Padmavathy Iyengar, better known by her

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

, Menaka (born 27 August 1963), is an Indian actress and film producer. She made her debut in the 1979

Tamil film Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywo ...

''Ramayi Vayasukku Vanthutta''. In an acting career spanning from 1980 to 1987, Menaka appeared in over 125 films as a heroine, mostly in

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 wa ...

. She also appeared in few

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

and

Hindi films Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

. She married film producer

G. Suresh Kumar G. Suresh Kumar is an Indian film producer and actor known for Poochakkoru Mookkuthi, Poochakkoru Mookuthi and Aaraam Thampuran, Araam Thamburan. He produces films under the banner Revathy Kalamandhir an Indian film production company based in ...

. After 19 years, she made a comeback through the television serial ''Kaliveedu''. At 8th SIIMA, she received

SIIMA Lifetime Achievement Award SIIMA Lifetime Achievement Award is an award presented by Vibri media group as part of its annual South Indian International Movie Awards for the person who contributed much to the film industry. It was instituted in 2012, with Ambareesh ...

Early life

Menaka, whose real name is Padmavathy, was born into a

Iyengar Iyengar (also spelt Ayyangar or Aiyengar, pronounced ) refers to the name of an ethnoreligious community of Tamil-speaking Hindu Brahmins, whose members follow Sri Vaishnavism and the Visishtadvaita philosophy propounded by Ramanuja. Found mos ...

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers ( ...

family in

Nagercoil Nagercoil, also spelt as Nagarkovil ("Temple of the Nāgas", or Nagaraja-Temple), is a city and the administrative headquarters of Kanyakumari District in Tamil Nadu state, India. Situated close to the tip of the Indian peninsula, it lies on ...

, Kanyakumari district, India.Shevlin Sebastian (13 May 2013
Menaka was treated like a queen
. The New Indian Express. Retrieved 26 January 2014. She was the only daughter among the four children of Rajagopal and Saroja. Both her parents were school teachers. Her mother Saroja taught at the Lourdes Girls' Higher Secondary School in

Perambur Perambur is a neighbourhood located in the northern region of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Etymology In Tamil, ''pirambu (பிரம்பு)'' means bamboo and ''ur (ஊர்)'' means city or place. Before British rule, this place was w ...

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

.സിനിമ എങ്ങനെ ഞാന്‍ മറക്കും – articles, infocus_interview – Mathrubhumi Eves
. Mathrubhumi.com. Retrieved 26 January 2014.

Career

Menaka had become one of the highest-paid actresses in

South Indian cinema The Cinema of South India refers collectively to the six distinct film industries based in Southern region of India namely Tamil, Telugu, Tulu, Kannada, Konkani, and Malayalam. Although these industries developed independently for a long p ...

when she decided to retire from acting post-marriage. After 24 years, she made a comeback as a film actress in 2011 with Fazil-directed ''

Living Together Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not married, usually couples, live together. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become increa ...

'', in a character role.

Personal life

Menaka married

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

Guruvayur Temple Guruvayur Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Guruvayurappan, a form of Vishnu, located in the town of Guruvayur in Kerala, India. It is one of the most important places of worship for Hindus in Kerala and Tamil Nadu and is often referred ...

on 27 October 1987. They have two daughters — Revathy and

Keerthy Suresh Keerthy Suresh (born 17 October 1992) is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Tamil and Telugu films, in addition to a few Malayalam films. She was recognised as Forbes 30 under 30 in 2021.She won the National Film Award for Best Act ...

. Initially they settled in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

and later moved to

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

. Keerthy is a film actress and Revathy is an assistant director.ഞാന്‍ കീര്‍ത്തി; മേനകയുടെ മകള്‍
. mangalam.com (16 August 2013). Retrieved 26 January 2014.

Filmography

As an actress

Malayalam

Tamil

Telugu

Kannada

As producer

Television

* All shows are in Malayalam unless noted otherwise

Serials

TV shows

References

External links

Menaka at MSI
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Menaka Living people Indian film actresses Actresses in Kannada cinema Tamil actresses Actresses in Malayalam cinema Indian women film producers Film producers from Tamil Nadu 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Malayalam film producers Actresses from Tamil Nadu Actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema Businesswomen from Tamil Nadu People from Kanyakumari district Actresses in Malayalam television Actresses in Tamil television 1963 births South Indian International Movie Awards winners