Vyjayanthimala
Encyclopedia
Vyjayanthimala Bali is an India
n film actress, Bharathanatyam dancer, carnatic singer
, dance choreographer
, golf
er and a Parliamentarian.
Vyjayanthimala was one the biggest Bollywood
stars in a career lasting almost two decade
s. She was also the first South India
n actress to become a national star and "paved way" for the other South Indian actresses such as Waheeda Rehman
, Hema Malini
, Rekha, Sridevi, Jaya Prada
, Meenakshi Seshadri
, Aishwarya Rai
and Asin
to foray into Bollywood
. Vyjayanthimala is also an accomplished dancer and was one of those who introduced semi-classical dance to Bollywood
. Her subsequent dance numbers
in her films had earned her the title of "twinkle toes".
Born in an orthodox Tamil
Brahmin
family, Vyjayanthimala made her screen debut at the age of 13 years old through Vazhkai and acted in the Bollywood
films Bahar
and Ladki
. Following the success of Nagin
, Vyjayanthimala established herself as a one of the Bollywood
's leading actress and a successful Tamil actress.
She left the industry after shooting for the historical Hindi film Amrapali
which was based on life of the nagarvadhu
(royal courtesan
) of Vaishali
, Amrapali
, though director Baldev Raj Chopra
felt that she could have easily continued for another decade in lead roles.
Besides film, Vyjayanthimala's main concentration was in Bharata Natyam a form of Indian classical dance. After quitting movies Vyjayanthimala Bali continued with her dance career. In addition, Vyjayanthimala was conferred with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
, the highest Indian recognition given to practicing artists. The award was presented to Vyjayanthimala in 1982 for her contribution in Bharata Natyam field. Moreover, Vyjayanthimala is also an avid golfer where she is one of the oldest golfer in Chennai
.
situated near Parthasarathy Temple in a orthodox
and religious Tamil Brahmin
Iyengar
family to M. D. Raman and Vasundhara Devi
. Her mother was a leading actress in Tamil Cinema
in 1940s where her film Mangama Sabatham
was the first ever Tamil film to be declared a colossal hit at the box office. She used to call her mother by her name as her mother was 16 years elder than her when she was born. Similarly, she also calls her father as "Anna", means elder brother, as her father happened to be the eldest in their family and everyone called him as "Anna" which is common among Brahmin joint family
. During her childhood, she was raised primarily by her maternal grandmother, Yadugiri Devi, and her father, M.D. Raman. She was also known as mononym "Papakutty", which means little child.
At age 5, Vyjayanthimala was chosen to perform a classical Indian dance for Pope Pius XII
while her mother shared the honor as an audience in 1940 at Vatican City
. Vyjayanthi did her schooling at Sacred Heart Higher Secondary School, Presentation Convent, Church Park, Chennai. She learned Bharata Natyam from Guru Vazhuvoor Ramiah Pillai and Carnatic music
from Manakkal Sivaraja Iyer. She had her arangetram
at the age of 13 and started performing all over Tamil Nadu
later.
's Vazhkai, he saw Vyjayanthimala performing Bharata Natyam in Chennai Gokhale Hall. Then he tried to convince her grandmother, who was apprehensive about Vyjayanthimala in joining films as she felt it would come in the way of her education and dance. Vyjayanthimala played as college girl named Rani and acted along with senior actors S. V. Sahasranamam, A.K. Kamalam, T. R. Ramachandran
and K. Sankarapani. The movie was a big success and was simultaneously shot in Telugu also as Jeevitham with the slightly different cast, namely C. H. Narayana Rao
, S. Varalakshmi
and C. S. R. Anjaneyulu
, the latter also enjoyed great success upon release. For the Telugu version, Vyjayanthimala has dubbed her own voice with the assist of her father who knew Telugu well and coached her during the filming process. Vyjayanthimala also did a guest appearance in the 1950 film Vijayakumari which had actress T. R. Rajakumari
in dual role
. She danced for the song "laalu...laalu...laalu" which was choreographed by Vedantam Raghavaiah
. Though the film was not a commercial success but her western-style of dance becomes popular and was considered as one of the major highlights of the film.
The success of Vazhkai in South India inspired AVM Productions
to remake it in Hindi as Bahar
in 1951. In their first Hindi venture, they decided to cast Vyjayanthimala again in the lead role with Karan Dewan, Om Prakash
and Pandari Bai
who was credited as Padmini in the film. She learned Hindi at the Hindi Prachar Sabha in order to dub her own voice for her character in the film. Upperstall.com
in their review, wrote that "She does bring the film to life with her dances though, something which was new then for the North Indian audiences". The film becomes sixth highest grossing film of 1951
with verdict hit.
After the success of all her debut film in all three languages, Vyjayanthimala again acted in multilingual film which was produced by Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar
of AVM Productions
. The first version was in Tamil as Penn
where she was co-starred by actor Gemini Ganesan
, S. Balachandran and Anjali Devi
. The song "Kalyanam...venum" sung by J. P. Chandrababu for S. Balachandran becomes an instant hit. The second version was in Telugu as Sangham
which was released in the same year with N. T. Rama Rao
, Vyjayanthimala, S. Balachandran and Anjali Devi in the lead. The Tamil and the the Telugu was a big success across the South India. The film was once again remade in Hindi as Ladki
starring Bharat Bhushan
, Kishore Kumar
while Vyjayanthimala with Anjali Devi reprises their role from the original film respectively. Her performance was described by Upperstall as, "Vyjayanthimala's dances that are the film's saving graces although it is unintentionally funny now to see how deliberate and obviously tacky the sequences are which lead into her dances[...]Ladki too makes no real demands on 'feminist' tomboy Vyjayanthimala histrionically". The movie became second highest grossing film of 1953
.
with Pradeep Kumar
. The film got favorable responses from the audience and becomes the highest grossing movie of 1954
. Subsequently, she establish herself as one of the leading actress in Bollywood through the film's nationwide success. Hemant Kumar's music and her dance accompanying the song, Man Dole, Mera tan dole, rendered by Lata Mangeshkar
was one of the highlights of the film. Then on the same year she also acted in Miss Mala with Kishore Kumar
. Furthermore, Vyjayanthimala also debuted in Kannada cinema
through a film called Asha Nirasha
which was produce by G. D. Venkatram. The film also had Lata Mangeshkar
, Asha Bhosle
and Mohammed Rafi
as the playback singers, but the movie was unreleased though the producer's son Srikant Venkatram claimed that the film was released and flopped miserably at box office which made the film unrecognized.
In 1955, Vyjayanthimala acted around 5 films in Bollywood. The first one is Pakistani director Abdur Rashid Kardar
's Yasmin
alongside Pakistani actor Suresh which won the Filmfare Best Cinematographer for Dwarka Divecha. Besides that, she also starred in three other films namely Pehli Jhalak with Kishore Kumar
, Sitara with Pradeep Kumar
and Jashan with Karan Dewan. Eventually all the films were failed at box office.
On the same year, Bimal Roy
cast her as Chandramukhi opposite Dilip Kumar
in the critically acclaimed Devdas
which was the adaptation of the novel with same title
by Sharat Chandra Chatterji. The industry initially was not in favor of this choice when they heard about Vyjayanthimala being casted in Bimal Roy's film, the response being: "Why don't you take comedian Kishore Kumar
as Devdas?". Initially Nargis
was selected for Chandramukhi's role, as she refused to accept the role, the latter such as Bina Rai
and Suraiya
also follows her footstep as they wanted to essay the lead role of Paro, which earlier offered to Meena Kumari
. Subsequently, the film unit suffered with financial crisis
and at this point where Vyjayanthimala offered herself for the role where she said to Bimal Roy
, "I am ready if you think I can do it". On the other hand, Nabendu Ghosh
, the script writer of Devdas
, said that, "I did not approve of Vyjayanthimala [as Chandramukhi], but we had no option --- no one wanted to play Chandramukhi, and we were committed to our distributors[...]She was, of course, a very good actress, but she was too young for Chandramukhi, as envisioned by Saratbabu". On her performance, Rediff wrote, "Vyjayanthimala imbues Chandramukhi with true sympathy. Who better than Chandramukhi would know the pain of a hopeless love?[...]Vyjayanthimala, a star after the blockbuster Nagin, still had to establish her acting credentials when Roy went against the tide and cast her in the role of Chandramukhi" while Upperstall.com
describe her performance as, "Vyjayantimala's Chandramukhi is embellished with her graceful dance style that evolves with the evolution in her character within the film from a popular dancing woman to a woman, who, in love with Devdas, has unconsciously mutated to reflect the mainstream woman. For Vyjayantimala, the character marked a turning point from glamour to pure histrionics, offering her scope to explore her potential as a dramatic actress without taking away from her, the most outstanding gift she brought to cinema – her dance". Subsequently, she won Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress but refused to accept it, stating that her role was a leading one—and in equal importance to the role essayed by Suchitra Sen
--and not supporting
. In 2006, a poll conducted by Rediff ranked her role Chandramukhi as one of the best Tawaif
character in Bollywood
. Though the film was critically successful but it did not garnered much expectation at box office and ended up as 10th highest grossing movie of 1955
with verdict average.
