Theni Kunjarammal (died 18 April 2008) was an Indian actress and

playback singer A playback singer, as they are usually known in South Asian cinema, or ghost singer in Western cinema, is a singer whose performance is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and the performers lip-sync the ...

who has worked in 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 ...

. As a playback singer, she has worked extensively with

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinem ...

during the late 1990s and early 2000s for folk songs, while also regularly collaborating with

Harris Jayaraj J. Harris Jayaraj (born 8 January 1975) is an Indian composer from Tamil Nadu. He composes soundtracks predominantly for Tamil cinema, Tamil films, while also having composed for a few films in Cinema of Andhra Pradesh, Telugu and two films i ...

Career

As an actress, Kunjarammal is best known for her roles as an old woman in a rural village, and made a breakthrough with her performance in ''

Karuththamma ''Karuthamma'' is a 1994 Indian Tamil-language drama film produced and directed by Bharathiraja from a story by M. Rathnakumar. The film stars Raja, Rajashree and Maheswari, with Saranya, Periyar Dasan, Ponvannan, Vadivukkarasi, Vaani, Va ...

'' (1994) as a woman who feeds insecticide to baby girls. She later reprised the role in

Vivek Vivek (or Bibek/Bivek in some regions) is a masculine given name that is popular in South Asia, particularly in India and Nepal. It is of Sanskrit origin and means "wisdom" and/or "conscience". Vivek may refer to: People * Vivek (actor) (1961–2 ...

's comedy track in ''

Kadhal Sadugudu ''Kadhal Sadugudu'' () is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language romance film written and directed by V. Z. Durai and produced by S. S. Chakravarthy. The film stars Vikram, Priyanka Trivedi, Prakash Raj, and Vivek. The music was composed by Deva with ...

'' (2003). Theni Kunjarammal has also worked a singer in films and has regularly collaborated with

on folk songs. The duo first worked together on "Pettai Rap" from ''

Kaadhalan ''Kaadhalan'' () is a 1994 Indian Tamil-language romantic thriller film directed by S. Shankar and produced by K. T. Kunjumon, who co-wrote the story. The film stars Prabhu Deva and Nagma (in her debut in Tamil cinema), alongside Vadivel ...

'' (1994), and have since continued to work on albums including '' Muthu'' (1995), ''

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

'' (1999) and ''

Sillunu Oru Kaadhal ''Sillunu Oru Kaadhal'' () is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by Krishna. It stars Suriya and Jyothika, while Bhoomika, Shriya Sharma, Sukanya, Vadivelu and Santhanam play supporting roles. The film's score and sou ...

'' (2006). She has also worked for other composers including

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, multi-instrumentalist, lyricist and playback singer popular for his works in Indian cinema, predominately in Tamil cinema, Tamil in addition ...

in ''

Virumaandi ''Virumaandi'' is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written, co-edited, produced, and directed by Kamal Haasan, who also performed in the title role. The cast also includes Pasupathy, Napoleon, Abhirami, Rohini, Shanmugarajan a ...

'' (2004) and

in ''

Arul Arul is an Indian male given name and may refer to: People Given name * Arul Chinnaiyan * Arul John, NASA engineer * Arul Kanda Kandasamy (born 1976), Malaysian executive * Arul Kumar Jambunathan, Malaysian politician * Arul Pragasam (1948–2019 ...

'' (2004).

Personal life

In June 2006, Kunjarammal joined the political party,

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK, also abbreviated as ADMK), also shortened to Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, is an Indian Regionalism (politics), regional political party with great influence in the Federated state, sta ...

(AIADMK) in the presence of its general secretary

Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016), popularly known as Amma, was an Indian actress, politician, and philanthropist who served as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years between 1991 and 2016. She ...

. Upon her acceptance into the party, Kunjarammal performed a song for Jayalalithaa on stage.

Notable filmography

;Films *''

Vedham Pudhithu ''Vedham Pudhithu'' ( ) is a 1987 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed and co-written by Bharathiraja. It is based on the play ''Saadhigal Illaiyadi Papa'' by K. Kannan, who wrote the film adaptation's dialogues and became known as ''Vedh ...

'' (1987) *''

Pudhea Paadhai ''Pudhea Paadhai'' () is a 1989 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by R. Parthiban in his directorial debut. The film stars Parthiban as an inhumane ruffian who gets reformed by his rape victim ( Seetha), while V. K. Ramas ...

'' (1989) *'' Maruthu Pandi'' (1990) *''

Archana IAS ''Archana IAS'' is a 1991 Indian Tamil-language political action drama film directed by A. Jagannathan. The film stars Sithara, R. Sarathkumar and Siva, with Janagaraj, Vijayakumar, Srividya, Thalapathy Dinesh, Senthil and Delhi Ganesh ...

