Kovai Sarala is an Indian actress, known for her supporting roles primarily in Tamil and Telugu films. She is a comedian and has won Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Comedian, Best Female Comedian and Vijay Award for Best Comedian for her amazing performances in various films. She is known for her roles in the films Sathi Leelavati (1995), Kanchana (2011) and Mund Mersal (2017). She is also known for popular comedy tracks with Vadivelu (Kumaravadivel Natarajan). She is a member of Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) political party.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Kovai Sarala was born as Sarala Kumari on Saturday, 7 April 1962 (age 61 years; as of 2023) in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. His zodiac sign is Aries. She entered the world of acting with the support of her sister and father when she was in school.
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 4″
Hair Color: Black
Eye colour: dark brown
Family
He belongs to a Malayali family.
parents and siblings
His mother’s name is Shakti Ilam.
His father was an army officer.
He has four sisters and one brother. He is the last child of his parents. She takes good care of her sisters’ children.
husband and children
She is unmarried and takes care of her relatives’ children. She considers them as her children. In one of his interviews he had shared his wedding plans. He said,
No, I’m not married, I never thought about it, don’t have time. I am married to films, my life revolves around films and I want to work here till I die. I take a break sometimes but soon I am back in action. I believe in healthy competition, not jealousy.”
In another interview he shared his thoughts related to marriage. He said,
I plan to live alone. Did he ever have a change of heart? “Look, I stand by my word, right? After a hard day’s work on the set, I can’t even imagine allocating time to fulfill the wishes of a husband. I like to be the queen and minister of my house. Marriage is not for me.”
livelihood
film
tamil
He debuted in the Tamil film industry in 1979 by starring in the film Velli Ratham. Kovai was in class 9 when she got the opportunity to work with Vijayakumar and KR Vijaya in the film Velli Ratham.
Veli Ratham (1979)
He discovered his passion for acting after watching the films of MGR (Maruthur Gopalamenan Ramachandran). Her second film was Mundanai Mudichu which she did at the age of 15. In the film, she played the character of Arukkani, a 32-year-old pregnant woman. This film was released in 1983.
Kovai Sarala in Mundanai Mudichu (1983)
His other most famous Tamil films include Nooravathu Naal (1984), Japanil Kalyanaraman (1985), Uday Geetam (1985), Naan Sigappu Manithan (1985), Vasanth Ragam (1986), Lakshmi Vandhachu (1986), Kadhal Perisu (1987). Are. Solvathelm Unmai (1987), Ujhavan Magan (1987), Soor Samaharam (1988), Paandi Nattu Thangam (1989), Solaikuyil (1989), Adhisaya Manithan (1990), My Dear Marthandan (1990), Pudhiya Ragam (1991), Chinnavar (1992) 2019), and many more.
In the film Chinna Veedu (1985), she played the 65-year-old mother of Madanagopal (played by K. Bhagyaraj).
Kovai Sarala in Chinna Veedu (1985)
In an interview in 2017, he told about his journey to enter cinema. He said,
Cinema has attracted me since childhood. I wanted to earn a big name in the industry someday. Till now, I have done more than 500 films in all South Indian languages, mostly Tamil. In Telugu, I have acted in about 100 films, apart from about six films each in Malayalam and Kannada.
In 2022, Kovai Sarala appeared in the lead role in the film “Sembi”, where she played the role of Veerathayi, the grandmother of ten-year-old Sembi, who is gang-raped by three powerful gangsters. The story revolves around Veerathayi and how she managed to get justice for her granddaughter Sembi. The film was written and directed by Prabhu Solomon and was released in theaters worldwide on 30 December 2022. The film was also released on the OTT platform in February 2023. In an interview, she shared her experience of playing a serious role in the film Sembi. He said,
Even when I do comedy, I’m usually serious, maybe beating someone up so you can laugh at it hard. Sirika vekkurathu oru periya bakkiyam. I consider it God’s gift to me. Although I always wanted to play a serious role that was an integral part of a film, I never got it. So, when Prabhu Solomon sir came to me with an interesting role, I agreed, even if the character was of an elderly woman (laughs). Although I was not sure whether I would be able to play this role or not. In fact, this story did not let me sleep for two months. Although I am used to enjoying freedom in performance, here, I told Sir that I would be a doll that would repeat his actions. It’s as different as kindergarten and college. I felt like a PhD student for this film (smiles). When the director explained the role to me, it felt like I had wasted a lot of time in the industry. In my comedy films, I used to know 10 types of laughter and 15 types of crying. Here I had to do whatever the director wanted.
Sembi (2022)
Telugu
He debuted in the Telugu film industry by starring in the film Veera Prathap, released in 1987.
Veera Pratap (1987)
Her other Telugu films include Bhairava Dweepam (1994), Lingababu Love Story (1995), Family (1996), Akkada Ammayi Ikkada Abbayi (1996), Mama Bagunnava (1997), Rayalaseema Ramanna Choudhary (2000), Hanuman Junction (2001), Are included. O Chindana (2002), Sriramachandrulu (2003), Iddaru Attala Muddula Alludu (2006), Neninthe (2008), Devasthanam (2012), Kick 2 (2015), Actress 2 (2019), and many more.