After being recognized as a capable actress with Devdas, Vyjayanthimala acted in various movies in 1956, namely Taj, Patrani
and Anjaan: Somewhere in Dehli with Pradeep Kumar
and Kismet Ka Khel with Sunil Dutt
. In the same year, she also acted in swashbuckler
film Devta
which was a remake of a hugely successful Tamil film Kanavaney Kankanda Deivam. Surprisingly though, she accepted a supporting role as a vamp
which was originally done by Lalitha
in the Tamil version. However according to Upperstall.com
, her role was very crucial in the film and her portrayal as the Naag Rani accompanied by her dance is the main attraction of the film. Also starring in the movie, reprising their lead roles from the original, were Gemini Ganesan
and Anjali Devi
. Vyjayanthimala then acted with Kishore Kumar
again in the comedy film
New Delhi
which became the fifth highest grossing film of 1956
with verdict hit. The film showcases a love that sprouts between a Punjabi
boy, played Kishore Kumar, and Tamil
girl, played by Vyjayanthimala. Her performance was applauded by fans and critics alike; a review on Upperstall.com
regarding her performance in this movie states that, "Vyjayanthimala proves to be the perfect foil for Kishore Kumar[...]has always had the mandatory dance sequence in practically every film of hers evoking 'classical art' associations. She excels in the two main dances in New Delhi - the solo Bharatnatayam Aliruppu number and the Bhangra folk dance in her Punjabi avtaar and she is absolutely brilliant in the Bhangra folk dance[...]in her second avtar even Vyjayanthimala played a Punjabi girl and most successfully too". Subsequently, she also did a Tamil film called Marma Veeran
along with Sriram, Rajasulochana
, M. N. Rajam, J. P. Chandrababu and Chittor V. Nagaiah
. The film had some of the South India
n established actors such as N. T. Rama Rao
, Sivaji Ganesan
and Gemini Ganesan
in guest appearance
.
planned to make Naya Daur with Ashok Kumar
in the lead. However, the actor refused to accept this role and it later when to Dilip Kumar
. For the female lead, the first choice of the director was the star-actress of those days, Madhubala
. But, as fate would have it, after the 15 days of initial shooting at Mumbai
, the director wanted the unit to travel to Bhopal for an extended outdoor shooting. However, Ataullah Khan, the father of Madhubala
, objected to this and the role went to Vyjayanthimala. Chopra also sued Madhubala
for the cash advance she received from him for the film, saying that she accepted the sum and now had no intention of completing it. Vyjyanthimala had previously acted with Dilip Kumar
in Devdas
and the duo shared an easy chemistry on-screen. The new film, Naya Daur, had a theme of "man vs. machine" and Vyjanthi's portrayal of a village belle Rajni received positive reviews from critics. A review from Rediff says that, "Vyjayanthimala too is not your average petulant gaon ki gori. She ably projects a hands-on worker who comes up with ideas on how to ford a stream and risks her life to save the bridge[...]wonderful scene between two stars whose chemistry is undeniable" while reviewer Taran Adarsh
from Bollywood Hungama
mention that, "Commendable performances come in from Vyjayantimala [natural][...]The relationships [Dilip Kumar-Vyjayantimala] are so human and believable". At the end of its theatrical run, the film had collected around 5,40,00,000, thus becoming the second highest grossing film of 1957
, second only to the critically acclaimed Mother India
which became the highest grossing Bollywood film ever at the time. Following that, Vyjayanthimala almost signed for the lead role in Filmistan
's Tumsa Nahin Dekha
opposite Dev Anand
in 1957, but due to the producer Sashadhar Mukherjee
's promise to actor Shammi Kapoor
, he replace Dev Anand
with Shammi Kapoor
. However the director, Nasir Hussain
was in a quandary as he had already read the script to Dev Anand
and Vyjayanthimala but Mukerji prevailed and he also replaced Vyjayanthimala with Ameeta
, who was the protégée of Filmistan
Studios owner Tolaram Jalan. Vyjayanthimala's next release was Kathputli
in which she co-starred with actor Balraj Sahni
for the first time. This film was about a young girl named Pushpa who, on account of being a good dancer and singer, assists puppeteer Shivraj in his puppet show. This film was director Amiya Chakravarty's last film. He died during the filming of Kathputli and the remaining project was completed by director Nitin Bose
. Kathputli
remains as one of the memorable film of Vyjayanthimala which has an offbeat theme with a Pygmalion touch
. Vyjayanthimala then acted in Ek Jhalak with Rajendra Kumar
and Pradeep Kumar
which was produced by the latter with his home production company Deep & Pradeep Productions. She returned to the screen again with Kishore Kumar
in the 1957 partially-colour-made film Aasha
which became a hit at the box office. The story revolves around the central character Kishore, played by Kishore Kumar, who, despite being a Zamindaar, believes in helping the needy. Vyjayanthimala, as Nirmala, plays the lover of Kishore. The story suddenly goes from being light-hearted and humorous to a court-drama when Kishore is falsely accused for murder. The rest of the movie sees both the protagonists trying to prove Kishore's innocence. The movie is best known for its song Eena Meena Dekha sung by Kishore Kumar
and Asha Bhosle
, in two different versions Aasha also introduced actress Asha Parekh
, to the silver screen, in a song alongside Vyjayanthimala whom Parekh described as her matinee idol
.
as the nominee of the Indian National Congress
opposite Era Sezhiyan, the leader of Janata Party
and seasoned parliamentarian
. During the campaign, Sezhiyan took provoking quotes such as "Send me to the Lok Sabha. Send her to R.R. Sabha (an organisation promoting fine arts)" in order to defeat Vyjayanthimala, ironically she won the election with margin
of about 48,000 votes. Subsequently, she debuted in the Lok Sabha
, the directly elected lower house
of the Parliament of India
in the end of January
, 1985 with Amitabh Bachchan
.
In 1989, Vyjayanthimala again had to face the election, this time she was opposed by Aladi Aruna
of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
. She again beat her opposition by nearly 1.25 lakh
votes. Later on 1993, she was nominated to the Rajya Sabha
, the upper house
of the Parliament of India
for a six-year term.
In 1999, she has resigned from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress
party. In her letter to the party's president Sonia Gandhi
, she included the reason for her resignation where she said that, "painfully watching the party drifting from its avowed principles after the death of Rajiv Gandhi
. The party has lost touch with its grassroots and one can see day in and day out that sincere party workers are being steadily ignored", she adds more, "increasingly difficult to justify ourselves to the public and my conscience does not allow me to stay in the party any longer". Later she joined the Bharatiya Janata Party
on September 6, 1999.
and is a vegetarian
. She is a religious person and grew up listening to holy chant
s and devotional song
s. She is a devotee of Aandaal, one of the 12 Alvar
saints of South India. She used to invoke Aandaal before any public performance in order to gain her blessing.
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India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n film actress, Bharathanatyam dancer, carnatic singer
Carnatic music
Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...
, dance choreographer
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
er and a Parliamentarian.
Vyjayanthimala was one the biggest Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
stars in a career lasting almost two decade
Decade
A decade is a period of 10 years. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek dekas which means ten. This etymology is sometime confused with the Latin decas and dies , which is not correct....
s. She was also the first South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
n actress to become a national star and "paved way" for the other South Indian actresses such as Waheeda Rehman
Waheeda Rehman
Waheeda Rehman , is an Indian film actress who appears in Bollywood movies and is known for many successful and critically acclaimed movies from 1950's, 60's and early 70's most notably C.I.D. and Guru Dutt classics such as Pyaasa , 12 O'Clock , Kaagaz Ke Phool , Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam...
, Hema Malini
Hema Malini
Hema Malini is an Indian actress, director and producer, as well as a Bharatanatyam dancer-choreographer. Making her acting debut in Sapno Ka Saudagar , she went on to appear in numerous Bollywood films, most notably those with actor and future-husband Dharmendra. She was initially promoted as...
, Rekha, Sridevi, Jaya Prada
Jaya Prada
Jaya Prada is an Indian film actress and politician. She has starred in hundreds of Telugu, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali and Marathi films.-Early life:...
, Meenakshi Seshadri
Meenakshi Seshadri
Meenakshi Seshadri is an Indian film actress. She won the Miss India contest in 1981 at age 17. She is the youngest woman to be crowned Miss India-Career:...
, Aishwarya Rai
Aishwarya Rai
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is an Indian film actress. She worked as a model before starting her acting career, and ultimately won the Miss World pageant in 1994...
and Asin
Asín
Asín is a municipality located in the Cinco Villas comarca of the province of Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, located a few kilometers west of Orés. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 106 inhabitants....
to foray into Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
. Vyjayanthimala is also an accomplished dancer and was one of those who introduced semi-classical dance to Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
. Her subsequent dance numbers
Item number
An item number or an item song, in Indian cinema, is a musical performance that has little to do with the film in which it appears, but is presented to showcase beautiful dancing women in very revealing clothes, to lend support to the marketability of the film...
in her films had earned her the title of "twinkle toes".
Born in an orthodox Tamil
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
family, Vyjayanthimala made her screen debut at the age of 13 years old through Vazhkai and acted in the Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
films Bahar
Bahar (film)
The film's soundtrack was composed by S. D. Burman while the lyrics was penned by Rajendra Krishan. Almost all the songs was a chartbusters and the album proved to be successful for music director S. D. Burman who previously taste success through Shabnam. Bahar also one of the rare soundtrack where...
and Ladki
Ladki
Ladki is a 1953 Hindi Romantic comedy film written by V.S.Venkatasalam and directed by M. V. Raman. The film starred Vyjayanthimala, Kishore Kumar, Bharat Bhushan and Anjali Devi in the lead while Chittor V. Nagaiah, Leela Mishra, Om Prakash, Raj Mehra and Master Chhotu as the ensemble cast. The...
. Following the success of Nagin
Nagin (1954 film)
Nagin is a 1954 film directed by Nandlal Jaswantlal, starring Vyjayanthimala and Pradeep Kumar.- Synopsis :Two Adivasi tribes are in conflict for some local economic rights. The daughter of the Nagi tribe's chief, Mala vows to kill the son of the Ragi tribe's chief, Sanatan as revenge...
