Vyjayanthimala.pdf

8/14/2019 Vyjayanthimala.pdf

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Vyjayanthimala

Vyjayanthimala Bali

Vyjayanthimala at Esha Deol's wedding at ISCKON temple in 2012

Born Vyjayanthimala Raman

13 August 1936

Triplicane, Madras Presidency, British India

(now in Tamil Nadu, India)

Residence Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Other names Vaijayanthimala, Vyjayanti Mala, Vyjantimala, Vaijayantimala Bali

Occupation Actress, Indian classical dancer, Carnatic singer, golfer, politician

Years active 1949present

Spouse(s) Chamanlal Bali (m. 196886)(his death)

Children Suchindra Bali (born 1976)

Parents M. D. Ramaswamy (Father) (deceased)

Vasundhara Devi (Mother) (deceased)

Awards Padmashri, Kalaimamani,

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award

(See more)

Signature

Vyjayanthimala Bali (born 13 August 1936), also known by the mononym Vyjayanthimala, is an Indian film

actress, Bharathanatyam dancer, Carnatic singer, dance choreographer, golfer and Parliamentarian.

Vyjayanthimala was one of the biggest Bollywood stars in a career lasting almost two decades. She was also the first

South Indian actress to become a national star and "paved way" for the other South Indian actresses to foray into

Bollywood. Vyjayanthimala is an accomplished dancer and was one of those who introduced semi-classical dance to

Bollywood. Her subsequent dance numbers in her films had earned her the title of "twinkle toes". She was also

referred to as one of the first female Superstars of Hindi cinema and was known as "Numero Uno actress" for her

"illustrious career in 1950s and 1960s".
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Vyjayanthimala made her screen debut at the age of 13 through the Tamil film Vazhkai (1949) and acted in

Bollywood filmsBahar andLadki. Following the success ofNagin, Vyjayanthimala established herself as one of the

Bollywood's leading actresses while making in-roads in successful Tamil films. After successfully establishing

herself as a commercial actress, Vyjayanthimala appeared in Devdas playing Chandramukhi the hooker with a heart

of gold in 1955. In her first dramatic role, she received her first Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress at the

4th Filmfare Awards where she refused to accept the award citing that her role was not a supporting role. (she was

the first person to refused an award at the Filmfare Awards) Following that, Vyjayanthimala appeared in series of

blockbuster films such asNew Delhi,Naya Daur andAasha. She reach her pinnacle of success in 1958, where two

of her films; Sadhna and Madhumati becomes huge critical and commercial success. She was nominated for two

Filmfare Award for Best Actress Award for Sadhna andMadhumati where she won the award for the former.

At this point of time, Vyjayanthimala make comeback to the Tamil films, where she tasted commercial success with

Vanjikottai Valiban, Irumbu Thirai, Baghdad Thirudan and Then Nilavu. In 1961, the release of Dilip Kumar's

Ganga Jumna saw her playing a rustic village belle Dhanno who speak Bhojpuri dialect, critics applauded her

performance with some labeled it as her best performance till date. She won her second Filmfare Award for Best

Actress for her role in Ganga Jumna. Beginning from 1962, most of her films performed either averagely or poorly

at the box office.However in 1964 with the success of Sangam her career hits the peak again. She reinvented herselfplaying a modernIndian girl while appearing in revealing costumes and one-piece swimsuit. She went to receive her

third Best Actress Award at the 12th Filmfare Awards for her role as Radha in Sangam. She later achieve critical

acclaim for her performance in the historical drama Amrapali, which was based on the life of Nagarvadhu (royal

courtesan) of Vaishali, Amrapali. Though the film received universal acclaim but it was a huge box office failure,

which leave Vyjayanthimala, who had a huge expectation on the film, disenchanted to the point where she decided to

quit films. In the end of her carer Vyjayanthimala was mostly seen in commercially successful films such as Suraj,

Jewel Thief andPrince with few critically acclaimed films such as Hatey Bazarey and Sunghursh. Most of the films

was released after Vyjayanthimala had leave the film industry.

Besides films, 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 practising artists. The award was

presented to Vyjayanthimala in 1982 for her contribution in Bharata Natyam field. Moreover, Vyjayanthimala is also

an avid golfer and is one of the oldest golfers in Chennai. She has also served as chairperson of 48th National Film

Awards.

