Muthumani Somasundaran is an Indian actress who mainly works in

Malayalam films Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, ''Elippathayam' ...

. She made her cinematic debut through the Malayalam film ''

Rasathanthram ''Rasathanthram'' () is a 2006 Indian Malayalam-language family drama film written and directed by Sathyan Anthikkad and starring Mohanlal and Meera Jasmine, with Bharath Gopi,Innocent, Oduvil Unnikrishnan, and Mamukkoya in prominent roles. The ...

'' directed by

Sathyan Anthikkad Sathyan Anthikad is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and lyricist who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. In a career spanning five decades he has directed more than 50 films, been the lyricist for 12 films and been the scriptwriter f ...

's in 2006.

Early life and education

Muthumani was born in

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the Central Business District of the city of Kochi in Kerala, India and has lent its name to the Ernakulam district. Many major establishments, including the Kerala High Court, the office of the Kochi Municipal Corporation a ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

to Somasundaran and Shirly Somasundaran. They were active in the theatre field, which influenced her to enter into the theatre plays. She went to St. Mary's Convent Girls High School,

. She has worked as a child artist for

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

. She learned dance but later moved onto mono-act. She topped the mono-act competitions in the

Kerala School Kalolsavam Kerala School Kalolsavam is an annual event conducted by the Government of Kerala, featuring several art competitions for high school and higher secondary school students of Kerala. The festival was started in 1956, and till 2022, it was call ...

for nine consecutive years. She obtained her graduate degree in Law from The National University of Advanced Legal Studies (N.U.A.L.S), Kochi.

Career

Theatre

Muthumani joined and actively participated in the Amateur Theatre Wing. She played the central character, Vasundhara in ''Oru Dalit Yuvathiyude Kadana Katha'', based on M. Mukundan's novelette. She was closely associated with the theatre groups in

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

from her school days. It was while doing her Plus Two education that she travelled to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

for the

Ancient Greek Theatre Ancient Greek theatre was a Theatre, theatrical culture that flourished in ancient Greece from 700 BC. The Polis, city-state of Classical Athens, Athens, which became a significant cultural, political, and religious place during this period, was ...

Festival to represent

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

under the banner ‘Lokadharmi’ which were the only team from the Asia- Pacific region. The play was based on the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

character

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...

in which she played a 35-year-old mother of two. She won the best actress for the play ''Mukkanji'' at the Theatre Olympiad held in

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of S ...

. She donned the role of Chethu, a masculine woman in the play. That honour eventually got her the role in

's Malayalam film, ''

''. She also did a play called ''Lanka Lakshmi'' in which she played the Mandodari. She acted in a Malayalam adaptation of ''

The God of Small Things ''The God of Small Things'' is a family drama novel written by Indian writer Arundhati Roy. Roy's debut novel, it is a story about the childhood experiences of fraternal twins whose lives are destroyed by the "Love Laws" prevalent in 1960s Ker ...

'', where she acted as Rahel and as

Arundhati Roy Suzanna Arundhati Roy (born 24 November 1961) is an Indian author best known for her novel ''The God of Small Things'' (1997), which won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and became the best-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. S ...

. She also played the role of

Kannagi Kannagi ( ta, கண்ணகி) sometimes spelled Kannaki, is a legendary Tamil woman who forms the central character of the Tamil epic '' Cilappatikaram''. Kannagi is described as the chaste woman who stays with her husband despite his unfa ...

in '' Madurai Kandam'', the last segment of ''

Silappatikaram ''Cilappatikāram'' ( ta, சிலப்பதிகாரம் ml, ചിലപ്പതികാരം,IPA: ʧiləppət̪ikɑːrəm, ''lit.'' "the Tale of an Anklet"), also referred to as ''Silappathikaram'' or ''Silappatikaram'', is the e ...

''.

Film

Muthumani made her film debut in

's, ''

'' opposite

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeare ...

