Tuesday Trivia! Star Director Manobala

If you walk into any theater playing a Tamil movie at any given point of time chances of Manobala featuring in it is very high.  For such is the popularity of the affable actor who has the talent of fitting into an ensemble cast and making his mark.  Few are aware that Manobala the director has made close to twenty five films and most of them starring the leading heroes of the time.

Manobala apprenticed under the trendsetter Bharathiraja and his contemporaries were Bhagyaraj and Manivannan.  His debut film as director was the Karthick- Suhasini starrer ‘Aagaya Gangai’ which was a youthful entertainer but his big break came two years later with ‘Pillai Nila’ a pure horror film starring Mohan, Radhika, Nalini, Sathyaraj and Jai Shankar.  To this day the film that had Baby Shalini as a possessed kid remains as one of the scariest movies that did not resort to hideous makeup or cliches but relied on clever writing and execution.

Manobala followed it up with the Vijayakanth-Radhika starrer ‘Sirai Paravai’ that gave equal importance to the hero, the female lead and the child Baby Shalini making it an all class hit.   Then came ‘Oorkavalan’ a rare Rajinikanth movie that had a strong multilayered  story told with all the commercial ingredients.

Manobala has helmed films of all the leading heroes of the time including Sivaji Ganesan, Rajinikanth, Vijayakanth, Sathyaraj, Prabhu, Karthick, Jayaram, Rahman, Ramki, Prakash Raj and Arun Pandian.  Vikram during his struggling years acted as the lead hero in a tele serial titled ‘Siragugal’ directed by Manobala.  The hallmark of all his work on celluloid and the tube is his continous attempts to tell strong stories laden with humour and action. 

Though Manobala has appeared in brief roles in Bharathiraja films it was K.S. Ravikumar’s ‘Natpukaga’ that released in 1998 that turned him into a full fledged comedian and he has sustained for twenty years.still going strong.  Now the veteran is also shining in the field by producing radically different films like ‘Sathuranga Vettai’, ‘Paambu Sattai’ and the upcoming ‘Sathuranga Vettai 2’.

Here is the List of movies directed by Manobala with front line heroes apart from 19 serials and 9 telefilms

1. Agaya Gangai  (1982) –   Karthik, Suhasini           
2. Naan Ungal Rasigan (1985) –   Mohan, Raadhika          
3. Pillai Nila (1985) – Mohan, Nalini        
4. Paaru Paaru Pattanam Paaru (1986) -Mohan, Ranjini
5. December 31 (1986) – Vishnuvardhan, Urvashi  (Kannada)
6. Sirai Paravai (1987) –  Vijayakanth, Raadhika
7. Dhoorathu Pachai (1987) – Karthik, Suhasini
8. Oorkavalan (1987) – Rajinikanth, Raadhika  
9. En Purushanthaan Enakku Mattumthaan (1989) – Vijayakanth, Suhasini          
10. Moodu Mandhiram (1989) – Prabhu, Rekha
11. Thendral Sudum (1989) – Nizhalgal Ravi, Raadhika  
12. Mera Pati Sirf Mera Hai (1990) – Jeetendra, Rekha (Hindi)
13. Mallu Vetti Minor (1990) –  Sathyaraj, Seetham , Shobana  
14. Vetri Padigal  (1991) –  Ramki, Nirosha          
15. Moondrezhuthil En Moochirukkum (1991) Vijayakanth, Rupini
16. Shenbaga Thottam (1992) – Selva, Rohini    
17. Mutrugai (1993) – C. Arunpandian, Bhanupriya, Ranjitha      
18. Karuppu Vellai (1993) – Rahman, Sukanya  
19. Paarambariyam (1993) – Sivaji Ganesan, B. Saroja Devi       
20. Nandhini (1997) – Prakash Raj, Suhasini        
21. Annai  (2000) –  Bhanupriya, Nassar
22. Siragugal (2001) – Vikram, Raadhika  Telefilm
23. Naina (2002) – Jayaram, Manya