Early life

Vyjayanthimala at the age of two

She was born in Triplicane situated near Parthasarathy Temple in an orthodox

and religious Tamil Brahmin family to M. D. Raman and Vasundhara Devi.

Her mother was a leading actress in Tamil Cinema in 1940s where her filmMangama Sabatham was the first ever Tamil film to be declared a "colossal"

hit at the box office. She used to call her mother by her name as her mother

was 16 years older to her when she was born. Similarly, she also called her

father "Anna", meaning elder brother, as her father happened to be the eldest

in their family and everyone called him "Anna" which is common among

Brahmin joint family. 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. Her ancestors

were from Mysore (now Karnataka). In 1938, her grandfather Gopalacharya,

the late Mandayam Dhati, started a nursing home on Narayan Shastri Road,

Mysore.
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Vyjayanthimala during her trip with her

family to Europe at the Italian ship Bien

Camano in 1939

At the age of 5, Vyjayanthimala was chosen to perform a classical Indian

dance for Pope Pius XII while her mother was an audience in 1940 at Vatican

City.[1]

Vyjayanthi did her schooling from Sacred Heart Higher Secondary

School, Presentation Convent, Church Park, Chennai. 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 startedperforming all over Tamil Nadu later.

Acting career

Early career: Debut and breakthrough, (1949-1953)

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's Gokhale Hall. He tried to convince her grandmother, who was

apprehensive about Vyjayanthimala joining films as she felt it would come in the way of her education and dance.

Vyjayanthimala played a college girl named Mohana Shivashankaralingam and acted along with senior actors S. V.

Sahasranamam, M. S. Draupadi, T. R. Ramachandran and K. Sankarapani. The movie was a big success and was

remade in Telugu after one year as Jeevitham with a slightly different cast, namely C. H. Narayana Rao, S.

Varalakshmi and C. S. R. Anjaneyulu. This film also enjoyed great success upon release. For the Telugu version,

Vyjayanthimala did her own voice dubbing with a little assistance from her father who knew Telugu well and

coached her during the filming process. Vyjayanthimala also did a guest appearance in the 1950 film Vijayakumari

which had actress T. R. Rajakumari in dual role. She danced for the song "laalu...laalu...laalu" which was

choreographed by Vedantam Raghavaiah. Though the film was not a commercial success but her western-style of

dance became popular and was considered as one of the major highlights of the film.

As the aspiring dancer Lata inBahar

The success of her Tamil film 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). She learned Hindi at

the Hindi Prachar Sabha to dub her own voice for her character in

the film. 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 audience". The film became sixth

highest grossing film of 1951 with a verdict of box-office hit.

After the success of all her debut films in all three languages,

Vyjayanthimala again acted in multilingual film which was

produced by Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar of AVM Productions. The first version was in Tamil as Penn where she

co-starred with actor Gemini Ganesan, S. Balachandran and Anjali Devi. The song "Kalyanam...venum" sung by J.

P. Chandrababu for S. Balachandran became an instant hit. The second version was in Telugu titled Sangham which

was released in the same year with N. T. Rama Rao, Vyjayanthimala, S. Balachandran and Anjali Devi in the lead.

The Tamil and the Telugu films were big successes across South India. The film was once again remade in Hindi as

Ladki starring Bharat Bhushan, Kishore Kumar while Vyjayanthimala along with Anjali Devi reprised her role from

the original film. Her performance was described by Upperstall.com as, "Vyjayanthimala's dances are the film's
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pure histrionics, offering her scope to explore her potential as a dramatic actress wi thout takingaway from her, the

most outstanding gift she brought to cinema her dance". Subsequently, she won Filmfare Award for Best

Supporting Actress but refused to accept it, stating that her role was a leading one andin equal importance to the role

essayed by Suchitra Sen and not supporting. In 2006, a poll conducted by Rediff ranked her role of Chandramukhi as

one of the best Tawaif character in Bollywood. Subsequently, the same role was listed in The Times of India's "10

Celluloid Hookers You Loved" at number six by Nikhat Kazmi. Though the film was critically successful but it did

not garner much support at the box office and ended up as 10th highest grossing movie of 1955 with an average

verdict .

