R.S. Manohar- End of a Great Villain...

The Hub : Tamil Films Archived

Hello Guest, Login to post.

Topic started by Thiru on Tue Jan 10 13:08:21 2006.

The end of a great Villain
January 10, 2006

R S Manohar, the notorious villain of yester year tamil movies, died early on Tuesday following a cardiac arrest.

The actor was 81 and is survived by his wife. Several film personalities and politicians paid their last respects. Manohar had acted in about 300 movies. A stage pioneer, his dramas like Sukrachariar, Indrajit and Maveeran are even now remembered.

| RSS Feed | Email me when a reply is posted

Responses:

From: Thiru on Tue Jan 10 13:09:59 2006.

His most famous stage drama was Ilangeshwwaran.. He has done lots of villain and character roles.. He was a regular in modern theater films...
From: Sanguine Sridhar on Tue Jan 10 13:11:41 2006.

Thats a sad news.I remember one movie in which he acted as Lord.Saneeshwaran- I was really amazed.His body language was awesome.

Let his sole rest in peace!
From: thalapathy on Tue Jan 10 13:12:14 2006.

realy bad news

big loss to Tamil film industry and drama industry

Picture of R.S.Manohar
Click here to see included image.
From: Thirumaran on Tue Jan 10 13:13:07 2006.

Tamil nadu lost one more thespian.

Very sad.
From: kannannn on Tue Jan 10 13:16:15 2006.

I was deeply moved when I heard the news. I was told that he single-handedly brought stage play back into the lime light and what more, the dramas were entertaining enough to attract the masses. Unfortunately, I couldnt watch even a single play of his on stage (he had stopped staging plays even when I was a kid). I have seen his interviews and was fortunate enough to see one of his plays - Chanakyan - on TV when I was a kid. No one can match him.
From: Shakthiprabha. on Tue Jan 10 13:28:09 2006.

MY deepest condolences.

Ive always thought he is unique with different perspective on every subject. Someone who thinks on wide angles.

chanakya for one (which I used to watch in tv when I was very young... so dont remember much.) had a different line of thinking.
'
I personally feel HE DESERVE to much more than what he was given creidt for.

god bless his soul.

p.s:

can someone brief the chankya play's story here? I remember that it had diff perspective
From: Badri on Tue Jan 10 20:25:43 2006.

Hmm, quite the talented stage actor! His historical and epic roles were so intense. He would often choose to play the villain or an otherwise despised /feared character and would work wonders with it!

Truly a loss to Tamizh Art!
From: joe on Wed Jan 11 0:52:47 2006.

A prominant figure in the history of tamil drama.

Actor with his own style and dialogue modulation.

May his soul rest in peace.
From: Raghu on Wed Jan 11 7:46:26 2006.

May his soul rest in peace

Dear all,

Isn't he the famouse Ceylon Pop singer? he also used to act in Films as Villain, or was it A.E Manohar?
From: Thiru on Wed Jan 11 8:38:11 2006.

Raghu wrote:

May his soul rest in peace

Dear all,

Isn't he the famouse Ceylon Pop singer? he also used to act in Films as Villain, or was it A.E Manohar?

Raghu,
That is ceylon manohar.. He is different from R.S. Manohar.. R.S. Manohar is a famous villain during the MGR-Sivaji period.. He plays second fiddle to the villain in most of the movies..If you remember 'Thee', he acted in that too..
From: Thiru on Wed Jan 11 16:18:48 2006.

Noted Tamil actor and theatre personality R S Manohar died on January 10. He was hospitalized a few days ago for chronic diabetes but he collapsed at the hospital following cardiac arrest. He was 81 years old and is survived by his wife.

The mortal remains of the great personality were taken to his house and cremation would take place later in the day. Many politicians and film personalities paid their homage to the actor.

Manohar acted in about 300 films since his debut with �Rajambal� in 1951. He had specialized himself in villain role. But his love was always theatre. He directed and acted in several dramas including �Lankeshwaran�, �Sukrachariar�, �Indrajit�, �Maveeran� and �Kamsan�. He dramatized Hindu epics and used to have characters flying or houses burning in his dramas. It�s something unimaginable on stage but he did it all.

Tamil films and theatres industries have lost a great personality. May his soul rest in peace.
From: Shakthiprabha. on Wed Jan 11 22:49:51 2006.

If I am right, I think he was a person, who MOSTLY JUSTIFIES or tries to bring about the other side of VILLAINIC personalities.

kudos to his unique thingking
From: swathy on Thu Jan 12 1:37:41 2006.

Bad news

May his soul rest in peace
From: S.Balaji on Thu Jan 12 3:03:18 2006.

Indeed its a sad news.....

Manohar's stage plays were very very popular in the early 70s as he used to bring special effects in the stage itself by spending a lot just for the sake of art...

Ilangeswaran
Sukrachariyaar
Viswamithran
Naragasuran
Soorbadhman
Chanakyan

are few examples of the super hit stage plays that he gave...

His drama troupe was very popular in the late 60s and early 70s...

Another famous Drama personality Heron Ramaswamy was a product of Manohar group only....

