Menaka

Padmavathi, better known by her stage name Menaka, is an Indian film actress and producer. She made her Debut in Tamil film 'Ramayi Vayasukku Vanthutta'. In an acting career spanning from 1980 to 1986, Menaka appeared in 116 films, mostly in Malayalam. She also did a few films in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu. She married film producer G. Suresh Kumar. After 19 years, she made a comeback through the television serial Kaliveedu.

Menaka, whose real name is Padmavathi, was born into a conservative Tamil Iyengar Brahmin family in Nagercoil, Kanyakumari district, India. She was the only daughter among the four children of Rajagopal and Saroja. Both her parents were school teachers. Her mother Saroja taught at the Lourdes Girls' Higher Secondary School in Perambur, Madras.

Menaka had become one of the highest-paid actresses in South Indian cinema when she decided to retire from acting post-marriage. After 24 years, she made a comeback as a film actress in 2011 with Fazil-directed Living Together, in a character role.

Menaka married film producer G. Suresh Kumar at Guruvayur Temple on 27 October 1987. It was an inter-caste marriage as Menaka was Brahmin and Kumar was Nair. She is a strict vegetarian because of her Brahmin origin. They have two daughters—Revathi and Keerthi Suresh. They were first settled in Chennai and later moved to Thiruvananthapuram. Keerthi is a film actress and Revathi is an assistant director..