, Vyjayanthimala established herself as a one of the Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
's leading actress and a successful Tamil actress.
She left the industry after shooting for the historical Hindi film Amrapali
Amrapali (film)
Amrapali is a 1966 historical Hindi film, directed by Lekh Tandon, starring Vyjayanthimala and Sunil Dutt as leads.It was based on the life of Amrapali , the nagarvadhu of Vaishali, the capital of the Licchavi republic in ancient India around 500 BC and Ajatashatru, the king of the Magadha empire,...
which was based on life of the nagarvadhu
Nagarvadhu
Nagarvadhu or Nagar Vadhu was a tradition followed in some parts of ancient India.Women competed to win the title of a Nagarvadhu, and it was not considered a taboo. The most beautiful woman was chosen as the Nagarvadhu....
(royal courtesan
Courtesan
A courtesan was originally a female courtier, which means a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person.In feudal society, the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...
) of Vaishali
Vaishali
Vaishali may refer to:* Vaishali , an ancient city located in current Vaishali District, Bihar, India* Vaishali district, a district in Bihar, India* Vaishali , a Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar, India...
, Amrapali
Ambapali
Amrapāli, also known as "Ambapālika" or "Ambapali", was a nagarvadhu of the republic of Vaishali in ancient India around 500 BC.. Following the Buddha's teachings she became an arahant...
, though director Baldev Raj Chopra
Baldev Raj Chopra
Baldev Raj Chopra was an Indian director and producer of Bollywood movies and television serials...
felt that she could have easily continued for another decade in lead roles.
Besides film, Vyjayanthimala's main concentration was in Bharata Natyam a form of Indian classical dance. After quitting movies Vyjayanthimala Bali continued with her dance career. In addition, Vyjayanthimala was conferred with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recognition given to practicing artists. The award consists since 2003 of Rs. 50,000, a citation, an angavastram , and a tamrapatra...
, the highest Indian recognition given to practicing artists. The award was presented to Vyjayanthimala in 1982 for her contribution in Bharata Natyam field. Moreover, Vyjayanthimala is also an avid golfer where she is one of the oldest golfer in Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
.
Early life
Born in TriplicaneTriplicane
Triplicane also has the famous powerful Ellamman temple in SMV Koil street. A beautiful Sundaramurthy Vinayagar temple is right opposite to the Ellamman Temple....
situated near Parthasarathy Temple in a orthodox
Orthodoxy
The word orthodox, from Greek orthos + doxa , is generally used to mean the adherence to accepted norms, more specifically to creeds, especially in religion...
and religious Tamil Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
Iyengar
Iyengar
Iyengar or Ayyangar is a caste given to Hindu Brahmins of Tamil origin who follow the Visishtadvaita philosophy propounded by Sri Ramanujacharya. They are found mostly in Tamil Nadu as they are generally native to the Tamil Nadu state of the Republic of India...
family to M. D. Raman and Vasundhara Devi
Vasundhara Devi
Vasunthara Devi was an Indian film actress, trained Bharathanatyam dancer and carnatic singer. Vasundhara Devi is the only Indian actress to have had an audience with the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. She is the mother of popular Indian actress Vyjayanthimala.-Biography:Vasundhara was married...
. Her mother was a leading actress in Tamil Cinema
Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema is the film industry based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, dedicated to the production of films in the Tamil language. It is based in Chennai's Kodambakkam district, where several South Indian film production companies are headquartered...
in 1940s where her film Mangama Sabatham
Mangamma Sapatham (1943 film)
Mangamma Sapatham is a 1943 Tamil-language film starring Ranjan, Vasundhara Devi, N. S. Krishnan and T. A. Maduram. The film was produced by S. S. Vasan and directed by T. G. Raghavanchari.-Plot:...
was the first ever Tamil film to be declared a colossal hit at the box office. She used to call her mother by her name as her mother was 16 years elder than her when she was born. Similarly, she also calls her father as "Anna", means elder brother, as her father happened to be the eldest in their family and everyone called him as "Anna" which is common among Brahmin joint family
Hindu joint family
A Hindu Joint Family or Joint Family is an extended family arrangement prevalent among Hindus of the Indian subcontinent, consisting of many generations living under the same roof. All the male members are blood relatives and all the women are either mothers, wives, unmarried daughters, or widowed...
. During her childhood, she was raised primarily by her maternal grandmother, Yadugiri Devi, and her father, M.D. Raman. She was also known as mononym "Papakutty", which means little child.
At age 5, Vyjayanthimala was chosen to perform a classical Indian dance for Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII
The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....
while her mother shared the honor as an audience in 1940 at Vatican City
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
. Vyjayanthi did her schooling at Sacred Heart Higher Secondary School, Presentation Convent, Church Park, Chennai. She learned Bharata Natyam from Guru Vazhuvoor Ramiah Pillai and Carnatic music
Carnatic music
Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...
from Manakkal Sivaraja Iyer. She had her arangetram
Arangetram
Arangetram , also Arangettam in Malayalam, is the debut on-stage performance of a Bharatanatyam student, after undertaking years of training.Bharatanatyam is an ancient Indian dance form originating in Tamilakam....
at the age of 13 and started performing all over Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
later.
Early career: Debut and breakthrough, (1949-1953)
When director M. V. Raman was looking for a new face to cast in AVM ProductionsAVM Productions
AVM is the oldest and largest film production studio in India. It is currently owned by M. Saravanan and his son, M. S. Guhan. The most recent film they have produced since their opening with Nam Iruvar in 1947, is Vettaikkaaran and Leader. The filming studios are located in Vadapalani, Chennai....
's Vazhkai, he saw Vyjayanthimala performing Bharata Natyam in Chennai Gokhale Hall. Then he tried to convince her grandmother, who was apprehensive about Vyjayanthimala in joining films as she felt it would come in the way of her education and dance. Vyjayanthimala played as college girl named Rani and acted along with senior actors S. V. Sahasranamam, A.K. Kamalam, T. R. Ramachandran
T. R. Ramachandran
T. R. Ramachandran was a Tamil actor and comedian who played memorable roles in movies from the 1940s to the 1960s.- Filmography :...
and K. Sankarapani. The movie was a big success and was simultaneously shot in Telugu also as Jeevitham with the slightly different cast, namely C. H. Narayana Rao
C. H. Narayana Rao
C. H. Narayana Rao is famous South Indian actor.He has been working in Indian Railways in 1939. He was found by Dronamraju Kameswara Rao and introduced him in Jeevana Jyoti in 1940 as hero. He has acted in about 50 films as hero, supporting actor and villain...
, S. Varalakshmi
S. Varalakshmi
Saridey Varalakshmi, popularly known as Telugu: ఎస్. వర లక్ష్మిS. Varalakshmi was a veteran Telugu and Tamil actress and singer...
and C. S. R. Anjaneyulu
Chilakalapudi Seetha Rama Anjaneyulu
Chilakalapudi Seetha Rama Anjaneyulu , better known as C. S. R. Anjaneyulu or just CSR was an Indian film renowned actor in Telugu Cinema. He acted in many stage dramas and portrayed hero, character and mythological roles in over 175 movies....
, the latter also enjoyed great success upon release. For the Telugu version, Vyjayanthimala has dubbed her own voice with the assist of her father who knew Telugu well and coached her during the filming process. Vyjayanthimala also did a guest appearance in the 1950 film Vijayakumari which had actress T. R. Rajakumari
T. R. Rajakumari
Thanjavur Ranganayaki Rajayee , popularly known by her screen name T. R. Rajakumari was a Tamil film actress, Carnatic singer and dancer. She has been called the first "dream girl" of Tamil cinema.-Early life:...
in dual role
Dual role
Dual role refers to one actor playing two or more roles, which may be deliberately scripted in a play or film, or merely be a by-product of a low budget. In a theatrical production where more than one actor plays multiple characters, it is sometimes referred to as an "Ironman" cast...
. She danced for the song "laalu...laalu...laalu" which was choreographed by Vedantam Raghavaiah
Vedantam Raghavaiah
Vedantam Raghavaiah was veteran Telugu film actor, choreographer, director and producer.-Devadasu:He was the director and producer of Telugu film Devdas with music by C.R. Subburaman. The hero of Raghavaiah's Devadas, Akkineni Nageshwara Rao, became an overnight star...
. Though the film was not a commercial success but her western-style of dance becomes popular and was considered as one of the major highlights of the film.
The success of Vazhkai in South India inspired AVM Productions
AVM Productions
AVM is the oldest and largest film production studio in India. It is currently owned by M. Saravanan and his son, M. S. Guhan. The most recent film they have produced since their opening with Nam Iruvar in 1947, is Vettaikkaaran and Leader. The filming studios are located in Vadapalani, Chennai....
to remake it in Hindi as Bahar
Bahar (film)
The film's soundtrack was composed by S. D. Burman while the lyrics was penned by Rajendra Krishan. Almost all the songs was a chartbusters and the album proved to be successful for music director S. D. Burman who previously taste success through Shabnam. Bahar also one of the rare soundtrack where...
in 1951. In their first Hindi venture, they decided to cast Vyjayanthimala again in the lead role with Karan Dewan, Om Prakash
Om Prakash
Om Prakash was an Indian character actor. He was born in Jammu as Om Prakash Chibber. He used to play the role of Kamla in the stage play by the famous Dewan Mandir Natak Samaj Koliwada. Starting his career in 1942, he was a popular supporting actor from the 1950s until the 1980s. He was one of...
and Pandari Bai
Pandari Bai
Pandari Bai was a prominent heroine of South Indian languages films mostly in Kannada and Tamil during the 1950s and 60s. She has the distinction of having acted as both heroine and mother to stalwarts such as Dr. Rajkumar and Sivaji Ganesan...
who was credited as Padmini in the film. She learned Hindi at the Hindi Prachar Sabha in order to dub her own voice for her character in the film. Upperstall.com
Upperstall.com
Upperstall.com is a web site on Indian cinema that focuses on classic and independent Indian cinema and its luminaries. It is owned and run by Karan Bali, Saumil Gandhi and Karan Anshuman and launched on 7 July 2000, heralding the 104th anniversary of the first ever motion picture screenings in India...
in their review, wrote that "She does bring the film to life with her dances though, something which was new then for the North Indian audiences". The film becomes sixth highest grossing film of 1951
Bollywood films of 1951
A list of films produced by the Bollywood film industry based in Mumbai in 1951:-Highest grossing:The top ten grossing films at the Indian Box Office in 1951:-1951:-External links:* at the Internet Movie Database...
with verdict hit.
