| Vyjayanthimala Bali (வைஜெயந்திமாலா பாலி) |
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|---|---|
| Born | Vyjayanthimala Raman August 13, 1936 [1] Triplicane, Madras Presidency (now Chennai), British India |
| Occupation | Actress, Indian classical dancer, carnatic singer, Golfer, Politician |
| Spouse | Chamanlal Bali (1968–1986; his death) |
| Children | Suchindra Bali(born 1976) |
| Parents | M. D. Raman (Father)(deceased) Vasundhara Devi (Mother)(deceased) |
| Signature | |
Vyjayanthimala Bali (Tamil: வைஜெயந்திமாலா பாலி; born on August 13, 1936)[1] is an Indian film actress, Bharathanatyam dancer, carnatic singer, dance choreographer, golfer and a Parliamentarian.
Vyjayanthimala was one the biggest Bollywood stars in a career lasting almost two decades.[2][3][4] She was also the first South Indian 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, Vidya Balan and Asin to foray into Bollywood.[5][6] Vyjayanthimala is also an accomplished dancer and was one of those who introduced semi-classical dance to Bollywood.[7][8] Her subsequent dance numbers in her films had earned her the title of "twinkle toes".[9][10] She was also referred as one of the first female Superstars of Hindi cinema and was known as "Numero Uno actress" along with Hema Malini, Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit for her "illustrious career in 1950s and 1960s".[4][11][12]
Born in an orthodox Tamil Brahmin family, Vyjayanthimala made her screen debut at the age of 13 through the Tamil film Vazhkai (1949) 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 actress of Tamil descent.[7][13]
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.[7]
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.[14] 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.[15]
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Born in Triplicane situated near Parthasarathy Temple in a orthodox and religious Tamil Brahmin Iyengar family to M. D. Raman and Vasundhara Devi.[16] 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.[16] She used to call her mother by her name as her mother was 16 years elder than her when she was born.[17] 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.[17] 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.[18] Her ancestor are from Mysore (now Karnataka).[19] In 1938, her grandfather Gopalacharya, the late Mandayam Dhati, started a nursing home on Narayan Shastri Road, Mysore.[19]
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.[20] Vyjayanthi did her schooling at Sacred Heart Higher Secondary School, Presentation Convent, Church Park, Chennai.[18] 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.[18]
When director M. V. Raman was looking for a new face to cast in AVM Productions's Vazhkai, he saw Vyjayanthimala performing Bharata Natyam in Chennai Gokhale Hall.[21] 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.[18] 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.[18] 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.[18] Vyjayanthimala also did a guest appearance in the 1950 film Vijayakumari which had actress T. R. Rajakumari in dual role.[22] She danced for the song "laalu...laalu...laalu" which was choreographed by Vedantam Raghavaiah.[22] 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.[22]
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.[23] She learned Hindi at the Hindi Prachar Sabha in order to dub her own voice for her character in the film.[18] 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".[24] The film becomes sixth highest grossing film of 1951 with verdict hit.[25]
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.[18] 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.[26] The second version was in Telugu as Sangham which was released in the same year with N. T. Rama Rao,[27] Vyjayanthimala, S. Balachandran and Anjali Devi in the lead. The Tamil and the Telugu was a big success across the South India.[28][29] 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".[30] The movie became second highest grossing film of 1953.[31]
In 1954, Vyjayanthimala acted in magnum opus film Nagin with Pradeep Kumar. The film got favorable responses from the audience and becomes the highest grossing movie of 1954.[32] Subsequently, she establish herself as one of the leading actress in Bollywood through the film's nationwide success.[33] 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.[34] 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.[35] The film also had Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle and Mohammed Rafi as the playback singers,[35] but the movie was unreleased[36] though the producer's son Srikant Venkatram claimed that the film was released and flopped miserably at box office which made the film unrecognized.[35]
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?".[7] 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.[37] 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".[37] 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".[37] 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"[38] 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".[39] 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.[39] In 2006, a poll conducted by Rediff ranked her role Chandramukhi as one of the best Tawaif character in Bollywood.[40] Subsequently, the same role was listed in The Times of India's "10 Celluloid Hookers You Loved" at number six by Nikhat Kazmi.[41] 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.[42]
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.[43] 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.[44] Also starring in the movie, reprising their lead roles from the original, were Gemini Ganesan and Anjali Devi.[43] 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.[45] 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".[46] 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 Indian established actors such as N. T. Rama Rao, Sivaji Ganesan and Gemini Ganesan in guest appearance.
