Kanchana (actress)

Vasundhara Devi, known by her stage name Kanchana (born 16 August 1939) is a noted Indian actress of the 1960s and 1970s. She acted in all four major south Indian languages: Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam, as well as in a few Hindi films.^{[1] [2]}

Early life

She was born as Vasundhara Devi in a wealthy family originally from Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. They moved to Madras (present Chennai) in Tamil Nadu, where Kanchana was born.^[3] She learnt Bharata Natyam and Music.

Career

Her father suffered business losses, and she went to work as an air hostess to support her family, when she was discovered by the film director C. V. Sridhar on a plane where he was a passenger. He gave her the lead role in his film Kaadhalikka Neramillai in 1963 and changed her name to Kanchana, since there was already another actress named Vasundhara Devi, mother of star Vyjayanthimala.^[4] Kanchana acted in over 150 films – Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi, with a successful acting career.

She retired from films in the early 1980s.^[5] In 2005, she was presented with the MGR award and in 2007 the ANR Swarna Kankanam award.^[6][7]

She was appropriately known as the Queen of the Seventies in South Indian film industry. Her performances in the movies Pavitra Bandham, Manchivaadu were well appreciated and recognised.^[8] She played the role of Uttara in the film Veerabhimanyu. The following year she acted in the Annapurna pictures film Aatma Gowravam with veteran director K. Viswanath.

She acted with Krishnam Raju in some glamorous roles in Neeti Nijayitee (1972), Parivartana (1975), Nenante Nene and Dharma Daata. Not only in social roles, she acted some mythological roles in pictures likeShri Krishnavataram (1967). After retirement as heroine, she acted in some good films including Ananda Bhairavi and Shrimad Virat Veerabrahmendra Swami Charitra in 1984.

In Tamil, she acted with R. Muthuraman in about 19 films including Kaadhalikka Neramillai, Kodimalar, Thulabharam (Tamil version), Thangai, Bama Vijayam and Avalukendru Oru Manam. She also acted with Sivaji Ganesan in Sivandha Mann, Vilayattu Pillai and Avan Oru Sarithiram. She did two films with MGR, Naan Yen Pirandhen and Parakkum Paavai. Apart from that, she was paired with many Tamil heroes like A. V. M. Rajan, S. S. Rajendran, Gemini Ganesan , Jaishankar, Ravichandran and Sivakumar.

After her retirement as a heroine, she acted in some good films including Ananda Bhairavi, Shrimad Virat Veerabrahmendra Swami Charitra, Johnny, Sigappu Rojakkal, Mouna Ragam and more as a supporting role.

There were rumours floating around a few years ago about her living in penury. A popular Tamil magazine, Kumudam, published a report that Kanchana was relying on the prasadam served at a Temple. However, in a press release, Kanchana refuted all this with deep anguish. She cited her existing legal tangles as a reason for reluctance for not suing the magazine.

Personal life

The actress later won back her properties in T.Nagar, Chennai of around 6 grounds, with the Court ruling against her parents. It was learnt that one day her father took signature of Kanchana on a white paper and without her knowledge converted total assets on his name. After a long legal battle she won and regained her wealth.

Kanchana along with her Sister Girija Pandey donated their property in Chennai worth then around Rs. 150 million to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) on 25 October 2010.^[9][10]

Filmography

This is a partial filmography of Kanchana.

Awards

Tamil Nadu State Film Honorary Award

• She was presented with the MGR award in 2005.

Other awards

• ANR Swarna Kankanam award in 2007.^[6]

References