After the success of all her debut film in all three languages, Vyjayanthimala again acted in multilingual film which was produced by Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar
Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar
Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar , also known as A. V. Meiyappan or AVM was an Indian film producer, director and philanthropist who established the AVM Productions in Vadapalani, Chennai. He is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of Tamil cinema, and one of three movie moguls of the South Indian film...
of AVM Productions
AVM Productions
AVM is the oldest and largest film production studio in India. It is currently owned by M. Saravanan and his son, M. S. Guhan. The most recent film they have produced since their opening with Nam Iruvar in 1947, is Vettaikkaaran and Leader. The filming studios are located in Vadapalani, Chennai....
. The first version was in Tamil as Penn
Penn (film)
Penn is a 1954 Tamil romantic comedy film written by Ra. Venkatachalam and directed by M. V. Raman. The film starred Vyjayanthimala, Gemini Ganesan, S. Balachander and Anjali Devi in the lead while Chittor V. Nagaiah, V. K. Ramasamy, K. N. Kamlam, K.R. Chellam and K. Sankarapani as the ensemble...
where she was co-starred by actor Gemini Ganesan
Gemini Ganesan
Ramaswami Ganesan , popularly known as Gemini Ganesan , was an Indian actor. He was nicknamed "Kadhal Mannan" of Tamil cinema for the romantic roles he played in movies....
, S. Balachandran and Anjali Devi
Anjali Devi
Anjali Devi is a veteran Telugu actress and producer. She is well known for her mythological role as Sita in Lava Kusha and roles in movies like Suvarna Sundari and Anarkali.- Biography :...
. The song "Kalyanam...venum" sung by J. P. Chandrababu for S. Balachandran becomes an instant hit. The second version was in Telugu as Sangham
Sangham
Sangham is a 1954 Telugu Romantic comedy film written by V.S.Venkatasalam and directed by M. V. Raman. The film starred Vyjayanthimala, N. T. Rama Rao, S. Balachander and Anjali Devi in the lead while Chittor V. Nagaiah, V. K. Ramasamy, K. N. Kamlam, K.R. Chellam and K. Sankarapani as the ensemble...
which was released in the same year with N. T. Rama Rao
N. T. Rama Rao
Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao , also known as NTR and fondly referred to as Anna Garu, was an Indian film actor, director, producer, and a politician...
, Vyjayanthimala, S. Balachandran and Anjali Devi in the lead. The Tamil and the the Telugu was a big success across the South India. The film was once again remade in Hindi as Ladki
Ladki
Ladki is a 1953 Hindi Romantic comedy film written by V.S.Venkatasalam and directed by M. V. Raman. The film starred Vyjayanthimala, Kishore Kumar, Bharat Bhushan and Anjali Devi in the lead while Chittor V. Nagaiah, Leela Mishra, Om Prakash, Raj Mehra and Master Chhotu as the ensemble cast. The...
starring Bharat Bhushan
Bharat Bhushan
Bharat Bhushan was an Indian bollywood actor, scriptwriter and producer, who is best remembered for playing Baiju Bawra in the 1952 film of the same name. He was born in Meerut, and brought up in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh.-Personal Life:...
, Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar , born Abhas Kumar Ganguly, was an Indian film playback singer and an actor who also worked as lyricist, composer, producer, director, screenwriter and scriptwriter.Kishore Kumar was one of India's greatest performers of the late 20th century...
while Vyjayanthimala with Anjali Devi reprises their role from the original film respectively. Her performance was described by Upperstall as, "Vyjayanthimala's dances that are the film's saving graces although it is unintentionally funny now to see how deliberate and obviously tacky the sequences are which lead into her dances[...]Ladki too makes no real demands on 'feminist' tomboy Vyjayanthimala histrionically". The movie became second highest grossing film of 1953
Bollywood films of 1953
An overview of the films produced by the Bollywood film industry based in Mumbai in 1953.Do Bigha Zameen directed and produced by Bengali director Bimal Roy and starring Balraj Sahni, Nirupa Roy, Ratan Kumar and Jagdeep won the Filmfare Best Movie Award...
.
1954-1956
In 1954, Vyjayanthimala acted in magnum opus film NaginNagin (1954 film)
Nagin is a 1954 film directed by Nandlal Jaswantlal, starring Vyjayanthimala and Pradeep Kumar.- Synopsis :Two Adivasi tribes are in conflict for some local economic rights. The daughter of the Nagi tribe's chief, Mala vows to kill the son of the Ragi tribe's chief, Sanatan as revenge...
with Pradeep Kumar
Pradeep Kumar
Pradeep Kumar was an Indian actor in Bengali and Hindi films.-Career:When Kumar was 17 years old, he decided to take up acting. His started his film career in Bengali films...
. The film got favorable responses from the audience and becomes the highest grossing movie of 1954
Bollywood films of 1954
A list of films produced by the Bollywood film industry based in Mumbai in 1954. Boot Polish produced by Raj Kapoor went on the won the Filmfare Best Movie Award in 1955....
. Subsequently, she establish herself as one of the leading actress in Bollywood through the film's nationwide success. Hemant Kumar's music and her dance accompanying the song, Man Dole, Mera tan dole, rendered by Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar is a singer from India. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six regional...
was one of the highlights of the film. Then on the same year she also acted in Miss Mala with Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar , born Abhas Kumar Ganguly, was an Indian film playback singer and an actor who also worked as lyricist, composer, producer, director, screenwriter and scriptwriter.Kishore Kumar was one of India's greatest performers of the late 20th century...
. Furthermore, Vyjayanthimala also debuted in Kannada cinema
Cinema of Karnataka
The cinema of Karnataka , sometimes colloquially referred to as Sandalwood and as Chandanavana in Kannada, encompasses movies made in the Indian state of Karnataka based in Bangalore. Most of the movies are made in Kannada, with a handful of them in Konkani or Tulu. Today more than 100 films are...
through a film called Asha Nirasha
Asha Nirasha
Asha Nirasha is a shelved 1954 Kannada film. The film was starred by Vyjayanthimala in her Kannada cinema debut.-Cast:* Vyjayanthimala as Asha-Delay:...
which was produce by G. D. Venkatram. The film also had Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar
Lata Mangeshkar is a singer from India. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over six and a half decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six regional...
, Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle is an Indian singer. She is one of the best-known and most highly-regarded Hindi playback singers in India, although she has a wider repertoire. Bhosle's career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done playback singing for over a thousand Bollywood movies...
and Mohammed Rafi
Mohammed Rafi
Mohammad Rafi , was an Indian playback singer whose career spanned four decades. He was awarded National Award and 6 Filmfare Awards. In 1967, he was honoured with the Padma Shri awarded by the Government of India....
as the playback singers, but the movie was unreleased though the producer's son Srikant Venkatram claimed that the film was released and flopped miserably at box office which made the film unrecognized.
In 1955, Vyjayanthimala acted around 5 films in Bollywood. The first one is Pakistani director Abdur Rashid Kardar
Abdur Rashid Kardar
Abdur Rashid Kardar , often abbreviated as A.R. Kardar, was a pre-partition Lahore-born actor and later director. He is credited as establishing the film industry in the Bhati Gate locality of Lahore, British India ....
's Yasmin
Yasmin (1955 film)
Yasmin is a 1955 Hindi Black-and-white Costume drama written, produced and directed by Abdur Rashid Kardar. The film starred Vyjayanthimala in the title role wtih Suresh in the lead while Jayant, Rashid Khan, Maruti Rao, S. N. Banerjee, Shyam Kumar and Rajan Haksar forms an ensemble cast. The film...
alongside Pakistani actor Suresh which won the Filmfare Best Cinematographer for Dwarka Divecha. Besides that, she also starred in three other films namely Pehli Jhalak with Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar , born Abhas Kumar Ganguly, was an Indian film playback singer and an actor who also worked as lyricist, composer, producer, director, screenwriter and scriptwriter.Kishore Kumar was one of India's greatest performers of the late 20th century...
, Sitara with Pradeep Kumar
Pradeep Kumar
Pradeep Kumar was an Indian actor in Bengali and Hindi films.-Career:When Kumar was 17 years old, he decided to take up acting. His started his film career in Bengali films...
and Jashan with Karan Dewan. Eventually all the films were failed at box office.
On the same year, Bimal Roy
Bimal Roy
Bimal Roy was one of the most acclaimed Indian film directors of all time. He is particularly noted for his realistic and socialistic films like Do Bigha Zamin, Parineeta, Biraj Bahu, Madhumati, Sujata, and Bandini, making him an important director of Hindi cinema...
cast her as Chandramukhi opposite Dilip Kumar
Dilip Kumar
Dilip Kumar , is an Indian actor and a former Member of Parliament.He lives in Pali Hill, Bandra in Mumbai, India. He is commonly known as "Tragedy King",and is described as "the ultimate method actor" by Satyajit Ray....
in the critically acclaimed Devdas
Devdas (1955 film)
Devdas is a 1955 film directed by Bimal Roy, based on the Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay novel, Devdas.In 2005, Indiatimes Movies ranked the movie amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films.-Plot:...
which was the adaptation of the novel with same title
Devdas
Devdas is a Bengali Romance novel by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. Essentially, it is a retelling of the Krishna, Radha, and Meera myths, the relationships between its three protagonists - Devdas, Parvati, and Chandramukhi - paralleling the Hindu deities'.-Plot summary:Devdas is a young man from...
by Sharat Chandra Chatterji. The industry initially was not in favor of this choice when they heard about Vyjayanthimala being casted in Bimal Roy's film, the response being: "Why don't you take comedian Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar , born Abhas Kumar Ganguly, was an Indian film playback singer and an actor who also worked as lyricist, composer, producer, director, screenwriter and scriptwriter.Kishore Kumar was one of India's greatest performers of the late 20th century...
as Devdas?". Initially Nargis
Nargis
Nargis Dutt , born Fatima Rashid but known by her screen name, Nargis, was an Indian film actress. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest actresses in the history of Hindi cinema. She made her screen debut as a child in Talash-E-Haq in 1935, but her acting carer began in 1942 with Tamanna...
was selected for Chandramukhi's role, as she refused to accept the role, the latter such as Bina Rai
Bina Rai
Bina Rai , , was a leading actress primarily of the black and white era of Hindi cinema. She is most known for her roles in classics such as Anarkali , Taj Mahal , and won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her performance in the film, Ghunghat .-Early life:Bina Rai born as Krishna Sarin...
and Suraiya
Suraiya
Suraiya Jamaal Sheikh was a singer and actress of the Indian films in the 40s and 50s, and was popularly known by her first name Suraiya..-Early life:...
also follows her footstep as they wanted to essay the lead role of Paro, which earlier offered to Meena Kumari
Meena Kumari
Meena Kumari , born Mahjabeen Bano, was an Indian movie actress and poetess. She is regarded as one of the most prominent actresses to have appeared on the screens of Hindi Cinema...
. Subsequently, the film unit suffered with financial crisis
Financial crisis
The term financial crisis is applied broadly to a variety of situations in which some financial institutions or assets suddenly lose a large part of their value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and many recessions coincided with these...
and at this point where Vyjayanthimala offered herself for the role where she said to Bimal Roy
Bimal Roy
Bimal Roy was one of the most acclaimed Indian film directors of all time. He is particularly noted for his realistic and socialistic films like Do Bigha Zamin, Parineeta, Biraj Bahu, Madhumati, Sujata, and Bandini, making him an important director of Hindi cinema...
, "I am ready if you think I can do it". On the other hand, Nabendu Ghosh
Nabendu Ghosh
Nabendu Ghosh was an acclaimed author in Bengali literature. He has written screenplays of various classic Bollywood movies. Amongst others, he is particularly known for his screenplays of Sujata, Bandini, Devdas, Majhli Didi, Abhimaan and Teesri Kasam. He has written stories for movies like Baap...
, the script writer of Devdas
Devdas (1955 film)
Devdas is a 1955 film directed by Bimal Roy, based on the Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay novel, Devdas.In 2005, Indiatimes Movies ranked the movie amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films.-Plot:...
, said that, "I did not approve of Vyjayanthimala [as Chandramukhi], but we had no option --- no one wanted to play Chandramukhi, and we were committed to our distributors[...]She was, of course, a very good actress, but she was too young for Chandramukhi, as envisioned by Saratbabu". On her performance, Rediff wrote, "Vyjayanthimala imbues Chandramukhi with true sympathy. Who better than Chandramukhi would know the pain of a hopeless love?[...]Vyjayanthimala, a star after the blockbuster Nagin, still had to establish her acting credentials when Roy went against the tide and cast her in the role of Chandramukhi" while Upperstall.com
Upperstall.com
Upperstall.com is a web site on Indian cinema that focuses on classic and independent Indian cinema and its luminaries. It is owned and run by Karan Bali, Saumil Gandhi and Karan Anshuman and launched on 7 July 2000, heralding the 104th anniversary of the first ever motion picture screenings in India...
describe her performance as, "Vyjayantimala's Chandramukhi is embellished with her graceful dance style that evolves with the evolution in her character within the film from a popular dancing woman to a woman, who, in love with Devdas, has unconsciously mutated to reflect the mainstream woman. For Vyjayantimala, the character marked a turning point from glamour to pure histrionics, offering her scope to explore her potential as a dramatic actress without taking away from her, the most outstanding gift she brought to cinema – her dance". Subsequently, she won Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress but refused to accept it, stating that her role was a leading one—and in equal importance to the role essayed by Suchitra Sen
Suchitra Sen
Suchitra Sen ; or Rama Dasgupta , is an Indian actress who acted in several Bengali films. In particular, the movies in which she paired opposite another legend in Bengali films, Uttam Kumar, became classics in the history of Bengali cinema. She now lives a life of a recluse rarely making any...
--and not supporting
Supporting character
A supporting character is a character of a book, play, video game, movie, television or radio show or other form of storytelling usually used to give added dimension to a main character, by adding a relationship with this character...
. In 2006, a poll conducted by Rediff ranked her role Chandramukhi as one of the best Tawaif
Tawaif
A tawaif was a courtesan who catered to the nobility of South Asia, particularly during the era of the Mughal Empire.The tawaifs contributed to music, dance, theatre, film, and the Urdu literary tradition.-History:...
character in Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
. Though the film was critically successful but it did not garnered much expectation at box office and ended up as 10th highest grossing movie of 1955
Bollywood films of 1955
A list of films produced by the Bollywood film industry based in Mumbai in 1955:-Highest grossing:The top ten grossing films at the Indian Box Office in 1955:-1955:-External links:* at the Internet Movie Database...
with verdict average.
After being recognized as a capable actress with Devdas, Vyjayanthimala acted in various movies in 1956, namely Taj, Patrani
Patrani
Patrani is a 1958 Hindi Black-and-white Costume drama written by R. S. Choudhury and directed by Vijay Bhatt. The film starred Vyjayanthimala, Pradeep Kumar in the lead with Shashikala, Durga Khote, Om Prakash, Jeevan, David Abraham Cheulkar, Leela Mishra, Kanchanamala, Praveen Paul, Ramesh Sinha,...
and Anjaan: Somewhere in Dehli with Pradeep Kumar
Pradeep Kumar
Pradeep Kumar was an Indian actor in Bengali and Hindi films.-Career:When Kumar was 17 years old, he decided to take up acting. His started his film career in Bengali films...
and Kismet Ka Khel with Sunil Dutt
Sunil Dutt
Sunil Dutt , born Sunil Balraj Dutt, was an Indian Hindi movie actor , producer, director and politician. He was the cabinet minister for Youth Affairs and Sports in the Manmohan Singh government...
. In the same year, she also acted in swashbuckler
Swashbuckler
Swashbuckler or swasher is a term that emerged in the 16th century and has been used for rough, noisy and boastful swordsmen ever since. A possible explanation for this term is that it derives from a fighting style using a side-sword with a buckler in the off-hand, which was applied with much...
film Devta
Devta (film)
Devta is a 1956 Hindi Black-and-white swashbuckler film written by Sadasiva Bramham and directed by Pattana. The film had Vyjayanthimala in the title role with Gemini Ganesan and Anjali Devi in the lead while Agha, Bipin gupta, Daisy Irani, Krishna Kumari and M. N. Nambiar forms an ensemble cast...
which was a remake of a hugely successful Tamil film Kanavaney Kankanda Deivam. Surprisingly though, she accepted a supporting role as a vamp
Vamp
Vamp may refer to:* VaMP, the first autonomous car that drove long distances in traffic* Vamp , a Norwegian folk music band* Vamp, a character in the Metal Gear series of video games* Vamp , in Gobots toyline and cartoon...
which was originally done by Lalitha
Lalitha (actress)
Lalitha was a South Indian actress and danseuse. She was the eldest of the "Travancore Sisters" - Lalitha, Padmini, and Ragini. She started her acting career in the 1938 Tamil film Adithan Kanavu and has acted in movies of different Indian languages including Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu.She...
in the Tamil version. However according to Upperstall.com
Upperstall.com
Upperstall.com is a web site on Indian cinema that focuses on classic and independent Indian cinema and its luminaries. It is owned and run by Karan Bali, Saumil Gandhi and Karan Anshuman and launched on 7 July 2000, heralding the 104th anniversary of the first ever motion picture screenings in India...
, her role was very crucial in the film and her portrayal as the Naag Rani accompanied by her dance is the main attraction of the film. Also starring in the movie, reprising their lead roles from the original, were Gemini Ganesan
Gemini Ganesan
Ramaswami Ganesan , popularly known as Gemini Ganesan , was an Indian actor. He was nicknamed "Kadhal Mannan" of Tamil cinema for the romantic roles he played in movies....
and Anjali Devi
Anjali Devi
Anjali Devi is a veteran Telugu actress and producer. She is well known for her mythological role as Sita in Lava Kusha and roles in movies like Suvarna Sundari and Anarkali.- Biography :...