Malayalam
She debuted in the Malayalam film industry with the film Thalaritta Kinakkal, released in 1980. Thalaritta Kinakkal is the only Malayalam film to feature the great Mohammed Rafi in its soundtrack.
Thalaritta Kinakkal (1980)
Some of her other Malayalam films include Niram (1999), Kerala House Udhana Vilapanakku (2004), Mad Dad (2012), Girls (2016) and many more.
Kannada
In the Kannada film industry, she debuted with the film Afrikadalli Sheela (1986).
Afrikadalli Sheila (1986)
His other Kannada films include Hendathi Helidare Kelabeku (1993), Alimayya (1993), Nanu Naane (2002), and Arjun (2008).
Television
reality shows
She appeared as a regular guest judge in Asatha Povathu Yaaru? (2007). She also appeared as a judge in a Tamil comedy show Komedial Kalakkuvathu Eappadi (2013) aired on Vijay TV and Varuthapadatha Valibar Sangam aired on Zee Tamil.
Comedy Kalakkuvathu Eppadi (2013)
He has also hosted the reality show Paasa Parveigal. Apart from this, she was the host of Chellamay Chellam, a children’s game show aired on Sun TV.
Singing
He has sung Marugo Marugo (Sathi Leelavathy), Thekkathi Mappillai (Magalirkaaga), and Rama Rama (Villu).
Politics
On 8 March 2018, Kovai Sarala joined Kamal Haasan’s political party Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) by attending MNM’s Women’s Day function held at the party headquarters in Chennai.
Kovai Sarala speaking at MNM’s Women’s Day function, Chennai (2018)
She believes in bringing about an equal society and equal rights for both men and women and believes that the party is capable of bringing such a change in the society. He said,
Women in Tamil Nadu are oppressed and this has to change. We should ensure that the men in our homes vote for the party that will work for the development of women (MNM). I have heard a lot of criticism of actors entering politics. But I believe that actors playing different roles are able to empathize with the plight of the common man. It is they (actors) who will be able to solve the problems of the common man. That’s why I have an emotional connection with this party.”
Awards, Honors, Achievements
- He won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Comedian three times for the films Sathi Leelavathy (1995), Poovellam Un Vasam (2001) and Uliyin Osai (2008).
- Nandi Award for Best Female Comedian twice for the films Rayalaseema Ramanna Chowdhary (2000) and Ori Nee Prema Bangaram Kanu (2003).
- Vijay Award for Best Comedian for the film Kanchana (2011)
- Life Time Achievement Award, The Galatta Crown 2022
Kovai Sarala on winning the Life Time Achievement Award, The Galata Crown 2022
- JFW Achievers Award (2022)
Favorite
- Comedians: Venniradai Murthy, Manorama, Sachu
- Tamil films: Karakattakkaran (1989), Varavu Ettana Selavu Pathana (1994), Saathi Leelavathy (1995), Viraluktha Veekkam (1999), Vishwanathan Ramamurthy (2001)
Facts/General Knowledge
- Of all the Tamil films he has acted in, some are his personal favourites. They are Karakattakkaran (1989), Varavu Ettana Selavu Pathana (1994), Sathi Leelavathy (1995), Viraluktha Veekkam (1999), and Viswanathan Ramamurthy (2001).
- He entered the world of film industry with the support of his father and sister.
- As a sign of respect, she addresses younger actors as “Garu”.
- In one of her interviews, she told about the time when she used to stumble while speaking Telugu. He said that he has great respect and honor for all the Tamil directors and assistant directors who supported him and forgave him many times when he lost his confidence while speaking Tamil. It was only with their support that she was able to speak Tamil fluently.
- She only wears sarees on screen and while at home, she likes to wear salwar, trousers and casual clothes.
- In an interview he narrated his experiences as a comedian. He said,
Female comedians aren’t actually rare, it’s just that they don’t get consistent work. It was the lack of work that inspired me to work in other language films. There are no good comedy writers anymore. All these years male comedians have had their own teams or writers. But women like us are not able to do this. We couldn’t afford to hire four-five writers. We worked with whatever we got and tried to do something unique. Films like Shahjahan were made like this.”
- For the film Sembi, Kovai Sarala dyed her hair white and underwent a de-glam transformation to give a realistic look to her grandmother character in the film.
- In an interview, he told that for the film Sembi, he did not use VFX for climbing trees. He said,
I was not at all prepared for the tree scene. I had to sit for four hours on a tree branch at an altitude of 1,500 feet. There was no point in taking safety precautions because if someone fell from such a height, you would not even be able to find the body. I believe that my acting instructions come from the Almighty, and I have no right to question Him. Despite all my efforts, some people even asked me if it was VFX and that made me a little sad. From this scene to carrying Raghava Lawrence Master on my hip in Kanchana films, everything I do is real.
- Kovai’s name was Sarala and it was a journalist who added “Coimbatore” to the city name and made Coimbatore Sarala or Kovai Sarala.
- Kovai moved to Chennai with her parents after completing her 12th grade. They were all living in a rented house with Rs. Fare Rs 300. That’s when he started looking for opportunities in the entertainment industry.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn