Jayanthi (actress)

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History, Jayathi Is a Kannada film actress and also acted in Tamil and Telugu films as side teenage artist. Jayanthi was born in Bellary. Her maiden name before she came to films was Kamala Kumari. Her father Balasubramanyam worked as English professor at the St Joseph's College in Bangalore. Her mother was Santhanalakshmi. Jayanthi was the eldest of three siblings and had two younger brothers. Jayanthi's childhood was never smooth. Her parents separated early in life and the mother with her kids moved over to Madras. Jayanthi's mother was keen on making her daughter a classical dancer and hence she joined a dance school run by one- Chandrakala. Her friend in dance school was none other than the now famous tamil actress Manorama. As a child on one occasion when Jayanthi went to the studios to see her idol N T Rama Rao, he called her and sat her on his lap. Affectionately he had asked her whether she would agree to become his heroine and the little girl had merely blushed. Little did one know that one day the pair would give big hits like Jegadekaveeruni Katha, Kula Gowravam, Kondaveeti Simham and Justice Chowdhury in the future. Jayanthi was ridiculed most of the times as she was plump and could never dance well. During her teens she got to act in a few tamil and telugu movies as a side artiste. On one such occasion (as Jayanthi remembered in one of her interviews) the great tamil heroine of those days Savitri was upset with newcommer Jayanthi who could not convincingly narrate a few tamil dialogues. She stormed out of the sets saying that the director had brought in people who hardly knew acting or the language. Jayanthi was shattered after the episode but promised herself that one day she would prove her worth. Jayanthi's life changed completely when noted kannada director Y R Swamy spotted her during one of her dance rehearsals. He brought her to kannada films thro' "Jenu Goodu". He also re-christened Kamala Kumari and the screen idol Jayanthi was born. Next part: Early days in films.

Jayanthi-Early days. Jeenu Goodu was Jayanthi's first kannada film. She acted alongside veterans like Ashwath and Pandari Bai. Incidentally this was actress Chandrakala's first film as well. Jayanthi played a negative role in the movie. Jenu Goodu was a commercial success. Her next major film was T V Singh Thakur's Chandavalliya Thota. Jayanthi was barely three film old when she was pitted against veterans like Uday Kumar, Raj Kumar and Jayashree. This was the first film that paired Raj and Jayanthi. Based on Ta Ra Su's novel by the same name, Chandavalliya Thota was a huge success and even won the President's Medal for best film (National award). Jayanthi in one of her interviews fondly remembered an incident during the shooting of this film. During a particular scene Jayanthi dies in the film and Uday Kumar in a particular scene has to fall on her to cry. Uday Kumar was so engrossed in his acting that he had forgotten that he had put his whole body weight on the young girl Jayanthi, who was yelling in pain and asking him to get up. The next major film that Jayanthi starred was Miss Leelavathi. This film was released in the mid-60's and directed by M R Vittal. Miss Leelavathi was a very bold film of its times and Jayanthi played the role of the female protagonist in the title role. The story is about the influence of bad parenting on young Leelavathi's mind. She is the darling of her father(Ashwath) who supports her in all her endeavours. Leelavathi grows up to be rebel in the house and stands up against the conventional values of life. She refuses marriage, wishes to be a career-oriented women and has a care-free attitude towards premarital sex (aka modern generation). Unfortunately she pays for the consequences. Miss Leelavathi had a very bold theme considering the fact that it was made at a time when the film industry was very conservative. Jayanthi was launched as the glamour-diva through the film and she was at her beautiful-best. This was probably the first kannada film to show-case a heroine's glamour. The film was a huge success and catapulted Jayanthi to fame. It gave her such a star-status that she never had to turn back after that film. Jayanthi for the first time in kannada film history wore skirts, T-shirts and even a nightie on screen. She has the credit for introducing most of the modern day outfits onto the kannada screen for the first time. Not to forget she also wore a swimming suit for the film which became hugely popular. Miss Leelavathi had some of the lovely songs like Nodu ba nodu ba nammoora and Kuvempu's classic Doni Saagali. It is said that M R Vittal wanted Sowcar Janaki to play the title role. Since she refused to wear a swim suit the role went to Jayanthi. Miss Leelavathi got Jayanthi the national award for best actress. Jayanthi fondly remembered the occasion in one of her interviews when she received the award from Smt Indira Gandhi (then IB Minister). Mrs Gandhi after giving away the award called back Jayanthi and gave her a sweet kiss and wished her good luck. Miss Leelavathi was a mile stone in the history of kannada cinema and Jayanthi had arrived to stay for a long time to come.

Raj-Jayanthi pair has acted in the highest number of movies as far as Kannada films are concerned. Their movies are: 1.Chandavalliya Thota 2.Pratigne 3.Muriyada Mane 4.Thumbida Koda 5.Vatsalya 6.Bangalore Mail 7.Choori Chikkanna 8.Rowdy Ranganna 9.Bhale Raja 10.Chakratheertha 11.Bala Bandhana 12.Punarjanma 13.Kula Gowrava 14.Chikkamma 15.Mantralaya Mahatme 16.Devara Makkalu 17.Devara Gedda Manava 18.Kiladi Ranga 19.Kranti Veera 20.Jedara Bale 21.Simha Swapna 22.Nandagokula 23.Deavru Kotta Thangi 24.Sri Krishnadevaraya 25.Bettada Huli 26. Immadi Pulikeshi 27.Bahadhur Gandoo 28. Prema Mayi 29.Manasidhare Marga 30.Nanna Thamma 31.Kasturi Nivasa 32.Paropakari