. Vyjayanthimala then acted with Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar , born Abhas Kumar Ganguly, was an Indian film playback singer and an actor who also worked as lyricist, composer, producer, director, screenwriter and scriptwriter.Kishore Kumar was one of India's greatest performers of the late 20th century...
again in the comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
New Delhi
New Delhi (1956 film)
New Delhi is a 1956 Hindi Black-and-white romantic comedy film written by Radhakishen with Inder Raj Anand and directed by Mohan Segal. The film starred Kishore Kumar, Vyjayanthimala in the lead with Jabeen Jalil, Nana Palsikar, Nasir Hussain, Prabhu Dayal, Dhumal, Brahm Bhardwaj, Radhakrishan,...
which became the fifth highest grossing film of 1956
Bollywood films of 1956
A list of films produced by the Bollywood film industry based in Mumbai in 1956:-Highest grossing:The top ten grossing films at the Indian Box Office in 1956:-1956:-External links:* at the Internet Movie Database...
with verdict hit. The film showcases a love that sprouts between a Punjabi
Punjabi people
The Punjabi people , ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ), also Panjabi people, are an Indo-Aryan group from South Asia. They are the second largest of the many ethnic groups in South Asia. They originate in the Punjab region, which has been been the location of some of the oldest civilizations in the world including, the...
boy, played Kishore Kumar, and Tamil
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
girl, played by Vyjayanthimala. Her performance was applauded by fans and critics alike; a review on Upperstall.com
Upperstall.com
Upperstall.com is a web site on Indian cinema that focuses on classic and independent Indian cinema and its luminaries. It is owned and run by Karan Bali, Saumil Gandhi and Karan Anshuman and launched on 7 July 2000, heralding the 104th anniversary of the first ever motion picture screenings in India...
regarding her performance in this movie states that, "Vyjayanthimala proves to be the perfect foil for Kishore Kumar[...]has always had the mandatory dance sequence in practically every film of hers evoking 'classical art' associations. She excels in the two main dances in New Delhi - the solo Bharatnatayam Aliruppu number and the Bhangra folk dance in her Punjabi avtaar and she is absolutely brilliant in the Bhangra folk dance[...]in her second avtar even Vyjayanthimala played a Punjabi girl and most successfully too". Subsequently, she also did a Tamil film called Marma Veeran
Marma Veeran
Marma Veeran is a 1956 Tamil film written by A. L. Narayanan and directed by T. R. Raghunath and was produced by actor Sriram. The film starred Sriram and Vyjayanthimala in the lead roles with N. T. Rama Rao, Sivaji Ganesan and Gemini Ganesan in guest appearances with Rajasulochana, Chittor V....
along with Sriram, Rajasulochana
Rajasulochana
Pilliarchetty Bhakthavatsalam Naidu Rajeevalochana, better known as Rajasulochana is an South Indian classical dancer and film actress. She has acted in hundreds of films in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi language films.-Brief lifesketch:...
, M. N. Rajam, J. P. Chandrababu and Chittor V. Nagaiah
Chittor V. Nagaiah
Chitturu Nagayya or Chittor V. Nagaiah birth name - Vuppaladadiyam Nagayya was an Indian actor, composer, director, producer, writer and playback singer of Telugu film industry, Andhra Pradesh, India. Indian film journalist and the editor of Film India, Baburao Patel, described Nagiah as ‘The...
. The film had some of the South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
n established actors such as N. T. Rama Rao
N. T. Rama Rao
Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao , also known as NTR and fondly referred to as Anna Garu, was an Indian film actor, director, producer, and a politician...
, Sivaji Ganesan
Sivaji Ganesan
Viluppuram Chinnaiahpillai Ganesan Manrayar , commonly known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan , was an Indian stage and film actor active during the latter half of the 20th century. He is one of the most respected film actors in India. He is well known for his versatility and acting skills with...
and Gemini Ganesan
Gemini Ganesan
Ramaswami Ganesan , popularly known as Gemini Ganesan , was an Indian actor. He was nicknamed "Kadhal Mannan" of Tamil cinema for the romantic roles he played in movies....
in guest appearance
Guest appearance
In show business , a guest appearance is a participation of an outsider performer , usually called guest artist , in an event , i.e., the participation of a performer which does not belong to the regular crew In performance...
.
1957-1959
In 1957, director B. R. ChopraBaldev Raj Chopra
Baldev Raj Chopra was an Indian director and producer of Bollywood movies and television serials...
planned to make Naya Daur with Ashok Kumar
Ashok Kumar
Ashok Kumar also fondly called Dadamoni was an Indian film actor. Born Kumudlal Ganguly in Bhagalpur, Bengal Presidency he attained iconic status in Indian cinema...
in the lead. However, the actor refused to accept this role and it later when to Dilip Kumar
Dilip Kumar
Dilip Kumar , is an Indian actor and a former Member of Parliament.He lives in Pali Hill, Bandra in Mumbai, India. He is commonly known as "Tragedy King",and is described as "the ultimate method actor" by Satyajit Ray....
. For the female lead, the first choice of the director was the star-actress of those days, Madhubala
Madhubala
Mumtaz Jahan Begum Dehlavi, known by her stage name Madhubala was a Hindi movie actress. She starred in several successful movies in the 1950s and early 1960s, many of which have attained a classic status...
. But, as fate would have it, after the 15 days of initial shooting at Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, the director wanted the unit to travel to Bhopal for an extended outdoor shooting. However, Ataullah Khan, the father of Madhubala
Madhubala
Mumtaz Jahan Begum Dehlavi, known by her stage name Madhubala was a Hindi movie actress. She starred in several successful movies in the 1950s and early 1960s, many of which have attained a classic status...
, objected to this and the role went to Vyjayanthimala. Chopra also sued Madhubala
Madhubala
Mumtaz Jahan Begum Dehlavi, known by her stage name Madhubala was a Hindi movie actress. She starred in several successful movies in the 1950s and early 1960s, many of which have attained a classic status...
for the cash advance she received from him for the film, saying that she accepted the sum and now had no intention of completing it. Vyjyanthimala had previously acted with Dilip Kumar
Dilip Kumar
Dilip Kumar , is an Indian actor and a former Member of Parliament.He lives in Pali Hill, Bandra in Mumbai, India. He is commonly known as "Tragedy King",and is described as "the ultimate method actor" by Satyajit Ray....
in Devdas
Devdas (1955 film)
Devdas is a 1955 film directed by Bimal Roy, based on the Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay novel, Devdas.In 2005, Indiatimes Movies ranked the movie amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films.-Plot:...
and the duo shared an easy chemistry on-screen. The new film, Naya Daur, had a theme of "man vs. machine" and Vyjanthi's portrayal of a village belle Rajni received positive reviews from critics. A review from Rediff says that, "Vyjayanthimala too is not your average petulant gaon ki gori. She ably projects a hands-on worker who comes up with ideas on how to ford a stream and risks her life to save the bridge[...]wonderful scene between two stars whose chemistry is undeniable" while reviewer Taran Adarsh
Taran Adarsh
Taran Adarsh is an Indian film critic, journalist, editor and film trade analyst. He is also a former producer and screenwriter. He is the son of film director and producer, B.K. Adarsh....
from Bollywood Hungama
Bollywood Hungama
Bollywood Hungama is a leading Bollywood entertainment website, owned by hungama.com....
mention that, "Commendable performances come in from Vyjayantimala [natural][...]The relationships [Dilip Kumar-Vyjayantimala] are so human and believable". At the end of its theatrical run, the film had collected around 5,40,00,000, thus becoming the second highest grossing film of 1957
Bollywood films of 1957
A list of films produced by the Bollywood film industry based in Mumbai in 1957:-Highest grossing:The top ten grossing films at the Indian Box Office in 1957:-1957:-External links:* at the Internet Movie Database...
, second only to the critically acclaimed Mother India
Mother India
Mother India is a 1957 Hindi film epic, written and directed by Mehboob Khan and starring Nargis, Sunil Dutt, Rajendra Kumar and Raaj Kumar. The film, a melodrama, is a remake of Mehboob Khan's earlier film, Aurat...
which became the highest grossing Bollywood film ever at the time. Following that, Vyjayanthimala almost signed for the lead role in Filmistan
Filmistan
Filmistan was a film production company and film studio of Indian film industry from Goregaon, Mumbai. It is located very near to Patkar College on SV road spread over seven acres. Many students have claimed to see superstars in the studio. Patkar College's reputation has increased due to this...
's Tumsa Nahin Dekha
Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957 film)
Tumsa Nahin Dekha is a 1957 film produced by Sashadhar Mukherjee for Filmistan- the breakaway studio formed by some old Bombay Talkies hands like Sashadhar. The film marked Nasir Hussain's evolution into a director. He had written films like Munimjee and Paying Guest...
opposite Dev Anand
Dev Anand
Dharam Dev Anand , better known as Dev Anand , is an Indian Hindi Cinema actor, director and film producer. Dev is the second of three brothers who were active in Hindi Cinema. His brothers are Chetan Anand and Vijay Anand. Their sister, Sheel Kanta Kapur, is the mother of renowned Hindi and...
in 1957, but due to the producer Sashadhar Mukherjee
Sashadhar Mukherjee
Sashadhar Mukherjee was a producer in Hindi films. He is part of the distinguished Mukherjee clan of Bollywood.Main article: Mukherjee-Samarth family...
's promise to actor Shammi Kapoor
Shammi Kapoor
Shammi Kapoor was an Indian film actor and director. He was a prominent lead actor in Hindi cinema from the late 1950s until the early 1970s....
, he replace Dev Anand
Dev Anand
Dharam Dev Anand , better known as Dev Anand , is an Indian Hindi Cinema actor, director and film producer. Dev is the second of three brothers who were active in Hindi Cinema. His brothers are Chetan Anand and Vijay Anand. Their sister, Sheel Kanta Kapur, is the mother of renowned Hindi and...
with Shammi Kapoor
Shammi Kapoor
Shammi Kapoor was an Indian film actor and director. He was a prominent lead actor in Hindi cinema from the late 1950s until the early 1970s....
