Shanmugasundari

Shanmugasundari Biography

Shanmugasundari was a Tamil film actress who appeared in more than 750 films. She has been associated with Tamil cinema since golden era of early 1960s till early 2000s, and she spent 5 decades in the cine world portraying different shades of character roles. Though she did different kinds of roles on celluloid, her comic roles were noticed most and her screen chemistry with Vadivelu for several comic scenes has earned her a lot of appreciation. She appeared as Vadivelu’s mother in many Tamil movies in the 1990s. She passed away in 2012 aged 75. Her daughter T. K. Kala is also an actress and playback singer.

Shanmugasundari was born in Tamil Nadu, British India in the year 1937. She initially was a child artist who worked in plays and later got promoted to big screen. She started acting at a tender age of only 5 and was associated with the same field for many decades till early 2000s. She was away from limelight for the last one decade till her death. She worked in films for long 45 years playing supporting roles in around 750 films. Thus she became a part of several iconic Tamil films for many decades and also shared screen space with renowned artists of two or three generations.

She shared screen space with M. G. Ramachandran in Idhayakkani, Neerum Neruppum, Kannan en Kadhalan and En Annan, and with Sivaji Ganeshan in Lakshmi Kalyanam and Vadivukku Valaikaappu. In 1983 state government of Tamil Nadu honoured her with the prestigious Kalaimamani Award for her contributions towards Tamil cinema. Shanmugasundari married singer Thiruchi Loganathan and the couple had 5 daughters, of whom T. K. Kala joined film field later.

Published: February 27, 2019

Updated: February 27, 2019