After being recognised as a capable actress with Devdas, Vyjayanthimala acted in various moviesin 1956, namely

Taj,Patrani andAnjaan: Somewhere in Dehli with Pradeep Kumar andKismet Ka Khel with Sunil Dutt. In the same

year, she also acted in swashbuckler film Devta which was a remake of ahugely successful Tamil filmKanavaney

Kankanda Deivam. 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. Also starring in the movie,

reprising their lead roles from the original, were Gemini Ganesan and Anjali Devi. Meanwhile, she was also signed

by Sohrab Modi for his filmRajhath opposite Pradeep Kumar. However due to her schedule problem she wasreplaced by Madhubala. Vyjayanthimala then acted with Kishore Kumar again in the comedy film New Delhi which

became the fifth highest grossing film of 1956 a box-office hit. The film showcasesa love that sprouts between a

Punjabi boy, played Kishore Kumar, and Tamilgirl, 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 alwayshad the mandatorydance 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". Subsequently, she also did a Tamil film calledMarma Veeran along with Sriram, Rajasulochana,

M. N. Rajam, J. P. Chandrababu and Chittor V. Nagaiah. The film had some of the South Indian established actorssuch as N. T. Rama Rao, Sivaji Ganesan and Gemini Ganesan in guest appearance.

1957-58: Success and Stardom in Bollywood

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 went to Dilip Kumar. For the femal e lead, the first choice of the director was

the star-actress of those days, Madhubala. But, as fate would have it, after 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 later 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.

Vyjyanthimala had previouslyacted with Dilip Kumar inDevdas 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 withideas on how to ford a stream and

risks her life to save the bridge[...]wonderful scene between two stars whose chemistry is undeniable" while reviewer

Taran Adarsh from Bollywood Hungama mentions that,"Commendable performances come in from Vyjayantimala

[natural][...]The relationships [Dilip Kumar-Vyjayantimala] are so human and believable". At the end of its theatrical

run, the film had collected around 54,000,000, thus becoming the second highest grossing film of 1957, second

only to the critically acclaimed Mother India which became the highest grossing Bollywood film ever at the time.

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 replaced Dev

Anand with Shammi Kapoor. However the director, Nasir Hussain was in a quandary as he had already read the
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Vyjayanthimala 7

who previously directed Vyjayanthimala in Naya Daur, had adapted the theme on the rehabilitation of prostitutes

which was then a controversial topic in India. Along with the film her performance received universal acclaim, as

told by Vijay Lokapally from The Hindu, "Among the great movies made on the subject of helpless women versus

society, Sadhna holds its own for its realistic portrayal and treatment of a subject, so aesthetically documented by

Chopra and Vyjayanthimala" and praised the latter "gorgeous when she entertains the clients at her

kotha[...]stunningly restrained when she assumes the character of a prospective wife". Similarly, the Rediff's critic

Dinesh Raheja has commented that "But finally, the show belongs to Vyjayanthimala. Fetchingly frivolous in the

first half, she is suitably serious in the second. She makes her need for acceptance palpable; her eyes emit twin lasers

of anger and condemnation at those that exploit women". Sadhna also performed well at the box office where it

became fifth highest grossing film of 1958 with trade pundits declaring the film a box-office hit. Subsequently,

Vyjayanthimala received two Filmfare nominations in Best actress category for Madhumati and Sadhna, where she

won her first ever Filmfare trophy for the latter after refusing to accept the Best Supporting Actress Award trophy for

Devdas (1955) earlier. Her next release was Amar Deep where she was paired against Dev Anand for the first time.

A production of Sivaji Ganesan's Sivaji Productions, the film was a remake of 1956 Tamil film Amara Deepam

which had Ganesan himself in the lead. Along with Padmini who reprised her role from the original, Vyjayanthimala

plays the role of Aruna which was originally performed by actress Savitri in Tamil.In 2011, in conjunction with actor Dev Anand's death, Vyjayanthimala recollected her memories during the filming

in Madras where she remembers the actor calling her "Papa", the Tamil termed that was used by her family and

friends, and he would search for her throughout the sets while yelling "where is Papa, where is my heroine".

