‘Yelantha pazham’ fame actor Vijaya Nirmala dies at 73
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Hyderabad/Chennai:28.06.2019
Veteran actor and director Vijaya Nirmala, who had been ailing for a while, passed away in a Hyderabad hospital on Wednesday night. She was 73.
Nirmala was a southern star in every sense, leaving her mark not just in Telugu, but in Tamil and Malayalam as well, having acted in over 200 movies. As a director of 44 films, she also held the Guinness World Record for a women director. Nirmala married veteran actor Krishna and is survived by him and son, actor Naresh. She is the stepmother of Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu, who is the son of Krishna’s first wife Indira. The actress’ last rites will be performed at the family’s farmhouse at Chilkur on Friday.
Born in Chennai, she was introduced to the silver screen in 1950 at the age of seven in the Tamil film Mrithyu Rekha. Her first film in Telugu was Panduranga Mahathyam at the age of 12, but she was introduced as a heroine in Rangularaatnam. She became an instant hit in Malayalam, starring in the 1964 movie Bhargavi Nilayamopposite Prem Nazir.
Her first film as a director was Meenain 1971and she also directed her husband Krishna’s movies. Her role in Alluri Sitaramaraju essayed with Krishna in the lead got rave reviews. Some of her famous works include Pandanti Kapuram, Mosagallaku Mosagadu, Marina Manishi, Kurukshetramand Thathamanavadu.
A polyglot that she was, Nirmala dubbed for her roles in Tamil. From a petite girl in Chitthi, she grew up to become one of the finest women directors. She is remembered in Tamil Nadu especially for her performances in Neelagiri Express, Soappu Seeppu Kananadiand Enga Veetu Penn.
CM K Chandrasekhar Rao also visited the family on Thursday. AP CM Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and ex-CM Chandrababu Naidu also expressed their condolences.
Reminiscing about her time in Tamil films, veteran director, producer and actor Chithra Lakshmanan said: “When actor Krishna was shooting for Jamadagni directed by P Bharathiraja in 1988 in Ooty, Nirmala was a perfect wife accompanying him for shoots. She not only looked after him, but also hosted lunches for Bharathiraja and me. You cannot find a better host than her.”
Among the sari-clad heroines of the 1960s, Nirmala never shied away from wearing modern clothes. “She was ahead of her times,” says Lakshmanan.
“In Panama Pasama, though the story revolved around the conflict between Gemini Ganesan and S Varalakshmi, Vijaya Nirmala’s performance stole the show. People thronged theatres to watch the ‘yelantha pazham’ song in which she was elegance personified,” he said.
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Hyderabad/Chennai:28.06.2019
Veteran actor and director Vijaya Nirmala, who had been ailing for a while, passed away in a Hyderabad hospital on Wednesday night. She was 73.
Nirmala was a southern star in every sense, leaving her mark not just in Telugu, but in Tamil and Malayalam as well, having acted in over 200 movies. As a director of 44 films, she also held the Guinness World Record for a women director. Nirmala married veteran actor Krishna and is survived by him and son, actor Naresh. She is the stepmother of Telugu superstar Mahesh Babu, who is the son of Krishna’s first wife Indira. The actress’ last rites will be performed at the family’s farmhouse at Chilkur on Friday.
Born in Chennai, she was introduced to the silver screen in 1950 at the age of seven in the Tamil film Mrithyu Rekha. Her first film in Telugu was Panduranga Mahathyam at the age of 12, but she was introduced as a heroine in Rangularaatnam. She became an instant hit in Malayalam, starring in the 1964 movie Bhargavi Nilayamopposite Prem Nazir.
Her first film as a director was Meenain 1971and she also directed her husband Krishna’s movies. Her role in Alluri Sitaramaraju essayed with Krishna in the lead got rave reviews. Some of her famous works include Pandanti Kapuram, Mosagallaku Mosagadu, Marina Manishi, Kurukshetramand Thathamanavadu.
A polyglot that she was, Nirmala dubbed for her roles in Tamil. From a petite girl in Chitthi, she grew up to become one of the finest women directors. She is remembered in Tamil Nadu especially for her performances in Neelagiri Express, Soappu Seeppu Kananadiand Enga Veetu Penn.
CM K Chandrasekhar Rao also visited the family on Thursday. AP CM Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and ex-CM Chandrababu Naidu also expressed their condolences.
Reminiscing about her time in Tamil films, veteran director, producer and actor Chithra Lakshmanan said: “When actor Krishna was shooting for Jamadagni directed by P Bharathiraja in 1988 in Ooty, Nirmala was a perfect wife accompanying him for shoots. She not only looked after him, but also hosted lunches for Bharathiraja and me. You cannot find a better host than her.”
Among the sari-clad heroines of the 1960s, Nirmala never shied away from wearing modern clothes. “She was ahead of her times,” says Lakshmanan.
“In Panama Pasama, though the story revolved around the conflict between Gemini Ganesan and S Varalakshmi, Vijaya Nirmala’s performance stole the show. People thronged theatres to watch the ‘yelantha pazham’ song in which she was elegance personified,” he said.
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