamil cinema People from Coimbatore district 1938 births Indian male film actors