According to Subhash Chheda, whenAmar Deep was released, the long-awaited airing of Vyjayanthimala and Dev

Anand was compared to the Madhubala and Dev Anand pair, where the public verdicted that ""If Madhubala brooks

no equality, Vyjayanthimala admits no superiority". Unfortunately, the film failed to turn Vyjayanthimala and Dev

Anand team into a hit pair. The same year Vyjayanthimala was booked by M. G. Ramachandran for his second

directorial venturePonniyin Selvan. One of the first screen adaptation of Kalki Krishnamurthy'sPonniyin Selvan the

film had a huge ensemble cast consisting of Gemini Ganesan, Padmini, Savitri, Saroja Devi, M. N. Rajam and

Nagesh along with Ramachandran and Vyjayanthimala. In the film, she was given the role of Kundavai, the eldersister of Raja Raja Chola I, played by Ganesan and the wife of Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan, played by

Ramachandran. However, in the mid of 1958 the film was shelved for unknown reasons. The same year she did

another Tamil film Gemini Pictures's Magnum opus Vanjikottai Valiban along with Gemini Ganesan and Padmini.

Written by Gemini Story Department which was headed by Kothamangalam Subbu, the Black-and-whi te epic film

was produced and directed by S. S. Vasan. She played the role of Princess Mandakini, the beautiful princess of Ratna

Island Kingdom. As a stubborn princess, she always wanted to achieve her ambition in any deed which lead to her

ultimate death and formed the climax. The film had a great theatrical run where the film completed 100 days run at

cinemas and was labelled as blockbuster at box office. The film is still remembered for the dance of Vyjayanthimala

and Padmini in the "Kannum Kannum Kalanthu" song which was choreographed by Hiralal and was well received

by critics and audience alike wherein the popularity of the song surpassed the popularity garnered by the film. The

song is still regarded as one of the best dance sequences in Indian cinema. Vanjikottai Valiban was followed by its

Hindi version titledRaj Tilak. Screenplay of the film was by Ramanand Sagar. The film was directed by S. S. Vasan

with Ganesan, Vyjayanthimala and Padmini in the lead. Within a week, the film sank at box office and was unable to

achieve the same box office success made by the Tamil version. By the end of the year, The Indian Express named

Vyjayanthimala as the most successful female star of 1958. Similarly, Boxofficeindia.com also ranked

Vyjayanthimala at the top spot in their list of "Top Three Successful Box Office Actress of 1958".
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Vyjayanthimala 8

1959-60: Return to Tamil films

In 1959, Vyjayanthimala reunited with Dilip Kumar for the fourth time in bilingual Paigham. Produced and directed

by S. S. Vasan, the film featured the lead actors along with Raaj Kumar, B. Saroja Devi, Pandari Bai and Motilal.

Besides them, Vyjayanthimala's real life mother Vasunthara Devi also acted in a small role where she played the role

of mother to her own daughter who died in vain. Upon release Paigham became second highest grossing film of

1959 with a verdict of a box-office hit. The same year she also did a Tamil film, Athisaya Penn where she co-starredwith Telugu actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao for the first time. Athisaya Penn was a remake of Aasha which again

was directed by M. V. Raman.

In 1960, Vyjayanthimala mostly concentrated on Tamil films to keep in touch with the industry. Her first release in

1960 was S. S. Vasan's Irumbu Thirai, the Tamil version of Paigham. She starred opposite Sivaji Ganesan for the

second time after the latter's cameo appearance inMarma Veeran (1956). Along with Vyjayanthimala, all the female

cast including B. Saroja Devi, Pandari Bai and Vasunthara Devi reprised their role from the original with S. V.

Ranga Rao in Motilal's role and K. A.Thangavelu in Raaj Kumar's character. The film was followed byRaja Bakthi

again with Sivaji Ganesan.Raja Bakthi had huge ensemble cast featuring P. Bhanumathi, Padmini, T. S. Balaiah and

E. V. Saroja. Her subsequent release was D. Yoganand's magnum opus Parthiban Kanavu. Co-starring Gemini

Ganesan for the third time and B. Saroja Devi for the second time, the film was based onKalki Krishnamurthy's

1942 novel with the same name. Apart from Tamil, the film was produced in Telugu and Sinhala languages. Upon

release the film met with positive response from the critics and was awarded the National Film Award for Best

Feature Film in Tamil at the 8th National Film Awards. However the film did not fare well at box office but

Vyjayanthimala's performance was appreciated by critics. She also acted opposite M. G. Ramachandran for the first

time in Baghdad Thirudan. Meanwhile, she also did a Hindi film titled College Girl opposite Shammi Kapoor which

fared average at box office and was declared as eighteenth highest grossing film of the year.

