Sukumari Biography

Sukumari was an Indian actress from Kerala who primarily acted in Malayalam and Tamil movies. She has acted for more than 60 years and has portrayed different roles. The total number of her movies was presumed to be about 2000. She was one of the most sought-after actresses.

She was born in Nagercoil in 1940. Sukumari was the first cousin of the Travancore sisters, Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini (their mothers are sisters). She learned dance with the sisters and mastered dance forms like Keralanadanam, Kathakali and Bharathanatyam. She went for an all-India tour with her sisters.

Sukumari was noticed by a director when she went to the sets of a film with Padmini, and she debuted in the lead role in the Tamil film Orarivu. She was married to Director A. Bheemsingh until he passed away when she was barely 30. She acted in various Malayalam films of the later black and white age, like Chettathi, Kusruthikkuttan, Kunjali Marakkar, Thacholi Othenan, Yakshi and Karinizhal.

She became popular in the later years by acting in various films of Priyadarshan like Poochakkoru Mookkuthi, Oodarathuammava Aalariyam, Boeing Boeing and Vandanam. She was also noticed in various films directed by Balachandra Menon like Manicheppu Thurannappol and Karyan Nissaram. In the later years, she did a major role in Nizhalkkuthu (2002) directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan.

She also portrayed the role of a mother in many movies in the later years. She acted in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi movies, without using a dubbing artist. She died in 2013.