Suhasini Maniratnam (; born 15 August 1961) is an Indian actress who works in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam films.
Suhasini Maniratnam was born at Paramakudi in the Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu to lawyer and veteran actor Charuhasan and Komalam. She studied at Yadhava Christian School and thereafter at a government middle school in Paramakudi before moving to Madras at the age of 12 to live with her uncle Kamal Haasan and her grandmother. She then resumed her education at Ramakrishna Mission Sarada Vidyalaya in Chennai and at Queen Mary's College, Chennai.
Suhasini's entry into the world of movies was quite accidental. Before completing her B.Sc. degree at college, she enrolled at the Madras Film Institute to learn cinematography. She then became the first woman to graduate from the Madras Film Institute and began her career as a technician on the film set. She belongs to the Brahmin community. Her paternal cousins Anu Hasan, Shruti Haasan, and Akshara Haasan are also actors.
While working as a camera assistant to Ashok Kumar, the cinematographer, during her second year at Film Institute, she was spotted by Director Mahendran. Suhasini made her film debut in 1980 with the Tamil movie Nenjathai Killathe. For her first movie, she won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress. She was introduced to Malayalam cinema through Padmarajan's Koodevide (1983), which also featured Mammootty. She appeared in the AFI Fest nominated feature film Vanaprastham (1999), which starred Mohanlal.
She has acted with the late Vishnuvardhan in Bandhana (1984), Suprabhatha (1988), Muthina Haara (1990), Himapatha (1995), Hendithghelthini (1998), Maathaad Maathaadu Mallige (2007) and School Master (2010).
She won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her role in the 1985 Tamil film Sindhu Bhairavi, directed by K. Balachander.
In 1991, Suhasini directed the anthology mini-series Penn shown on Madras Doordarshan. The series featured eight standalone episodes examining the lives of South Indian women, and starred several of her contemporaries such as Shobana, Revathi, Radhika and Amala as protagonists.
In 1995, she stepped into direction, helming her first film Indira. In November 1997, Suhasini directed a short television film titled Swayamvaram featuring Suchitra Krishnamoorthi and Rajiv Menon. The script had been written by Sujatha and commissioned by Revathi and Suresh Menon.
Suhasini directed a segment titled "Coffee, Anyone?" in Amazon Prime's Putham Pudhu Kaalai (2020) and featured in the leading role alongside her cousins Shruti Haasan, Anu Hasan and her mother Komalam.
Suhasini and her husband Mani Ratnam have been involved in the running of their production company Madras Talkies since 1997.
Suhasini was appointed the honorary consul of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in 2015. She held the post until 2020.
âÂÂWomen empowerment starts at home. My mother raised me to be independent and my father was progressive. He was the one who encouraged me to become an actress. I have been very lucky,â shared Suhasini. during a conversation with Mohammed Ali Baig at Cinematics
Suhasini founded Naam Foundation in 2010 with the objective to empower single women from disadvantaged backgrounds by offering opportunities for self-worth and independence. The foundation offers a range of programs including medical aid, self-defense training, vocational and education support, counseling, and legal aid for women and their children.
Suhasini married film director Mani Ratnam on 26 August 1988 and the couple has a son, Nandan, born in 1992.
Order based on number of films that she acted in.