1961-63: Reigns Supreme in Hindi

Following successful re-entry in Tamilcinema, Vyjayanthimala then signed Dilip Kumar's home production film

Gunga Jumna. Having inspired by 1934 Manhattan Melodrama, the film was one of the first Bollywood films to

deal with the theme based on two brothers on the opposite sides of law. Di rected by Nitin Bose, she co-starred

Kumar for the fifth time after Devdas,Naya Daur,Madhumati,Paigham. In this dacoit drama, she enacted the role

of Dhanno, a washerwoman who falls for childhood friend Gunga, played by Kumar and eventually killed during a

gun fight. To prepare herself for that role, Vyjayanthimala had to learn the Bhojpuri, a Hindi language dialect spoken

by people in East India region. She was assisted by Kumar who also chose the shade of saree that Vyjaya nthimala

would wear in every scene. Upon release the film opened to widespread critical acclaim from the critics. Her

performance earned her rave reviews. Dinesh Raheja from Rediff said that "Ganga Jamuna deployed several

crowd-pleasing elements[...]most of all, an enchanting relationship between Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala[...]

Their characterisation ran so deep, which helped Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala give magnetic performances.Dilip is of course a thespian but Vyjayanthimala is a revelation" while K. K. Rai from Stardust applauded her

performance byadding "Vyjayanthimala played the village woman with such simplicity and grace; youd forget she

was one of the most glamorous stars of her time. She also spoke the Bhojpuri dialect like a native". Critics also

praised Vyjayanthimala for her ability to master the Bhojpuri dialect despite her South Indian upbringing.

Subsequently, the film also enjoyed huge success at box office across India. At the end of its theatrical run, the film

grossed around 70,000,000 with net gross of 35,000,000 and a verdict of a blockbuster. The film was the Highest

grossing film of 1961 and was third highest grossing Hindi film of the decade behindMughal-e-Azam and Sangam,

another Kumar and Vyjayanthimala starer respectively. The film was also ranked second by Boxofficeindia.co.in

behind Mughal-e-Azam in their list of "Top 50 Film of Last 50 Years" which features all-time highest grossing

Bollywood films by using the relative price of gold in different years to arrive at a hypothetical current value ofbox-office collections of past films with its adjustment to inflation rate. 7.36 billion (US$110 million). For her
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Vyjayanthimala 9

performance Vyjayanthimala was awarded with the Filmfare Award for Best Actress trophy at the 9th Filmfare

Awards. In addition to that, she also bagged her first ever Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards in the Best

Actress category. In the same year, she starred in C. V. Sridhar's Nazrana. Remake of highly successful 1959 Tamil

filmKalyana Parisu, again directed by Sridhar, she acted alongside Raj Kapoor for the first time. She played the role

of Vasanthi wherein she replaced actress B. Saroja Devi who did not reprise her role from Kadhal Parisu and its

Telugu remake Pelli Kanuka. The triangular love story received average run at the cinemas and ended as twelfth

highest grossing film of that year. The same year she did another film with Sridhar. Being the first Tamil film to be

shot in Jammu and Kashmir, she acted alongside Gemini Ganesan after a long gap in Then Nilavu. The film and the

soundtrack was widely appreciated by the audience where it was a huge success. The film was followed by J. Om

Prakash'sAas Ka Panchhi with RajendraKumar. For her portrayal Vyjayanthimala got some negative feedback from

the critics, The Hindu review said that "Even the otherwise powerhouse of talent, Vyjayantimala, with many a

sterling performance under her belt, barely passes muster, despite the usual dance and song sequence to showcase

her formidable prowess as an accomplished dancer thrown in". Despite some mixed reviews, the film was labelled as

hit at box office and was declared as the fourth highest grossing film of 1961 where it had a silver jubilee run at the

theatres.

Her career then struggled again with some box office duds in the following year. In 1962 she co-starred ManojKumar in Dr. Vidya which performed average at box office. Dr. Vidya was followed by two more box office

disappointments,Rungoli with Kishore Kumar andJhoola with Sunil Dutt.

