Manju Warrier (born 10 September 1978) is an Indian actress and dancer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. In a first career of barely four years in the 1990s she established herself as the finest actress of her generation and then left films on marrying. Her return in 2014, after fourteen years, is one of the most successful comebacks in Indian cinema. She is often called the “Lady Superstar” of Malayalam films.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Manju Warrier |
| Born | 10 September 1978, Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu |
| Age | 48 |
| Occupation | Actress, dancer, producer |
| Years active | 1995–1999; 2014–present |
| Known for | Sallapam, Ee Puzhayum Kadannu, Aaraam Thampuran, Kanmadam, Kannezhuthi Pottum Thottu, How Old Are You, Lucifer, Asuran |
| Home town | Pullu, Thrissur district, Kerala |
| Awards | Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress (1996); National Film Award – Special Mention (1999) |
| Children | 1 daughter |
Early Life
Manju was born at Nagercoil, where her father, Madhavan Warrier, worked as an accountant with a finance company; the family is from Pullu, near Thrissur. She studied in schools in Tamil Nadu and Kannur as her father was transferred. She trained in classical dance from childhood and twice won the title of best all-round performer at the Kerala state school arts festival, the largest event of its kind in Asia. Her brother, Madhu Wariar, is an actor and director.
First Career
She appeared in the film Sakshyam (1995) at sixteen and played her first lead in Sallapam (1996). In the next three years she acted in about twenty films, among them Thooval Kottaram, Ee Puzhayum Kadannu, for which she won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress, Aaraam Thampuran and Kanmadam with Mohanlal, Summer in Bethlehem and Pathram. In Kannezhuthi Pottum Thottu (1999) she played a young woman who takes revenge on the landlord who destroyed her family, a performance that won a special mention at the National Film Awards. Critics and veteran actors spoke of her as a natural of a kind seen once in decades.
In October 1998 she married the actor Dileep and gave up acting. Their daughter, Meenakshi, was born in 2000.
Return
She came back to public life in 2012 with a dance recital at the Guruvayur temple. She and Dileep separated, and their divorce was granted in 2015.
How Old Are You (2014), in which she played a thirty-six-year-old clerk who rediscovers her ambitions, was a major success and became a rallying point for women returning to work. She followed it with Rani Padmini, Udaharanam Sujatha, Aami, as the writer Kamala Das, the political blockbuster Lucifer (2019) and its sequel L2: Empuraan (2025), Prathi Poovankozhi and The Priest.
She made her Tamil debut opposite Dhanush in Vetrimaaran’s Asuran (2019), as the wife of a farmer hunted by a landlord’s family, and has since appeared in Thunivu, Vettaiyan with Rajinikanth and Viduthalai Part 2.
Public Life
After the abduction and assault of a fellow actress in Kochi in February 2017, she was the first major figure in the industry to say publicly that there had been a criminal conspiracy behind the attack. The Women in Cinema Collective was formed soon afterwards. She has been a brand ambassador for Kerala government campaigns, supports charities for cancer patients and the homeless, and is a keen motorcyclist.
Personal Life
She lives in Kerala and continues to perform Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam on stage. She has not remarried.
Featured image: Manju Warrier in February 2025. Photo by Antony, licensed under CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
