She started her acting career as a drama artist, which was more popular those days. She slowly migrated from dramas to cinemas just as most actors did those days.

During her initial days in the cine field, she concentrated more on comedy. She was given equally challenging roles alongside the well known comedian Nagesh. They made an excellent pair and gave many praiseworthy comedies.

Her role in Thillana Mohanambal was much appreciated. Ever since, she was provided with more scope in varied roles in addition to comedy.

She took each responsibility with such an ease which made the Tamil industry recognize her immense talent.

Not just her comedy skills, Manorama also won accolades for performing character roles too. Her performance in Chinna Thambi was critically acclaimed.

Winner of several awards including Padma Shri, the National award for the best supporting actress for the film Puthiya Pathai and Tamilnadu Government's Kalaimamani award, Manorama is still going strong.