. However the director, Nasir Hussain
Nasir Hussain
Nasir Husain was an Indian film producer, director and screenwriter.-Early career:Husain first worked with A. R. Kardar when he joined Filmistan as a writer in 1948. The famous films he wrote for Filmistan include Anarkali , Munimjee , and Paying Guest...
was in a quandary as he had already read the script to Dev Anand
Dev Anand
Dharam Dev Anand , better known as Dev Anand , is an Indian Hindi Cinema actor, director and film producer. Dev is the second of three brothers who were active in Hindi Cinema. His brothers are Chetan Anand and Vijay Anand. Their sister, Sheel Kanta Kapur, is the mother of renowned Hindi and...
and Vyjayanthimala but Mukerji prevailed and he also replaced Vyjayanthimala with Ameeta
Ameeta
Ameeta was a well known film actress in the 1950s and 1960s, appearing in Hindi films. Mainly a supporting actress and B grade leading lady, she had a brief period of A grade stardom in the late 1950s and early 1960s after playing prominent roles in successful films such as Tumsa Nahin Dekha ,...
, who was the protégée of Filmistan
Filmistan
Filmistan was a film production company and film studio of Indian film industry from Goregaon, Mumbai. It is located very near to Patkar College on SV road spread over seven acres. Many students have claimed to see superstars in the studio. Patkar College's reputation has increased due to this...
Studios owner Tolaram Jalan. Vyjayanthimala's next release was Kathputli
Kathputli (1957 film)
Kathputli |Puppet]]) is a 1957 Pygmalion Black-and-white Social Hindi film produced by Ajit Chakraborty and Amiya Chakrabarty with their Sreerangam Production. The film was the last film of director Amiya Chakrabarty who had earlier directed Basant, Daag and Seema. He died during the filming and...
in which she co-starred with actor Balraj Sahni
Balraj Sahni
Balraj Sahni , born Yudhishthir Sahni , was a famous Hindi film actor. He belonged to a Punjabi Khatri family from Bhera now in Punjab, Pakistan...
for the first time. This film was about a young girl named Pushpa who, on account of being a good dancer and singer, assists puppeteer Shivraj in his puppet show. This film was director Amiya Chakravarty's last film. He died during the filming of Kathputli and the remaining project was completed by director Nitin Bose
Nitin Bose
Nitin Bose was an Indian film director, cinematographer and screenwriter of the nation's film industry. He was born in Calcutta and died in the same city. In the 1930s and early 1940s, he worked with New Theatres, who made bilingual movies: in both Bengali and Hindi...
. Kathputli
Kathputli (1957 film)
Kathputli |Puppet]]) is a 1957 Pygmalion Black-and-white Social Hindi film produced by Ajit Chakraborty and Amiya Chakrabarty with their Sreerangam Production. The film was the last film of director Amiya Chakrabarty who had earlier directed Basant, Daag and Seema. He died during the filming and...
remains as one of the memorable film of Vyjayanthimala which has an offbeat theme with a Pygmalion touch
Pygmalion effect
The Pygmalion effect, or Rosenthal effect, refers to the phenomenon in which the greater the expectation placed upon people, often children or students and employees, the better they perform...
. Vyjayanthimala then acted in Ek Jhalak with Rajendra Kumar
Rajendra Kumar
Rajendra Kumar was one of the most successful Indian Bollywood actors in the 1960s and 1970s. He also produced several films in the 1980s starring his son Kumar Gaurav....
and Pradeep Kumar
Pradeep Kumar
Pradeep Kumar was an Indian actor in Bengali and Hindi films.-Career:When Kumar was 17 years old, he decided to take up acting. His started his film career in Bengali films...
which was produced by the latter with his home production company Deep & Pradeep Productions. She returned to the screen again with Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar , born Abhas Kumar Ganguly, was an Indian film playback singer and an actor who also worked as lyricist, composer, producer, director, screenwriter and scriptwriter.Kishore Kumar was one of India's greatest performers of the late 20th century...
in the 1957 partially-colour-made film Aasha
Aasha (1957 film)
Aasha, also transliterated as Asha, was a 1957 Hindi film. The film became a box office hit.- Plot :The story tells about Kishore who is good-hearted person and always helps poor people even though he is from Zamindar family. Then he travels to Bombay to stay with his cousin Raj who cheats lots of...
which became a hit at the box office. The story revolves around the central character Kishore, played by Kishore Kumar, who, despite being a Zamindaar, believes in helping the needy. Vyjayanthimala, as Nirmala, plays the lover of Kishore. The story suddenly goes from being light-hearted and humorous to a court-drama when Kishore is falsely accused for murder. The rest of the movie sees both the protagonists trying to prove Kishore's innocence. The movie is best known for its song Eena Meena Dekha sung by Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar
Kishore Kumar , born Abhas Kumar Ganguly, was an Indian film playback singer and an actor who also worked as lyricist, composer, producer, director, screenwriter and scriptwriter.Kishore Kumar was one of India's greatest performers of the late 20th century...
and Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle
Asha Bhosle is an Indian singer. She is one of the best-known and most highly-regarded Hindi playback singers in India, although she has a wider repertoire. Bhosle's career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done playback singing for over a thousand Bollywood movies...
, in two different versions Aasha also introduced actress Asha Parekh
Asha Parekh
Asha Parekh is a Bollywood actress, director, and producer. She was one of the top stars in Hindi films from 1959 to 1973.-Early life:...
, to the silver screen, in a song alongside Vyjayanthimala whom Parekh described as her matinee idol
Matinee idol
Matinée idol is a term used mainly to describe film or theatre stars who are adored to the point of adulation by their fans.The term almost exclusively refers to male actors. Invariably the adulation was fixated on the actor's looks rather than performance...
.
Political career
Vyjayanthimala's political career was initiated in 1984 when she was contested for the South Chennai constituencyChennai South (Lok Sabha constituency)
The Lok Sabha constituency Chennai South is one of three constituencies in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was formerly known as Madras South.It was created in 1957 through bifurcation of Madras Lok Sabha constituency....
as the nominee of the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
opposite Era Sezhiyan, the leader of Janata Party
Janata Party
The Janata Party was an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the state of emergency imposed by the government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Indian National Congress...
and seasoned parliamentarian
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
. During the campaign, Sezhiyan took provoking quotes such as "Send me to the Lok Sabha. Send her to R.R. Sabha (an organisation promoting fine arts)" in order to defeat Vyjayanthimala, ironically she won the election with margin
Margin
Margin may refer to:*Margin *Margin , a type of financial collateral used to cover credit risk*Margin , the white space that surrounds the content of a page...
of about 48,000 votes. Subsequently, she debuted in the Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
, the directly elected lower house
Lower house
A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house.Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide the lower house has come to wield more power...
of the Parliament of India
Parliament of India
The Parliament of India is the supreme legislative body in India. Founded in 1919, the Parliament alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all political bodies in India. The Parliament of India comprises the President and the two Houses, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha...
in the end of January
January
January is the first month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and one of seven months with the length of 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day...
, 1985 with Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...
.
In 1989, Vyjayanthimala again had to face the election, this time she was opposed by Aladi Aruna
Aladi Aruna
Aladi Aruna was a politician from India and Law Minister of Tamil Nadu. He was murdered during a routine morning walk in Alangulam in Tirunelveli District.- Personal life :...
of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. It is a Dravidian party founded by C. N. Annadurai as a breakaway faction from the Dravidar Kazhagam headed by Periyar...
. She again beat her opposition by nearly 1.25 lakh
Lakh
A lakh is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand . It is widely used both in official and other contexts in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and is often used in Indian English.-Usage:...
votes. Later on 1993, she was nominated to the Rajya Sabha
Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha or Council of States is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Rajya means "state," and Sabha means "assembly hall" in Sanskrit. Membership is limited to 250 members, 12 of whom are chosen by the President of India for their expertise in specific fields of art, literature,...
, the upper house
Upper house
An upper house, often called a senate, is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house; a legislature composed of only one house is described as unicameral.- Possible specific characteristics :...
of the Parliament of India
Parliament of India
The Parliament of India is the supreme legislative body in India. Founded in 1919, the Parliament alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all political bodies in India. The Parliament of India comprises the President and the two Houses, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha...
for a six-year term.
In 1999, she has resigned from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
party. In her letter to the party's president Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi is an Italian-born Indian politician and the President of the Indian National Congress, one of the major political parties of India. She is the widow of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi...
, she included the reason for her resignation where she said that, "painfully watching the party drifting from its avowed principles after the death of Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Ratna Gandhi was the sixth Prime Minister of India . He took office after his mother's assassination on 31 October 1984; he himself was assassinated on 21 May 1991. He became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40.Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira...
. The party has lost touch with its grassroots and one can see day in and day out that sincere party workers are being steadily ignored", she adds more, "increasingly difficult to justify ourselves to the public and my conscience does not allow me to stay in the party any longer". Later she joined the Bharatiya Janata Party
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...
on September 6, 1999.
Relationships
She is married Chamanlal Bali. After marriage, she terminated her acting career and moved to Chennai. They have a son, Suchindra Bali. In 2007, she published her autobiography, titled Bonding, with Jyoti Sabarwal as co-writer.Religious views
Vyjayanthimala is a VaishnaviteVaishnavism
Vaishnavism is a tradition of Hinduism, distinguished from other schools by its worship of Vishnu, or his associated Avatars such as Rama and Krishna, as the original and supreme God....
and is a vegetarian
Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism encompasses the practice of following plant-based diets , with or without the inclusion of dairy products or eggs, and with the exclusion of meat...
