She starred in over 150 Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada films
Suhasini Mani Ratnam, commonly known as Suhasini is an award winning south Indian actress. She made her film debut in 1980 with the Tamil movie Nenjathai Killathe.
Suhasini was born in Chennai, the daughter of actor of Charu Hasan - the elder brother of Kamal Hassan. In 1988, she married Mani Ratnam.
The couple have a 15-year old son. Suhasini is a trained Cinematographer , the first girl student to graduate from the Madras Film institute.
In 1996, Suhasini stepped into direction, helming her first film Indira. She also wrote the screenplay for the film. The project was produced by G.V films. She and her husband Mani Ratnam, are both involved in the running of their production company Madras Talkies, along with G. Srinivasan.
She won the coveted National Film Award for Best Actress in 1986 for her role in the 1985 Tamil film Sindhu Bhairavi, directed by K. Balachander.
She has acted in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada as well as Malayalam films. She was introduced to Malayalam cinema through Padmarajan's Koodevide 1983, which also featured Mammootty. Her role in the AFI Fest nominated feature Vaanaprastham (1999), which starred Mohanlal was particularly well received.
Suhasini is a good costume designer and a hobby hairstylist. She is also a very social and friendly co-star. She has helped a lot of her close friends like Sumalatha, Radhika Sarathkumar, Revathy, Vijayashanthi and Radha with their hair styles and make up. During the tough times of Radhika Sarathkumar, Suhasini has been very protective of her and lent a shoulder.
Suhasini about Chiranjeevi And Manchupallaki
"The film is about a platonic friendship between five guys and a very special but simple girl! I played the role of the girl, and I die at the end. I was still at the film school when I acted in the Tamil version of the film! Rajeshekaran sir was my lecturer in the film institute and his brother Jayachandran was my classmate. When they were working on the script, it was Jayachandran who suggested my name for the movie. The film was produced by Vadivelu, the fitness master for my uncle Kamalhasan.
I agreed to do the film on one condition: that I would still attend the school too. In order to accommodate that condition, they shot from 6 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. I used to start at 5:30 a.m. at my home to attend the shooting with makeup, albeit minimal. At 10 a.m. again, I used to clean the makeup in the car on the way to the school, attended the school at least after the first period. That's why one can observe most scenes either in morning or evening backdrop. I didn't take any remuneration for the film. All lead artistes in the Tamil version were newcomers, yet the film is a big hit and the name of the film is PALAVANAI CHOLEI. I did Robert sir's second film also, which was an experimental film too". ...In Telugu, this was my second film after Bharathiraja's Kottha Jeevithalu. Until my exams were completed in August '81, I was not concentrating on acting career seriously. When Manchu Pallaki was offered, I was done with my studies. Thus, I started taking my career more seriously with this film. Honestly speaking, I personally think that the Telugu version was much better than the Tamil version! Even, I think I look better in Telugu than in Tamil. I was paid almost equal – probably ten to fifteen thousand rupees less - compared to the hero's remuneration in Telugu! I still remember Chiranjeevi gaaru grumbling about it... "How come a new heroine gets as much amount as an already established hero?" - This was his point, and it was genuine too, of course! ...If I should believe what I heard, his exact question was to know if I was receiving high remuneration because I was Kamal Hasan's brother's daughter. ...It was nice of him to do the role still, where his was one of the five male leads and the film actually revolves around the female lead!
...I met Chiranjeevi gaaru in the flight. He was sitting next to me in the flight and said "If you have any problems with food or accommodation, please let me know, since you're a newcomer in Telugu.", and after a pause, he added "I can only listen to your problems but cannot help in any way."(" meeku Emannaa samasyalu vaste cheppadni... vinipedataa kaanii emi cheyyalenu!") (Laughs). On the sets, he used to tease me in Tamil, singing a song, along with the other four male leads (Rajendra Prasad, Saichand, Narayana Rao, and Girish), which irritated me and I told them the same. Then, in order to tease me in another way still, he asked the other four to not talk to me so that I'll be annoyed and will say sorry (" aa ammaayiki chaalaa pogaru. manam maatlaadakundaa unte appudu tagguntundi."). But the other four used to come to me when he was not there and used to give me Tamil magazines, offer a masala dosa, or interact in some other way. After four days, I revealed to Chiranjeevi that he was the only one who was not talking to me but rest of them became good friends. He was surprised first, but soon he became a good friend. ...My father liked the subject so much that he took distribution rights in Nellore along with a friend. This was not as a part of my remuneration, though.
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...In Telugu, this was my second film after Bharathiraja's Kottha Jeevithalu. Until my exams were completed in August '81, I was not concentrating on acting career seriously. When Manchu Pallaki was offered, I was done with my studies. Thus, I started taking my career more seriously with this film. Honestly speaking, I personally think that the Telugu version was much better than the Tamil version! Even, I think I look better in Telugu than in Tamil. I was paid almost equal – probably ten to fifteen thousand rupees less - compared to the hero's remuneration in Telugu! I still remember Chiranjeevi gaaru grumbling about it... "How come a new heroine gets as much amount as an already established hero?" - This was his point, and it was genuine too, of course! ...If I should believe what I heard, his exact question was to know if I was receiving high remuneration because I was Kamal Hasan's brother's daughter. ...It was nice of him to do the role still, where his was one of the five male leads and the film actually revolves around the female lead!
...I met Chiranjeevi gaaru in the flight. He was sitting next to me in the flight and said "If you have any problems with food or accommodation, please let me know, since you're a newcomer in Telugu.", and after a pause, he added "I can only listen to your problems but cannot help in any way."(" meeku Emannaa samasyalu vaste cheppadni... vinipedataa kaanii emi cheyyalenu!") (Laughs). On the sets, he used to tease me in Tamil, singing a song, along with the other four male leads (Rajendra Prasad, Saichand, Narayana Rao, and Girish), which irritated me and I told them the same. Then, in order to tease me in another way still, he asked the other four to not talk to me so that I'll be annoyed and will say sorry (" aa ammaayiki chaalaa pogaru. manam maatlaadakundaa unte appudu tagguntundi."). But the other four used to come to me when he was not there and used to give me Tamil magazines, offer a masala dosa, or interact in some other way. After four days, I revealed to Chiranjeevi that he was the only one who was not talking to me but rest of them became good friends. He was surprised first, but soon he became a good friend. ...My father liked the subject so much that he took distribution rights in Nellore along with a friend. This was not as a part of my remuneration, though.
