Sudheer Kumar (born 20 April 1955), better known by his stage name Maniyanpilla Raju (Malayalam: മണിയൻപിള്ള രാജു), is an Indian actor and producer who works in Malayalam film industry. His debut film was Mohiniyaattam in 1976. He has played a variety of roles as a character actor, appearing in over 400 films. His stage name was derived from the character he played in the film Maniyanpilla Adhava Maniyanpilla (1981), his break-through role.

Early life

Raju was born as the youngest among four in 1955 to Shekharan Nair and Saraswati Amma at Thycaud, Thiruvanathapuram. He has two sisters, Ramani and Radha, and a brother Surendran. He had his primary education from Government Model Boys Higher Secondary School, Thiruvanathapuram. He did his pre-degree in Victory Tutorial College. He learned diploma in acting course during 1973–1975 from Adyar Film Institute, Madras (now Chennai).

Personal life

Maniyanpilla Raju married Indira in 1985, and the couple have two sons, Sachin and Niranj. The younger son, Niranj, made his debut in Renjith's Black Butterfly. He wrote a book titled Chirichum Chirippichum containing his memoirs in 2012. In 2019, he opened a restaurant, Be@Kiwizo, in Kannur, which is Kerala's first restaurant to use robots to serve customers.

Filmography

As an actor

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

As producer

Web series

Television

As judge

As host

As actor

Controversy

Actress Minu Muneer Accused Maniyanpilla Raju for harassed her He Later Denied it and said if its true he will be ok with the investigations.