In 1957, director B. R. Chopra 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.[47] 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.[48] 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"[49] 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".[50] 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,[51] second only to the critically acclaimed Mother India which became the highest grossing Bollywood film ever at the time.[52] 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.[53] 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.[53] Vyjayanthimala's next release was Kathputli in which she co-starred with actor Balraj Sahni for the first time.[54] 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.[55] He died during the filming of Kathputli and the remaining project was completed by director Nitin Bose.[55] Kathputli remains as one of the memorable film of Vyjayanthimala which has an offbeat theme with a Pygmalion touch.[55] 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.[56] She returned to the screen again with Kishore Kumar in the 1957 partially-colour-made film Aasha[57] which became a hit at the box office.[58] 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[57] Aasha also introduced actress Asha Parekh, to the silver screen, in a song alongside Vyjayanthimala whom Parekh described as her matinee idol.[59]
| Vyjayanthimala Bali | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) for Madras South | |
| In office 1984–1991 |
|
| Prime Minister | Indira Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi V. P. Singh Chandra Shekhar Singh P. V. Narasimha Rao |
| Preceded by | R. Venkataraman |
| Succeeded by | R. Sridharan |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Indian National Congress (1984 to 1999) Bharatiya Janata Party (1999 to present) |
Vyjayanthimala's political career was initiated in 1984 when she was contested for the South Chennai constituency as the nominee of the Indian National Congress opposite Era Sezhiyan, the leader of Janata Party and seasoned parliamentarian.[60] 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)"[60] in order to defeat Vyjayanthimala, ironically she won the election with margin of about 48,000 votes.[60] Subsequently, she debuted in the Lok Sabha, the directly elected lower house of the Parliament of India by the end of January, 1985 with Amitabh Bachchan.[61]
In 1989, Vyjayanthimala again had to face the election, this time she was opposed by Aladi Aruna of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.[60] She again beat her opposition by nearly 1.25 lakh votes.[60] Later on 1993, she was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India for a six-year term.[17]
In 1999, she has resigned from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress party.[62] 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".[62][63] Later she joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on September 6, 1999.[64][65]
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.[66]
Vyjayanthimala is a Vaishnavite and is a vegetarian.[17][67] She is a religious person and grew up listening to holy chants and devotional songs.[1] She is a devotee of Aandaal, one of the 12 Alvar saints of South India.[17] She used to invoke Aandaal before any public performance in order to gain her blessing.[17]
| Year | Film | Role | Language | Notes and Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | Vazhkai | Rani | Tamil | |
| Jeevitham | Mohini Sivashankara Lingeswara Prasad | Telugu | ||
| 1951 | Bahar | Lata | Hindi | |
| 1954 | Nagin | Mala | Hindi | |
| 1955 | Devdas | Chandramukhi | Hindi | Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| 1956 | New Delhi | Janaki Subramaniam | Hindi | |
| 1957 | Naya Daur | Rajni | Hindi | |
| Kathputli | Pushpa | Hindi | ||
| Aasha | Nirmala | Hindi | ||
| 1958 | Sadhna | Champabai | Hindi | Filmfare Award for Best Actress |
| Vanjikottai Valiban | Mandakini | Tamil | ||
| Madhumati | Madhumati / Madhavi / Radha | Hindi | Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actress | |
| 1959 | Paigham | Manju | Hindi | |
| 1960 | Parthiban Kanavu | Kundhavi | Tamil | |
| Irumbu Thirai | Manju | Tamil | ||
| Baghdad Thirudan | Zarina | Tamil | ||
| 1961 | Then Nilavu | Shanthi | Tamil | |
| Gunga Jumna | Dhanno | Hindi | Filmfare Award for Best Actress BFJA Award for Best Actress |
|
| 1964 | Sangam | Radha | Hindi | Filmfare Award for Best Actress |
| Leader | Princess Sunita | Hindi | ||
| 1966 | Amrapali | Amrapali | Hindi | |
| Suraj | Princess Anuradha Singh | Hindi | ||
| 1967 | Hatey Bazarey | Chhipli | Bengali | |
| Jewel Thief | Shalini Singh / Shalu | Hindi | ||
| 1968 | Sunghursh | Munni / Laila-E-Aasmaan | Hindi | BFJA Award for Best Actress |
| 1969 | Prince | Princess Amrita | Hindi |
| 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 Madhumati 1958 |
Succeeded by Nutan for Sujata |
| Preceded by Bina Rai for Ghunghat |
Best Actress for Gunga Jumna 1961 |
Succeeded by Meena Kumari for Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam |
| 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, Mumtaz and Pran |
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