Manju Warrier facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Manju Warrier
Manju Warrier in 2018
Born	(1978-09-10) 10 September 1978 (age 46) or (1979-09-10) 10 September 1979 (age 45) Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1995–1999, 2014–present
Spouse(s)	Dileep ​ ​ (m. 1998; div. 2015)​
Children	1
Relatives	Madhu Wariar (brother)
Awards	Full list

Manju Warrier (born 10 September 1978 or 1979) is a famous Indian actress. She mainly acts in Malayalam cinema, which are movies made in the Malayalam language. She has won many big awards, including a National Film Award and a Kerala State Film Award. She has also won seven Filmfare Awards South.

Manju Warrier started her acting career in 1995 with the film Sakshyam. Some of her most well-known early movies include Thooval Kottaram (1996), Sallapam (1996), Ee Puzhayum Kadannu (1996), and Aaraam Thampuran (1997). After getting married in 1998, she took a break from acting. She made a big comeback to movies in 2014 with the popular film How Old Are You?.

Early Life and School

Manju Warrier was born on 10 September 1978 or 1979 in Nagercoil, a city in Tamil Nadu, India. Her family is originally from Pullu village in Thrissur district of Kerala. Her father, T. V. Madhavan, was an accountant, and her mother, Girija, was a homemaker. Manju has an older brother, Madhu Wariar, who is also an actor and producer.

She went to primary school in Nagercoil. Later, her family moved back to Kerala and settled in Kannur district. She continued her studies at Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Kannur and then at Chovva Higher Secondary School.

Her Acting Journey

Starting Out (1995–1999)

Manju Warrier first appeared on television in a show called Moharavam on Doordarshan.

When she was 17, she made her first movie, Sakshyam (1995). A year later, she acted in Sallapam (1996) with Dileep, whom she later married.

Even though her first time in the film industry lasted only three years, Manju acted in 20 Malayalam movies. She received many praises from both audiences and critics. Her acting in Kannezhuthi Pottum Thottu (1999) was even specially mentioned by the jury for the National Film Awards.

Some of her other important films from this time include:

• Aaraam Thampuran (1997) and Kanmadam (1998) with Mohanlal.
• Ee Puzhayum Kadannu and Kudamattam with her former husband Dileep.
• Kaliyattam (1997), Summer in Bethlehem (1998), Pranayavarnangal (1998), and Pathram (1999) with Suresh Gopi.
• Dilliwala Rajakumaran (1996), Kaliveedu (1996), Thooval Kottaram (1996), Irattakuttikalude Achan (1997), and Krishnagudiyil Oru Pranayakalathu (1997) with Jayaram.

In 1998, Manju played the main role in the film Daya, directed by M. T. Vasudevan Nair. This movie won several awards.

She won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress for her role in Ee Puzhayum Kadannu (1996). Manju also won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress four times in a row for her films from 1996 to 1999.

Many of her movies were very successful. Aaram Thampuran and Pathram were the highest-earning Malayalam films in 1996 and 1999. Her last film before her break was Kannezhuthi Pottum Thottu.

Return to Acting (2012–2014)

Manju took a break from films after her marriage. On 24 October 2012, she returned to the stage to perform a Kuchipudi dance. This was at the Navaratri Nritha Mandapam in the Guruvayur Sree Krishna Temple.

In July 2013, she appeared in a TV commercial for Kalyan Jewellers with famous actor Amitabh Bachchan. She also acted in versions of the same ad in other languages with actors like Nagarjuna Akkineni and Prabhu Ganesan. She continued to appear in many advertisements and stage shows. In the same year, she published a book called Sallapam, which shared memories from her life.

Her much-awaited return to movies happened in 2014, after 15 years. She starred in Rosshan Andrrews's film How Old Are You?.

Later Career (2015–Present)

Manju's next film was Sathyan Anthikad's Ennum Eppozhum, where she acted with Mohanlal again after 17 years. Her next movie was Rani Padmini (2015). This film, which also starred Rima Kallingal, celebrated female friendships. She also appeared as an animator in Jo and the Boy that year.

In 2016, she acted in Vettah, Karinkunnam 6's, and a drama called Shakuntala.

Manju Warrier with Sadhguru and Shashi Kumar at KLF 2017

In 2017, Warrier was seen in C/O Saira Banu, Villain, and Udaharanam Sujatha.

In 2018, Manju played the main role in Aami, a movie about the writer Kamala Surayya. Her next film was Mohanlal, where she played a huge fan of the actor Mohanlal. She was praised for her funny acting in this movie. Her last film of 2018 was Odiyan, which had a very high opening day collection at the box office. Critics praised her acting in Odiyan for showing a strong character.

