Miss Kumari

Miss Kumari (1932–1969) was a Malayalam film actress of the early years of 1940–1960s.^[1]

Early life

Miss Kumari, whose real name was Thresiamma, was born on 1 June 1932,^[2] to Thomas and Eliyamma, at Bharananganam in Kottayam District, in the Kerala state of India. She had her primary education from Bharanganam Sacred Hearts high school,a school for girls run by Franciscan Clarist Sisters . After studies she worked as a teacher in the same school.

Family

She was married to Hormis Thaliath a F.A.C.T engineer and the couple had three children, Johny, Thomas, Babu. She was forced to stop acting. Gradually she disappeared from public gaze confined to the four walls of her house. Johny is in the movie industry, Thomas is an engineer in California, and Babu is a Professor in Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi.^[3]

Malayalam cinema

Miss Kumari debuted in Malayalam with the 1949 fi1m Vellinakshatram. She got her break through the 1950 box office hit film Nalla Thanka.^[4] Sathyan and Miss Kumari were elevated to stardom after the huge success of the film Neelakuyil (1954).^[5][6][7] She acted in more than 50 films, in a career spanning about two decades. She has acted in few Tamil movies as well. Pettravel kanda vazhvu was one among them. She also received Madras State award for best actress in 1956. She died on 9 June 1969.The newspapers had a bold heading but very little details on her death. It simply read something like ‘Miss Kumari was rushed to Jawaharlal Memorial Hospital, Udyogamandal, following a stomach ailment but she breathed her last on the way. The burial took place in Bharananganam, her native place.There were some who believed that her death was unnatural.During her last days,She lived in isolation, indifferent of what was happening around her. Some Kochi-based film journalists who had met her knew what was happening. She seemed to be tormented, in a state of mental agony and fear.Miss Kumari Memorial Mini Stadium was built in Bharananganam which was inaugurated by Veteran actor Prem Nazir.^[8]

Filmography

References