CHENNAI: Born in Galle in Sri Lanka in 1952, Sujatha entered the Tamil film industry in 1974 with an intense portrayal in ‘Aval Oru Thodarkadhai’ directed by K Balachandar. She shot to fame instantly with her portrayal of the haughty, free-thinking urban working woman shouldering the family’s responsibilities.
She was later paired with actors Sivaji Ganesan, Rajnikanth, Kamal Hassan and Vijaykumar.
Despite displaying her acting prowess through fiery characters in films like ‘Aval Oru Thodarkadhai’ and ‘Vidhi’, Sujatha was equally known for her performances in family dramas like ‘Mayangugiraal Oru Maadhu’, ‘Sentamizh Paattu’ and ‘Aval Varuvaala’.
She seldom resorted to glamorous roles and graduated to playing older women in the late 1980s.
Sujatha played a mother to actors Rajnikanth (‘Uzhaippaali’ and ‘Baba’) and Kamal Hassan (‘Mangamma Sabatham’, as his mother and wife) - with whom she was earlier paired as a heroine (‘Avargal’). Her other famous roles include that in ‘Annakili’, ‘Andaman Kadhali’, ‘Vidhi’, ‘Amaidhi Padai’ and ‘Villain’. She last acted in ‘Varalaaru’ in Tamil and ‘Sri Ramadasu’ in Telugu in 2006.
A Malayali, Sujatha acted in more than 200 films in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam. Actor Vijaykumar, who was paired with Sujatha in several films, including her debut ‘Aval Oru Thodarkadhai’, said the actress was very sincere in her profession, and was a talented artiste. “She was always a silent performer, but after her wedding, she chose to devote her time and energy completely towards her family and kept to herself even during film shoots. In the last few years, she detached herself from the film industry to a great extent, and did not even attend public events or functions,” said the actor, speaking to Express from Hyderabad.