Vyjayanthimala

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Vyjayanthimala (வைஜெயந்திமாலா)

Born Vyjayanthimala
August 13, 1936 (1936-08-13) (age 71)
Spouse(s) Dr. Bali

Vyjayanthimala Bali (Tamil - வைஜெயந்திமாலா பலி, born August 13, 1936, Mother Tongue Tamil) is a major Indian actress of the 1950s and '60s, who won a large number of awards for her acting and classical dancing achievements. Following her cinematic career, she entered Indian politics, and became a Member of Parliament.

Born in Madras, now known as Chennai, she trained in Bharatnatyam, a South Indian genre of classical dancing. At age 15, she got a break in an AVM (production house) Tamil movie, Vazhkai, which was produced by M. V. Raman, a family friend. The movie was a success, and was remade in Hindi as Bahaar (1951). She acted in a few more Tamil movies before moving on to a highly successful career in Hindi movies. Her dance competition with Padmini in the Tamil film, Vanjikottai Vaaliban, received much acclaim.

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[edit] Career in Hindi movies

Vyjayanthimala got her initial Hindi movie roles in Ladki and Nagin (1954). Hemant Kumar's music and her dance accompanying the song, Man Dole, Mera tan dole, in Nagin made the movie an enormous success, and the movie's success helped Vyjayanthimala break out of B grade movies. Bimal Roy cast her as Chandramukhi opposite Dilip Kumar in the critically acclaimed Devdas. She subsequently starred in four successful films opposite Dilip Kumar: Madhumati, Ganga Jamuna, Leader, and Naya Daur. The first two of those four roles earned her Filmfare Best Actress Awards. She also received a Filmfare nomination as Best Actress for portraying in Sadhana a tawaif (a courtesan) who eventually got rehabilitated in the society. She costarred with Raj Kapoor in Sangam which earned her the Filmfare Best Actress Award. (She denied rumors of an affair with Raj Kapoor during the production of Sangam, saying that it was a publicity stunt by Kapoor to boost his image[1].)

Vyjayanthimala starred in the 1966 historical epic, Amrapali, which was based on the life of the legendary Buddhist courtesan Amrapali. The movie was not a commercial success, and the commercial failure much disappointed her as she considered it the magnum opus of her career. Later, she said that she would like to see a remake of that movie, with Madhuri Dixit playing her role.[2]

She costarred with Dev Anand in Jewel Thief, with Rajendra Kumar in Suraj, with Shammi Kapoor in Prince, and with Kishore Kumar in his inane yet zany comedies,including the blockbuster New Delhi.

Vyjayanthimala's Tamil movies included Vanjikottai Valiban, Irumbuthirai, Then Nilavu, Vaazhkai, Penn, Parthiban Kanavu (old), and Baghdad Thirudan.

[edit] Post-acting career

Vyjayanthimala fell in love with Raj Kapoor's personal physician, Dr. Chamanlal Bali, who was then married, (and had three children). Dr. Bali divorced his wife to marry her, saying that there was already a void in his life when they met.[3] After marriage, she terminated her acting career and moved to Chennai. She has a son, Suchindra, by Dr. Bali. After the death of her husband, she entered politics and got elected as a member of Lok Sabha (lower house). Later, she got nominated as a member of Rajya Sabha (the upper house). In 2007, she published her autobiography, titled Bonding, with Jyoti Sabarwal as the co-writer.[4]

[edit] Awards

  • 1956 - Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award, for a role in Devdas. Vyjayanthimala did not accept the award, her contention being that her role in that movie was that of the main actress rather than a supporting actress. (That was the first time a person had declined to receive a Filmfare Award.) [5]

[edit] See also

Awards
Filmfare Award
Preceded by
Nirupa Roy
for Munimji		 Best Supporting Actress
for Devdas
1956		 Succeeded by
Shyama
for Sharada
Preceded by
Nargis
for Mother India		 Best Actress
for Sadhna
1958		 Succeeded by
Nutan
for Sujata
Preceded by
Bina Rai
for Ghunghat		 Best Actress
for Ganga Jamuna
1961		 Succeeded by
Meena Kumari
for Aarti
Preceded by
Nutan
for Bandini		 Best Actress
for Sangam
1964		 Succeeded by
Meena Kumari
for Kaajal
Preceded by
Shammi Kapoor
and
Waheeda Rehman		 Lifetime Achievement
with Ashok Kumar
and
Sunil Dutt
1995		 Succeeded by
Dharmendra
and
Mumtaz

[edit] Reference

  1. ^ Vyjayantimala remembers the RK-Dilip Kumar rivalry
  2. ^ Remake Rage in Bollywood by MS Ahsan
  3. ^ http://in.news.yahoo.com/070830/48/6k4td.html
  4. ^ The Hindu : Metro Plus Kochi / Books : On life and the arts
  5. ^ Vyjayantimala
  6. ^ 1st Filmfare Awards 1953
  7. ^ 69th & 70th Annual Hero Honda BFJA Awards 2007
  8. ^ Dev Anand, Prem Chopra honoured
  9. ^ Bollywood Awards | Bollywood Fashion Awards | Bollywood Music Awards

[edit] External links

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