, in which she played the character who has a crush on the character played by Mohanlal. After that she has acted several notable

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

films. Some of her notable roles were in ''

Kadal Kadannu Oru Maathukutty ''Kadal Kadannu Oru Maathukutty'' is a 2013 Indian Malayalam comedy film written and directed by Ranjith and starring Mammootty in the lead role of an Achayan from Kozhencherry, Central Travancore and also in a cameo as himself. The cast includ ...

'', '' How Old Are You?'', ''

Oru Indian Pranayakadha ''Oru Indian Pranayakadha'' () is a 2013 Malayalam-language romantic comedy film written by Ikbal Kuttipuram and directed by Sathyan Anthikad starring Fahadh Faasil and Amala Paul. The film was a sleeper hit despite competition from ''Drishyam' ...

'', ''

Njaan ''Njaan'' ( English: ''"I"'') is a 2014 Indian Malayalam-language period drama film directed by Ranjith with Dulquer Salmaan in the lead role, along with Jyothi Krishna, Anumol and newcomer Shruthi Ramachandran as the female leads. The movie ...

'' and ''

Lukka Chuppi ''Lukka Chuppi'' () is a 2015 Indian Malayalam-language drama film co-produced and directed by Bash Mohammed and written by Gafoor Arackkal from a story by Mohammed. The film features an ensemble cast led by Jayasurya, Murali Gopy, Joju Georg ...

''.

Personal life

Muthumani completed her Bachelor's in Law from

National University of Advanced Legal Studies The National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS) is a public law school and a National Law University located in Kochi, India. It is the first and only National Law University in the State of Kerala and one of the 23 NLUs in India. ...

. After completing law, she enrolled as an advocate in Kerala High Court,

. She is now focusing on, Prerana, a life-skill training centre, which "gives need-based training for students, teachers and corporates." She is married to screenwriter/director Arun P. R., who director the 2019 Malayalam Movie

Finals Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

Filmography

Television career

*''Njnannu Sthree'' (

Amrita TV Amrita TV is an Indian Malayalam Language general Entertainment television channel owned by Mata Amritanandamayi Math. It was launched in 2005. Theme song The theme song, "Lokasamastha," was composed by Rahulraj for Mata Amritanandamayi's 50t ...

) as Anchor *''Kuttikalavara'' (Flowers TV) as anchor *''Chandralekha'' (

Reporter TV Reporter TV is an Indian Malayalam language free to air news channel broadcasting in the Malayalam language. The channel is owned by Indo Asian News Channel Pvt Limited based at Kochi. The channel was launched on 13 May 2011. M. V. Nikesh K ...

) as anchor *''Ithalukal'' (

Asianet News Asianet News (formerly Asianet Global) is an Indian free-to-air Malayalam-language news channel owned by Asianet News Network. Asianet News Network operates as a subsidiary of Jupiter Entertainment Ventures (Jupiter Capital Ventures). The chan ...

) as Anchor *''Chakkarapanthal'' (

Mathrubhumi News Mathrubhumi News is a Malayalam-language television news channel owned by '' Mathrubhumi Printing And Publishing Co. Ltd.'' The news channel was launched on 23 January 2013, with the lighting of the traditional lamp by then MD late M. P. Veerend ...

) as Anchor

Dubbing credit

* for

Padmapriya Padmapriya (born Padmalochani; died 16 November 1997) was an Indian actress who worked in Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. Her first movie was in Telugu, ''Adapillala Tandri'' (1974). In Kannada, she debuted with ''Bangarada Gudi'' ...

- ''

Iyobinte Pusthakam ''Iyobinte Pusthakam'' () is a 2014 Indian Malayalam-language period thriller film directed by Amal Neerad. It stars an ensemble cast including Fahadh Faasil, Lal, Jayasurya, Isha Sharvani, Jinu Joseph, Chemban Vinod Jose, Vinayakan, Padmap ...

'' (2014)

References

{{authority control Living people 21st-century Indian women lawyers 21st-century Indian actresses Actresses from Kochi Indian film actresses Actresses in Malayalam cinema Indian stage actresses Actresses in Malayalam theatre Actresses in Malayalam television Indian television actresses 21st-century Indian lawyers Year of birth missing (living people)