'' (1991) *'' Amma Ponnu'' (1993) *''

'' (1994) *''

Thaai Manasu ''Thaai Manasu'' () is a 1994 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by Kasthuri Raja. The film stars Saravanan, Suvarna Mathew, Babloo Prithiveeraj and Meera, with Vijayakumar, Manorama, Goundamani, Senthil and Karikala ...

'' (1994) *''

Naan Petha Magane ''Naan Petha Magane'' () is a 1995 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by V. Sekhar. The film stars Manorama, Nizhalgal Ravi, Radhika and Urvashi. It was released on 15 January 1995. Although initially received with some protest, the fi ...

'' (1995) *'' Mannukku Mariyadhai'' (1995) *''

Bharathi Kannamma ''Bharathi Kannamma'' () is a 1997 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Cheran (director), Cheran in his directorial debut , starring R. Parthiban and Meena (actress), Meena. The film marks Cheran's ...

'' (1997) *''

Gopura Deepam ''Gopura Deepam'' is a 1997 Indian Tamil-language film written and directed by Ramarajan. The film stars him, Sukanya, R. Sundarrajan and Senthil. It was released on 15 January 1997. Cast Soundtrack The music was composed by Soundary ...

'' (1997) *'' Rathna'' (1998) *''

Kizhakkum Merkkum ''Kizhakkum Merkkum'' ( ) is a 1998 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by Kalanjiyam. The film stars Napoleon, Nassar, Devayani and Geetha, with Manivannan, Thalaivasal Vijay, Vichithra, Theni Kunjarammal, Kalyanjiyam, and Chaplin ...

'' (1998) *''

Unakkaga Ellam Unakkaga ''Unakkaga Ellam Unakkaga'' () is a 1999 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Sundar C, starring Karthik and Rambha in the lead roles with Goundamani, Vivek, Vinu Chakravarthy, Anju among others in supporting ro ...

'' (1999) *''

'' (1999) *'' Kushi'' (2000) *''

Budget Padmanabhan ''Budget Padmanabhan'' is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language comedy film directed by T. P. Gajendran. The film stars Prabhu and Ramya Krishnan. It won first place in the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Family Film. Plot When he was a young boy ...

'' (2000) *''

12B ''12B'' is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy drama film written, cinematographed and directed by Jeeva, with dialogues by Sujatha; it is his directorial debut. The film stars Shaam in his debut with Simran and Jyothika in lead rol ...

'' (2001) (uncredited) * '' Kaadhal Sugamanathu'' (2003) *''

'' (2003) *''

Whistle A whistle is a musical instrument which produces sound from a stream of gas, most commonly air. It is a type of Fipple, fipple flute, and may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a s ...

'' (2003) *'' Jore'' (2004) *''

'' (2004) *''

Devathaiyai Kanden ''Devathaiyai Kanden'' () is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Boopathy Pandian in his directorial debut. It stars Dhanush and Sridevi Vijaykumar, while Kunal and Karunas play supporting roles. The film ...

'' (2005) *''

Thirupaachi ''Thirupaachi'' is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language masala film written and directed by Perarasu (in his directorial debut) and produced by R. B. Choudary under Super Good Films. The film stars Vijay, alongside Trisha, Mallika, J. Livingston, ...

'' (2005) *''

Sivakasi Sivakasi is a city in Virudhunagar District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The city is known for firecrackers and match factories that produce 70% of the country's output. The printing industries in Sivakasi produce 30% of the total diaries ...

'' (2005) *''

Paramasivan ''Paramasivan'' is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by P. Vasu and produced by S. Ramesh Babu. The film stars Ajith Kumar in the main lead role alongside Laila, Vivek, Prakash Raj and Jayaram. It was releas ...

'' (2006) *''

Theekuchi ''Theekuchi'' () is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by A. L. Raja. The film stars Jai Varma and newcomer Mythriya, while Vadivelu and Ashish Vidyarthi play supporting roles. The music was composed by Srikanth Deva. The film wa ...

'' (2008)

Television

2004-2005 Krishna Cottage (

Jaya TV Jaya TV HD is a Tamil language satellite television channel based in Chennai, India. Jaya TV HD is also broadcast to the expatriate Tamil community via various media partnerships. Hemant Sahai of HSA had Jaya TV HD as his first client. Jaya TV ...

) Maya Machantra (STAR Vijay)

Notable discography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kunjarammal, Theni 2008 deaths Indian women playback singers Tamil playback singers Indian film actresses Indian Tamil people Actresses in Tamil cinema 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Indian women comedians Tamil comedians Actresses from Tamil Nadu Women musicians from Tamil Nadu 21st-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian women singers 20th-century Indian singers 20th-century Indian women singers Year of birth missing