Her first movie in 2019 was Lucifer, directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran. Her performance as a grieving daughter was highly praised. Lucifer became the first Malayalam film to earn over ₹200 crore and is one of the highest-earning Malayalam films ever. In the same year, she made her Tamil debut in Asuran with Dhanush. Critics called her performance "intense." Her final movie of 2019 was Prathi Poovankozhi, a thriller where she played a bold woman. She was called a "disruptor" by Film Companion for playing strong female roles.

In March 2021, Manju Warrier started filming Amriki Pandit, her first Hindi movie, with R. Madhavan. In 2021, she acted with Mammootty in The Priest. In 2022, Manju worked with Biju Menon again in Lalitham Sundaram after 20 years.

Personal Life

Manju Warrier with former husband Dileep in 2010

On 20 October 1998, Manju married actor Dileep. They have a daughter named Meenakshi. They got divorced in January 2015. Manju now lives in Thrissur, Kerala.

In the Media

Manju's characters are often seen as examples of strong women in Indian cinema.

She is also a talented Kuchipudi dancer. She learned this classical dance from Geetha Padmakumar. She often performs in classical dance shows. Her return to the stage in 2012 at Guruvayur was for a Navaratri dance festival. She received the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award in 2014 for Kuchipudi, being the first person to get this award for that dance form.

Besides movies, she is a brand ambassador for many companies like Kalyan Jewellers, Sony India, and Ujala Detergent. She also became the first brand ambassador for a Malayalam entertainment TV channel, Zee Keralam.

She is also a goodwill ambassador for various government and social projects. These include the State Literacy Mission, She Taxi, and Kudumbashree's organic farming project, which was inspired by her role in How Old Are You?.

Filmography

As Actress

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

• All films are in Malayalam language unless otherwise noted.

List of Manju Warrier film credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Sakshyam	Smitha
1996	Sallapam	Radha
	Thooval Kottaram	Devaprabha Varma
	Dilliwala Rajakumaran	Maya
	Kaliveedu	Mridula
	Ee Puzhayum Kadannu	Anjali
1997	Kudamattam	Gauri
	Irattakuttikalude Achan	Anupama
	Krishnagudiyil Oru Pranayakalathu	Meenakshi
	Kaliyattam	Thaamara
	Sammanam	Rajalakshmi
	Aaraam Thampuran	Unnimaya
	Innalekalillaathe	Beena
1998	Pranayavarnangal	Aarathi Nair
	Daya	Daya
	Kanmadam	Bhanumathi
	Summer in Bethlehem	Abhirami/Amy
	Thirakalkkappuram	Seetha
1999	Pathram	Devika Shekhar
	Kannezhuthi Pottum Thottu	Bhadra
2014	How Old Are You?	Nirupama Rajeev
2015	Ennum Eppozhum	Adv. Deepa
	Rani Padmini	Padmini
	Jo and the Boy	Jo / Joan Mary John
2016	Paavada	Babu's fiancé	Cameo
	Vettah	Commissioner Sribala IPS
	Karinkunnam 6's	Vandana Aby
2017	C/O Saira Banu	Saira Banu
	Udaharanam Sujatha	Sujatha Krishnan
	Villain	Dr. Neelima Mathew
2018	Aami	Kamala Surayya
	Mohanlal	Meenakshi / Meenukutty
	Odiyan	Prabha
2019	Lucifer	Priyadharshini Ramdas
	Asuran	Pachaiyammal Sivasaami	Tamil film
	Prathi Poovankozhi	Madhuri
2021	The Priest	Susan
	Chathur Mukham	Thejaswini	Co-producer
	Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham	Subaida
2022	Lalitham Sundaram	Annie Mary Das	Co-producer
	Meri Awas Suno	Dr. Reshmi Padath
	Jack N' Jill	Parvathy	Partially reshot in Tamil under title Centimeter
2023	Thunivu	Kanmani	Tamil film
	Ayisha	Ayisha	Malayalam – Arabic bilingual film
	Vellari Pattanam	K.P Sunandha
2024	Footage
	Vettaiyan	Thara	Tamil film
	Viduthalai Part 2	Mahalakshmi	Tamil film
TBA	Mr.X	TBA	Tamil film; filming
	Amriki Pandit	Shubha	Hindi film; filming
	L2: Empuraan	Priyadarshini Ramdas	Filming

As Voice Actor

Discography

Awards and Nominations