1963 also saw a steady decline in her film career where she co-starred Sivaji Ganesan in Historical fiction Chittoor

Rani Padmini. Written by C. V. Sridharand directed by Chitrapu Narayana Rao, the film also proved to be a box

office failure and marked the end of Vyjayanthimala's career in Tamil cinema. The same year Bimal Roy who earlier

worked with her in Devdas and Madhumati offered her the lead role in Bandini opposite Ashok Kumar and

Dharmendra. However Vyjayanthimala could not accept the role due to her busy schedule. The Boxofficeindia.com

ranked Vyjayanthimala at Top spot in their list of "Top Three Successful Box Office Actress" of 1962 and 1963

respectively despite her box office failures.

1964-66: Commercial successes and critical acclaim

Following two years sabbatical, Vyjayanthimala re-attained her success in Bollywood through Raj Kapoor's first

technicolor film Sangam. Termed as Kapoor's magnum opus, the film was produced at lavish budget by his

production company R. K. Films. Earlier in 1940s, Kapoor planned to launch Sangam in the title of Gharonda with

Dilip Kumar and Nargis and himself in the lead, however the film was delayed for several times until 1962.

Following Kumar and Dev Anand's refusal to be a part of the film, Kapoor then fixed Rajendra Kumar and himself

as the male leads. Sangam was the first Indian film shot in Europe and outside of Asia. It was also the longest

running film in India when it was released at 238 minutes. The film also created a record by being the first film to

have two cinema intervals. Cinematography by Radhu Kamarkar, the European filming locations include Venice,

Paris, Switzerland and London while the Indian locations include Ooty and Kashmir Valley. Upon release the film

was well received by critics and was considered as Bollywood's greatest love triangle.Vyjayanthimala's performance

too was praised by critics. Dinesh Raheja ofRediff said that "to put it simply, radiant[...]the maturity with whichshe

tackles her character, the insouciance as well as the agony" and call it as "one of commercial cinema's most

unforgettable performances". Similarly, the film was commercially successful throughout India and other country as

well. On its overall theatrical run, Boxofficeindia.com reported that the film had grossed 8,00,00,000 and netted

around 40,000,000 with its adjusted to inflationnett gross is about 843900000 (US$13 million). Subsequently,

the film was labelled as blockbuster where it was ranked as highest grossing film of 1964 and second highest

grossing film of the decade. The film was also ranked at fourth by Boxofficeindia.co.in in their list of "Top 50 Film

of Last 50 Years" which feature all-time highest grossing Bollywood film with its adjust to inflation gross is about

7173154362 (US$110 million). Sangam also had great box office run outside of India where it was well received in

countries such as China, Malaysia and Russia. For her role Radha, who caught between her husband and her former
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11/16

Vyjayanthimala 11

1967-70: Lost Interest in Films Post Amrapali

Vyjayanthimala in 2013 Stardust Awards

After Amrapali which was the biggest flop in her career and some

personal issues with co-stars, Vyjayanthimala lost interest in films. In

1967, she was signed in Tapi Chanakya'sRam Aur Shyam which was a

remake of 1964 Telugu film Ramudu Bheemudu. She co-starred Dilip

Kumar for the seventh time who previously had made some

memorable films with her. However due to some misunderstanding

between Kumar and Vyjayanthimala, Vyjayanthimala was replaced by

Waheeda Rehman. The same year she starred in Vijay Anand's Jewel

Thief after Saira Banu backed out of the project due to her marriage

with Dilip Kumar. The crime thriller reunited Vyjayanthimala after a

decade with her co-star Dev Anand after Amar Deep.Jewel Thief also

had Ashok Kumar as the main antagonist with four more female leads

Tanuja, Helen, Anju Mahendru and Faryal. For the first time she

worked under Dev Anand's production house, the Navketan Films after

being rejected by Tad Danielewski for the lead role in 1965 Hindi film

Guide. The success of Jewel Thief made Vyjayanthimala and Dev

Anand a hit pair. Three decades later, Vyjayanthimala was approached

by Dev Anand for a role in the sequel of Jewel Thief,Return of Jewel

Thief (1996), but she refused to act in the film as she did not planned to

make a comeback. Subsequently, Vyjayanthimala's dance number in "Hothon Pe Aisi Baat Main" sung by Lata

Mangeshkar becomes huge hit where it was considered as one of the best dance number in Indian cinema while

being influential for the rises of other dance numbers such as "Chamma Chamma" and "Sheila Ki Jawani" from

