Suhasini Maniratnam

Biography

Suhasini Maniratnam (born August 15, 1961) is an Indian actress, director, and screenwriter who works across Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada cinema. Trained in cinematography at the Film and Television Institute of Tamil Nadu, she made her acting debut in J. Mahendran's Tamil film Nenjathai Killathe (1980). She established herself as a lead actress through the 1980s across South Indian film industries, appearing in titles including Palaivana Solai (1981), Gopurangal Saivathillai (1982), Koodevide? (1983), Adaminte Vaariyellu (1984), Bandhana (1984), Swathi (1984), Ente Upasana (1984), Sindhu Bhairavi (1985), Sirivennela (1986), Samsaram Oka Chadarangam (1987), Manivathoorile Aayiram Sivarathrikal (1987), and Muthina Haara (1990). For her performance in Sindhu Bhairavi, she received the National Film Award for Best Actress. In addition to acting, she expanded into screenwriting and direction. She wrote and directed the television series Penn (1991) and made her feature directorial debut with Indira (1995), for which she also wrote the screenplay. She wrote dialogues for Mani Ratnam features including Thiruda Thiruda (1993), Iruvar (1997), and Raavanan (2010), and served as executive producer on Iruvar. She later directed and co-wrote the segment "Coffee, Anyone?" in the anthology film Putham Pudhu Kaalai (2020). From the late 1990s onward, she transitioned into supporting and character roles, appearing in films such as Subhalagnam (1994), Amruthavarshini (1997), Vanaprastham (1999), Theerthadanam (2001), Nuvvu Naaku Nachav (2001), Leader (2010), Gabbar Singh (2012), Legend (2014), Masterpiece (2015), Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea (2021), Pookkaalam (2023), and The Verdict (2025). Her streaming credits include Modern Love Hyderabad (2022), Jai Mahendran (2024), and Soul Stories (2024).