Are Character Actors Disappearing from Tamil Cinema?

Time of India

7 days ago

Manorama in the 1990 film 'Nadigan'. Pic credit: Stills Gnanam
Thirty-five years after the hit film's release, Khusbhu, who was hailed the star of P Vasu's 'Nadigan', still believes
Manorama
was the real hero. 'As the strict aunt, she had the audience eating out of her hand.
She outshined the rest of us on screen.' That was the time, says Khushbu, when Tamil cinema was defined not just by its stars, but by its unforgettable character actors, a glaring void in present-day scripts.
In the 1960s it was S V Ranga Rao, V S Raghavan, S V Subbaiah and T S Balaiah who were remembered for their memorable roles as father, father-in-law and sometimes playing characters for period films.
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Then came Thengai Srinivasan as Sri Ramachandramurthy, the opinionated eccentric boss in 'Thillu Mullu' (1981), Poornam Viswanathan, the loyal village officer Shankara Sastri in 'Ore Oru Gramathiley' (1987) and Delhi Ganesh as the educated Hindi-speaking sidekick Iyer in 'Nayagan' (1987) who didn't just support the story but gave it depth and meaning.
Scripts were tailor-made to showcase their talent and they approached roles with precision, which made their innings longer across industries.
In today's films, there's a hero who occupies most of the screen space, a blood-thirsty villain, and a heroine who is often reduced to nothing more than eye candy. Although actors such as Saranya Ponvanan, Urvashi and M S Bhaskar have managed to get screen space, their potential remains untapped.
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Urvashi and Saranya aced it in 'J Baby' (2024) and 'Conjuring Kannappan' (2023), while Bhaskar stole the show in the 2023 film 'Parking'.
Travelling with the script throughout is a challenge, says film critic Balu. 'Malayalam director I V Sasi had a huge cast in his films. Now, films have a limited cast and space has shrunk for character roles,' he says.
'Until a couple of decades ago,
Rajinikanth
and
Kamal Haasan
would recommend involving veterans such as Nagesh, Ravichandran and Pandari Bai.
But that was just a phase. Today's filmmakers work with barely six characters as movie making is a costly affair with inflated salaries,' says Balu.
In between intense or violent scenes, it was the character actors that provided humour, relief or reassurance to the audience that all was well. 'Now, weapons have replaced people,' says filmmaker Chitra Lakshmanan. 'When was the last time one noticed who played the parents? Only recently, films such as 'Tourist Family' and 'Thalaivan Thalaivii', both of which released this year, and 'Once More' (in the pipeline) have given importance to character roles.
'When we watch a movie, we should be able to carry good memories. If we want the industry to grow, our movies need to touch the soul,' says Chitra Lakshmanan.
But some in the industry don't agree that supporting roles are fading. 'Character actors such as Thambi Ramaiah, Kali Venkat, Munishkanth, Mottai Rajendran and Anand Raj are busy doing films,' says producer G Dhananjayan.
'The audience is spoiled for choice. As for actresses, Simran, Devadarshini, Deepa Shankar, Sriranjani and Vinodhini Vaidynathan have made a world of difference in terms of taking the storyline forward and making films feel complete.'
Sarath Kumar's 'Por Thozil' (2023) got him well-deserved recognition, says Dhananjayan. 'He is not the hero in '3 BHK' (2025) either but his screen presence left an impact. Sathyaraj and Radhikaa too are taking up projects that give them character roles.'
He believes that versatile actors attract directors. 'Decades ago, Simran was one of the top actors. In 'Tourist Family', it was her role as a mother that stood out.
Directors today are looking for character artists. But in the end, faces in posters are what attract audiences. Our biggest issue now is getting people to step out of their homes and watch movies in theatres,' says Dhananjayan.
Film critic Vamanan says the answer lies in emotion-based content. 'Family-based scripts are passe. Crime-based content dominates. There's no time to build on a person's character and emotions.
This generation has no time. Sensationalising violence has taken prominence because it gives instant gratification.'
When Manorama changed the formula
When her days of being a comedy queen started to diminish in the late 1980s, Manorama transformed her image to play a mother, mother-in-law, sister-in-law, aunt and grandmother. Director K Balanchander gave her a unique and difficult task in 'Unnal Mudiyum Thambi Angayarkanni' (1988) where she played Kamal Haasan's sister-in-law. It is said the director asked her not to be Manorama, emphasising that 'not a shred of her old formula acting' should peep into her role as Angaryarkanni, who had to pacify a judgmental father-in-law (Bilahari Marthandam Pillai) played by Gemini Ganesan against Kamal as (Udhayamoorthi)
for his playful attitude
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