. She is a religious person and grew up listening to holy chant
Chant
Chant is the rhythmic speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of notes to highly complex musical structures Chant (from French chanter) is the rhythmic speaking or singing...
s and devotional song
Devotional song
A devotional song is a hymn which accompanies religious observances and rituals.Each major religion has its own tradition with devotional hymns. In the West, the devotional has been a part of the liturgy in Roman Catholicism, the Greek Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, and others, since...
s. She is a devotee of Aandaal, one of the 12 Alvar
Alvars
The alwar or azhwars were Tamil poet saints of south India who lived between the sixth and ninth centuries A.D. and espoused ‘emotional devotion’ or bhakti to Visnu-Krishna in their songs of longing, ecstasy and service. Sri Vaishnava orthodoxy posits the number of alvars as ten, though there are...
saints of South India. She used to invoke Aandaal before any public performance in order to gain her blessing.
Notable filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Language | Notes and Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | Vazhkai | Rani | Tamil Tamil language Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore... |
|
| Jeevitham | Mohini Sivashankara Lingeswara Prasad | Telugu Telugu language Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu... |
||
| 1951 | Bahar Bahar (film) The film's soundtrack was composed by S. D. Burman while the lyrics was penned by Rajendra Krishan. Almost all the songs was a chartbusters and the album proved to be successful for music director S. D. Burman who previously taste success through Shabnam. Bahar also one of the rare soundtrack where... |
Lata | Hindi | |
| 1954 | Nagin Nagin (1954 film) Nagin is a 1954 film directed by Nandlal Jaswantlal, starring Vyjayanthimala and Pradeep Kumar.- Synopsis :Two Adivasi tribes are in conflict for some local economic rights. The daughter of the Nagi tribe's chief, Mala vows to kill the son of the Ragi tribe's chief, Sanatan as revenge... |
Mala | Hindi | |
| 1955 | Devdas Devdas (1955 film) Devdas is a 1955 film directed by Bimal Roy, based on the Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay novel, Devdas.In 2005, Indiatimes Movies ranked the movie amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films.-Plot:... |
Chandramukhi | Hindi | Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| 1956 | New Delhi New Delhi (1956 film) New Delhi is a 1956 Hindi Black-and-white romantic comedy film written by Radhakishen with Inder Raj Anand and directed by Mohan Segal. The film starred Kishore Kumar, Vyjayanthimala in the lead with Jabeen Jalil, Nana Palsikar, Nasir Hussain, Prabhu Dayal, Dhumal, Brahm Bhardwaj, Radhakrishan,... |
Janaki Subramaniam | Hindi | |
| 1957 | Naya Daur | Rajni | Hindi | |
| Kathputli Kathputli (1957 film) Kathputli |Puppet]]) is a 1957 Pygmalion Black-and-white Social Hindi film produced by Ajit Chakraborty and Amiya Chakrabarty with their Sreerangam Production. The film was the last film of director Amiya Chakrabarty who had earlier directed Basant, Daag and Seema. He died during the filming and... |
Pushpa | Hindi | ||
| Aasha Aasha (1957 film) Aasha, also transliterated as Asha, was a 1957 Hindi film. The film became a box office hit.- Plot :The story tells about Kishore who is good-hearted person and always helps poor people even though he is from Zamindar family. Then he travels to Bombay to stay with his cousin Raj who cheats lots of... |
Nirmala | Hindi | ||
| 1958 | Sadhna Sadhna Sadhna is a 1958 Hindi film produced and directed by B. R. Chopra. The film stars Sunil Dutt, Vyjayanthimala and Leela Chitnis.-Awards:* 1958 Filmfare Best Story Award: Mukhram sharma* 1958: Filmfare Best Actress Award : Vyjayanthimala... |
Champabai | Hindi | Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actress |
| Vanjikottai Valiban | Mandakini | Tamil | ||
| Madhumati Madhumati Madhumati is a 1958 Hindi film produced and directed by Bimal Roy, and written by Ritwik Ghatak and Rajinder Singh Bedi. The music was composed by Salil Choudhury with the lyrics by Shailendra. The film stars Dilip Kumar, Vyjayantimala, Pran, and Johnny Walker. It was one of the earliest films to... |
Madhumati / Madhavi / Radha | Hindi | Filmfare Award for Best Actress | |
| 1959 | Paigham Paigham Paigham is a 1959 Hindi movie produced and directed by S S Vassan. The film stars Dilip Kumar, Vyjayanthimala, Raaj Kumar, Saroja Devi, Motilal and Johnny Walker. The films music is by C. Ramachandra. This was the first time Dilip and Raaj Kumar appeared in a film together. They later appeared... |
Manju | Hindi | |
| 1960 | Parthiban Kanavu Parthiban Kanavu (1960 film) Parthiban Kanavu is a 1960 Black-and-white Historical fiction multilingual directed by D. Yoganand. The film starred Gemini Ganesan and Vyjayanthimala in the lead with S. V. Ranga Rao, Ashokan, T. S. Balaiah, Malathi, Ragini and S. V. Subbiah forms an ensemble cast. The film was based on 1942... |
Kundhavi | Tamil | |
| Irumbu Thirai Irumbu Thirai Irumbu Thirai is a 1960 Black-and-white Mondo film Tamil film written by produced and directed by S. S. Vasan. The film stars Shivaji Ganesan, Vyjayanthimala in the lead with K. A. Thangavelu, Saroja Devi, S. V. Ranga Rao, Pandari Bai and Vasundhara Devi as the ensemble cast of the film. The... |
Manju | Tamil | ||
| Baghdad Thirudan Baghdad Thirudan Baghdad Thirudan is a 1960 Black-and-white swashbuckler Tamil film produced and directed by T. R. Sundaram. The film starred M. G. Ramachandran and Vyjayanthimala in the lead with M. N. Nambiar, T. R. Ramachandran, T. S. Balaiah, S. A. Ashokan, M. N. Rajam, A. Sandhya and S. N. Lakshmi forms an... |
Zarina | Tamil | ||
| 1961 | Then Nilavu Then Nilavu Then Nilavu is a 1961 Black-and-white Tamil Romantic comedy film written and directed by C. V. Sridhar through his Chitralaya Films. The film starred Gemini Ganesan, Vyjayanthimala in the lead with M. N. Nambiar and K. A. Thangavelu as the ensemble cast. The film was produced and directed by C. V.... |
Shanthi | Tamil | |
| Gunga Jumna | Dhanno | Hindi | Filmfare Award for Best Actress BFJA Award for Best Actress |
|
| 1964 | Sangam Sangam (film) Sangam is a 1964 Hindi movie produced by R. K. Films and directed by Raj Kapoor. Music for the film was composed by Shankar-Jaikishan, with song lyrics by Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri. Sangam was producer Raj Kapoor's first color film, distinguished by its technicolor and epic length... |
Radha | Hindi | Filmfare Award for Best Actress |
| Leader Leader (film) Leader is a 1964 Hindi movie. The film is produced by Sashadhar Mukherjee and directed by Ram Mukherjee . The film stars Dilip Kumar, Vyjayanthimala and Jayant. The films music is by Naushad.-Cast:*Dilip Kumar ... Vijay Khanna... |
Princess Sunita | Hindi | ||
| 1966 | Amrapali Amrapali (film) Amrapali is a 1966 historical Hindi film, directed by Lekh Tandon, starring Vyjayanthimala and Sunil Dutt as leads.It was based on the life of Amrapali , the nagarvadhu of Vaishali, the capital of the Licchavi republic in ancient India around 500 BC and Ajatashatru, the king of the Magadha empire,... |
Amrapali Ambapali Amrapāli, also known as "Ambapālika" or "Ambapali", was a nagarvadhu of the republic of Vaishali in ancient India around 500 BC.. Following the Buddha's teachings she became an arahant... |
Hindi | |
| Suraj Suraj Suraj is a 1966 swashbuckler Ruritanian romance Hindi film produced by S. Krishnamurthy and directed by T. Prakash Rao. The film stars Vyjayanthimala and Rajendra Kumar in the lead with Ajit, Mumtaz, Johnny Walker, Johnny Walker, Bharathi Vishnuvardhan, Lalita Pawar and Neetu Singh forms an... |
Princess Anuradha Singh | Hindi | ||
| 1967 | Hatey Bazarey Hatey Bazarey Hatey Bazarey or Hate Bazare is a 1967 award winning art film by noted Bengali director Tapan Sinha and produced Asim Dutta, the story revolves around the conflict of good and evil... |
Chhipli | Bengali Bengali language Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script... |
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| Jewel Thief Jewel Thief Jewel Thief is a 1967 Indian Hindi film. Produced by Navketan films , the film is directed by Dev's brother Vijay Anand. Music is by S.D. Burman and the lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri. The film is a crime thriller, and stars Dev Anand, Vyjayantimala, Ashok Kumar, Tanuja, Faryal, Anju Mahendru,... |
Shalini Singh / Shalu | Hindi | ||
| 1968 | Sunghursh Sunghursh Sunghursh is a 1968 Hindi movie directed by Harnam Singh Rawail. It was based on a story by Jnanpith Award winner, Mahasweta Devi, which presents a fictionalized account of vendetta within a Thuggee cult in the holy Indian town of Varanasi.... |
Munni / Laila-E-Aasmaan | Hindi | BFJA Award for Best Actress |
| 1969 | Prince | Princess Amrita | Hindi |
See also
- List of Indian film actresses
- List of Tamil film families
- List of Indian women in dance
- List of Tamil actors
- List of Tamil people
- List of people from Tamil Nadu
- List of Iyengars
- List of actors who have played multiple roles in the same film
- List of item numbers in Indian cinema
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! colspan="3" style="background: #DAA520;" | Filmfare Award
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