Another feature of Manohar was ....eventhough the main characters were bad or evil forces, somehow he will convincingly present them as lovable characters by showing their positive side...

Infact he started as a hero ....a very handsome personality in his youthful days with a well built physique.....

If some had heard KONJUM PURAAVAY.....from the great MLV, the hero in that movie was Manohar only....

MGR always gave a role for him in most of his movies

Like Nambiar, Manohar also had a very good off screen image as a kind hearted person...

The last role to my memory that he played as a villain was for Kamal in Shankarlal and in Billa for Rajini in brief.....

JJ honoured him by making him the head of Tamil music industry some time back...

May his soul rest in peace.......
From: Kumar on Thu Jan 12 7:26:45 2006.

What a tragedy to the Tamil film and theatre fraternity. This man used to play despicable villians with great relish- a sign of a great actor. I loved his role as Ravanan in Agathiyar. I was watching Raja Raja Chozan the other day, and it was a delight to see Manohar in a small but significant role.

May his soul rest in peace.
From: S.Balaji on Thu Jan 12 7:50:48 2006.

Even in Aayirathil oruvan, he will appear in brief but will be very proud , arrogant and majestic

Solid personality ......

Maintained a good image off screen
From: gsanky on Fri Jan 27 4:28:05 2006.

I could still remember watching 'Lankeswaran' and 'Sivathandavam' at Kanyakumari in 80s. Magnificient sets and wonderful acting.

Unfortunately there is no successor who can carry on his legacy on stage. Great loss for art world.
From: balajes on Fri Jan 27 5:21:46 2006.

He was the one who laid the foundation for the stage drama graphics. he is a notable nice personality off the screen also.
It is very sad now
From: selvakumar on Mon Feb 6 8:57:21 2006.

I watched the film "Naangu Killaadigal" on Saturday in vijay TV.

RSM's performance was awesome.

His body language was superb. His timing was also good in comedy scenes.
From: Shakthiprabha. on Mon Feb 6 9:51:55 2006.

Ive alwys avoided that film. Cause it sounds so boring!
From: selvakumar on Mon Feb 6 10:09:47 2006.

Shakthiprabha wrote:

Ive alwys avoided that film. Cause it sounds so boring!

I like that film very much. Esp the comedy scenes

RSM + Thengai + suruli -> wow... what else can we get??!! sure entertainment except that killing heroine.
From: Srimangai on Sat Apr 22 7:34:06 2006.

It is indeed a great loss to the Tamil Theater too.
R.S.Manohar's Theater was a mix of early Tamil theater works like that of Nawab and the cinema which was getting more popular. This gave an mass appeal to his theater. The overactions, pounding verses and hyped body language shown in our early films are the impact of the Theater and R.S.M cleverly mixed that in his theaterical works too. It was his ingenuity which brought some people back to watching plays.
There can be arguements on the theater form and the cinematic performance. But it was more for the mass appeal.
His Ottakkuuththar ( about the poet Ottakkuuththar) play was another milestone like Langeshwaran.
Our friends are right in pointing out his efforts to highlight the villainic roles in films and in his plays. He had the right perspective.
We have lost a good theater personality. May his soul rest in peace.
anpudan
K.Sudhakar
From: Ghlli on Sat Apr 22 17:49:28 2006.

who is RSM?
From: Hulkster on Sun Apr 23 0:13:00 2006.

Ghili ithu avar threadku vanthu keikira kelviya?...RS Manohar is a multi faceted film personality from the MGR Sivaji kaalam who mainly excels in villain and comedy roles.

Im not sure of his background but i believe he directed many stage plays/dramas that are mainly based on hindu epics like mahabharata....i liked his expressions and body language after seeing some of his movies.
From: Ghlli on Mon Apr 24 14:59:59 2006.

ohhh ok ok...i dont know who he is...has he acted in any new films that i might know?
From: Thirumaran on Mon Apr 24 15:29:19 2006.

Ghlli wrote:

ohhh ok ok...i dont know who he is...has he acted in any new films that i might know?

He acted in Rajinikanth movie, Billa as one of the member of Rajini's gang.
Rajini acted in dual role in that movie, one as a don.

From: m_23_bayarea on Mon Apr 24 16:57:03 2006.

Thirumaran wrote:

Ghlli wrote:

ohhh ok ok...i dont know who he is...has he acted in any new films that i might know?

He acted in Rajinikanth movie, Billa as one of the member of Rajini's gang.
Rajini acted in dual role in that movie, one as a don. Smile

Yes, and as the main villain in THEE !!

He used to be the villain for most Jai Shankar's James Bond kinda movies ... And in MGR's Arasa Kattalai, etc ... He was either a member in the villain's gang or the main villain right from early 60s to early 80s ...

From: Ghlli on Tue Apr 25 17:49:43 2006.

hmmm i dont know...i dont think i'v watched those films...maybe i have but i dont remember oh well

thnx for telling me

| RSS Feed | Email me when a reply is posted

Want to post a response?

(Hello Guest, you need to Login to post a response. Are you a New User? Register first.)

Back to Tamil Films Archived forum