Chennai: While letting the world know that his mother, the legendary Tamil actress Manorama, died following a heart attack, her only son Boopathi said - "My world has fallen apart".
Manorama got married in 1964, around the time she was establishing a foothold in cinema. However, her husband divorced her within two years, leaving their son in her care.
"Even when I stood before the camera, I would be crying within. I kept all my sorrows away to live for my son," she had said once.
Guinness record holder
A versatile actress, Manorama had acted in over 1,200 Tamil films, rubbing shoulders with top stars like MGR and Sivaji Ganesan in a brilliant career spanning over six decades.
She holds a Guinness World Record for acting in more than 1,000 films.
Manorama also holds the unique distinction of having been in plays and films with five chief ministers.
She played the female lead in the plays written, directed and acted in by former Tamil Nadu chief minister C.N. Annadurai besides appearing in plays with another chief minister M. Karunanidhi.
She also acted in films with MG Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa, both of whom later became chief ministers.
Manorama also acted in Telugu films with NT Rama Rao who went on to become chief minister of the erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh.
Aachi (mother), as she was affectionately called, Manorama was awarded the Padma Shri in 2002 and also won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for Pudhiya Pathai in 1989.
(With agency inputs)
