She acted in more than 100 films in South Indian languages like Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam.
Sanjeev and Sindhu are her nephew and niece respectively (elder sister's son and daughter respectively).
She first appeared in the film Shanthi Nilayam (1969) in a supporting role (as the teenaged niece of Gemini Ganesan's character).
Manjula has performed alongside R. Muthuraman, Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan, M. G. Ramachandran, Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Krishna, Shobhan Babu, Kamal Haasan, Vishnuvardhan and Rajinikanth.
[3][4][5] Manjula died on 23 July 2013 in SRMC at Chennai after falling down from bed and being admitted to hospital.