Manoj Bharathiraja and Nandana fell in love during ‘Saadhuriyan’ shoot: A love story that crossed borders

Actor and director Manoj Bharathiraja’s untimely demise has shocked the South Indian film industry. The actor’s family, including veteran Tamil director Bharathiraja and Manoj’s wife Nandana who is a former actress, is yet to come to terms with his death. Now, an old interview of Manoj speaking about Nandana has gone viral on social media.

Manoj used to get eloquent about Nandana whenever he spoke about love and marriage. The couple fell in love when they were acting in the Tamil movie ‘Saadhuriyan,’ and Manoj claimed it was love at first sight for him. In an interview with Puthuyugam TV, Manoj said he fell in love with her when he first saw her during the shoot of ‘Saadhuriyan.’ He had a scene where he had to gently place his hand on Nandana’s shoulder, but he realised he could not move his hand.

The team had to take three to four shots. “Nandana became confused. She didn’t understand what was wrong. She told me that it was alright and took my hand and placed it on her shoulder. My heart began racing. I didn’t know whether I should confess my love. During the final schedule of the movie, I understood that she too liked me,” he had said in the interview.

He said they began texting soon after their first meeting, but after a while, Nandana became worried that their relationship was not going anywhere. But Manoj was convinced about their relationship  and told her about his plans to ask her hand for marriage. Nandana was excited but Manoj was a bit apprehensive to break the news to his parents. The actor finally opened up about his relationship with Nandana through his close friend Mahesh. He later learned that his father Bharathiraja had asked his mother, sister and uncle to tell everyone that that they didn’t like the girl, after meeting her. However, everyone changed their minds when they visited Nandana’s house at Kozhikode. “Nandana’s father’s relatives are all in the army and her mother’s relatives are highly educated. My paternal uncle called my father and said that I couldn’t get a better match than this. We then got married in 2006,” Manoj said in the interview. 

Nandana’s family too hadn’t agreed for this marriage initially. However, Nandana was adamant that if she ever got married, it would only be to Manoj. Her parents and relatives were skeptical about the alliance as they thought Nandana wouldn’t be able to adjust to a different language and culture. Nandana revealed that her parents had even brought a few proposals from the USA and UK. But Nandana stood firm and told her parents that she and Manoj would speak in Tamil. Manoj’s family first visited her at her house in Kozhikode, but Bharathiraja was not present due to work commitments. He later visited her family after six months and said he wanted to speak to Nandana alone. She answered his questions confidently. “I still feel stressed when I think about those days. Later, the families agreed and we got married with their blessing,” Nandana said. 

Nandana made her acting debut in the Malayalam movie Snehithan opposite Kunchacko Boban. Her role and the song sequences in the movie had become super hits then. She then acted in movies like Swapnam Kondu Thulabharam, Sethuramayyar CBI, Chathikatha Chandu AND Kalyana Kurimanam and Tamil movies Success, ABCD, Saduriyan and Kalliga. She quit acting after she got married to Manoj Bharathiraja. The actress has not been active on social media either. The couple has two daughters – Arshitha and Mathivathani. Nandana is currently running her husband’s production company.