China Gate and Tees Maar Khan respectively. The same year she did the magnum opus Chhoti Si Mulaqat produced

by Bengali actor Uttam Kumar. Remake of 1954 Bengali film Agni Pariksha which had Uttam Kumar who reprises

his role in the Hindi version and Suchitra Sen in the lead. Unlike the original version, Chhoti Si Mulaqat failed to

create any box office record and was declared as box office disaster. Her last release in the year is Hatey Bazarey

with Ashok Kumar. Inspired by Banaphool's novel with the same, the film was directed by acclaimed director Tapan

Sinha where Vyjayanthimala made her Bengali cinema debut through the film. She played the role of widowed

young women - Chhipli - who falls for a civil surgeon Doctor Anandi Mukheerjee. Upon release the film received

unanimously positive reviews where it was awarded with the Best Feature Film Award at the 15th National Film

Awards while Vyjayanthimala's performance also appreciated by critics alike. A review from Upperstall had

mentioned that, "Vyjayantimala, in her debut in Bengali films is extremely convincing as the independent and

vivacious tribal widow". Similarly her singing in the song "Shyam Tor Tore Tamal Tolay Boshe Thaki" along with

singer Hemanta Mukherjee received her praises where it was described as "pleasant surprise" in the same review.

Hatey Bazarey was also received well commercially and was one of the successful Bengali film of 1960s.

In 1968, Vyjayanthimala appeared in three big budget film with high profile actors such as Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand

and Rajendra Kumar. Her first release in the year was Sunghursh, directed byMere Mehboob (1963) fame Harnam

Singh Rawail. She co-starred Dilip Kumar for the seventh and last time in her career with Balraj Sahni and Sanjeev

Kumar in key roles. Originally offered to actress Sadhana, the role later went to Vyjayanthimala as the former

suffers with her thyroid problem. Reportedly she did not exchange a word with Kumar while filming following their

relationship broke up. Vyjayanthimala's enactment of a courtesan Laila-e-Aasma, she received positive feedback

from the critics. Anuj Kumar form The Hindu said that "Vyjayanthimala is graceful as ever. In a film dominated by

men, Rawail made sure she had a substantial role. Her dances and Naushads lilting tunes come as a welcome break

to the sinewy tone imparted by Abrar Alvi and Gulzars dialogues". The role fetched her Best Hindi Actress Award

at 25th Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards. Sunghursh was followed by Saathi directed by C. V. Sridhar.
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13/16

Vyjayanthimala 13

Succeeded by R. Sridharan

Majority 125,844 (53.91%)

Nominated Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) for Tamil Nadu

In office

27 August 1993 26 August 1999

Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao

Atal Bihari Vajpayee

H. D. Deve Gowda

Inder Kumar Gujral

Atal Bihari Vajpayee

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 contested in 1984 Tamil Nadu general election for

the South Chennai constituency as the nominee of the Indian National Congress opposite Era Sezhiyan, the leader of

Janata Party and seasoned parliamentarian. 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)" to defeat Vyjayanthimala, ironically

she won the election with margin of about 48,000 votes where she gained 313,848 with percentage of 51.92%.

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.

In 1989, Vyjayanthimala again had to face the 1989 Tamil Nadu general election, this time she was opposed by

Aladi Aruna of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. She again beat her opposition by nearly 12584.4 million votes.

Later on 1993, she was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India for a six-year term.

In 1999, she has resigned from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress party. In her letter to theparty'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". Later she joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on 6 September 1999.

Personal life

Relationships

In her hey-days, Vyjayanthimala was speculated with many controversies without her knowledge. Particularly her

relationship with her co-stars was often the subject in topic. In the early 1960s,Vyjayanthimala was linked with

Dilip Kumar, who has acted with her the most compared to any other actress which resulted great on-screen

chemistry between them. While working for his home production Gunga Jumna (1961), it is said that Kumar will

even handpicked the shade of sari that Vyjayanthimala would wear in every scene. In addition to that, film historians

Bunny Reuben and Sanjit Narwekar have confirmed the Kumar-Vyjayanthimala's affair where they had said that

Vyjayanthimala was Kumar's third love after Kamini Kaushal and Madhubala. In early 1960s, actor Raj Kapoor had

commenced the filming of Sangam with Vyjayanthimala playing the female lead along with Rajendra Kumar and

Kapoor himself as male lead. The filming took four years to finish, during this time Vyjayanthimala is said had

romantically involved with Kapoor and almost get married to him. Initially, she was so vexed with him and kept him

at a distance during the filming however Kapoor did not give up over her attitude. This incident had made Kapoor's

wife Krishna to move out of her husbands house with her sons and daughters where they checked into Natraj Hotel
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sanjit_Narwekarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kamini_Kaushalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Madhubalahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Raj_Kapoorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sangam_%281964_Hindi_film%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rajendra_Kumarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rajendra_Kumarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sangam_%281964_Hindi_film%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Raj_Kapoorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Madhubalahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kamini_Kaushalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sanjit_Narwekarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sarihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gunga_Jumnahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dilip_Kumarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bharatiya_Janata_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rajiv_Gandhihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Assassination_of_Rajiv_Gandhihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sonia_Gandhihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Indian_National_Congresshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Parliament_of_Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Upper_househttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rajya_Sabhahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dravida_Munnetra_Kazhagamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aladi_Arunahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Indian_general_election_in_Tamil_Nadu%2C_1989http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Amitabh_Bachchanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Parliament_of_Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lower_househttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Directly_electedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lok_Sabhahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Member_of_Parliamenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Janata_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Era_Sezhiyanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Indian_National_Congresshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chennai_South_%28Lok_Sabha_constituency%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Indian_general_election_in_Tamil_Nadu%2C_1984http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bharatiya_Janata_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Indian_National_Congresshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Atal_Bihari_Vajpayeehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Inder_Kumar_Gujralhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=H._D._Deve_Gowdahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Atal_Bihari_Vajpayeehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=P._V._Narasimha_Raohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tamil_Naduhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rajya_Sabha


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Vyjayanthimala 14

in Mumbai and stayed there for four and a half months after being disgusted over the affair.

She is married to 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, titledBonding, with Jyoti Sabarwal as co-writer.

Religious views

Vyjayanthimala with her troupe performing the Thiruppavai in 1951 Delhi Dance

Festival.

Vyjayanthimala is a Vaishnavite and a

vegetarian. She is a religious person and

grew up listening to holy chants and

devotional songs. She is a devotee of

Aandaal, one of the 12 Alvar saints of South

India. She used to invoke Aandaal before

any public performance to gain her blessing.

Notable filmography

Year Film Role Language Notes and Awards

1949 Vazhkai Mohana Sivashankaralingam Tamil

1950 Jeevitham Mohini Sivashankaralingeswara 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 NominatedFilmfare Award for Best Actress

1959 Paigham Manju Hindi
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Paighamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Filmfare_Award_for_Best_Actresshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Madhumatihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vanjikottai_Valibanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Filmfare_Award_for_Best_Actresshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sadhnahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aasha_%281957_film%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kathputli_%281957_film%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Naya_Daur_%281957_film%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_Delhi_%281956_film%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Filmfare_Award_for_Best_Supporting_Actresshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chandramukhi_%28character%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Devdas_%281955_film%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nagin_%281954_film%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hindi_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bahar_%28film%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Telugu_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jeevithamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tamil_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vazhkaihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alvarshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aandaalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Devotional_songhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chanthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Holyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vaishnavismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AVyjayanthi_thirupavai.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Delhihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thiruppavaihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Suchindra_Balihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mumbai


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Vyjayanthimala 15

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

Saathi Shanti / Sharada Hindi

1969 Prince Princess Amrita Hindi

References

[1] http://www.info2india.com/bollywood/celebrity/vyjayanthimala.html

External links

Vyjayanthimala (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0904537/) at the Internet Movie Database
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Internet_Movie_Databasehttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm0904537/http://www.info2india.com/bollywood/celebrity/vyjayanthimala.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Prince_%281969_film%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saathihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=BFJA_Awardshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sunghurshhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jewel_Thiefhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bengali_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hatey_Bazareyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Suraj_%281966_film%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ambapalihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Amrapali_%28film%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leader_%281964_film%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Filmfare_Award_for_Best_Actresshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sangam_%281964_Hindi_film%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=BFJA_Awardshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Filmfare_Award_for_Best_Actresshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gunga_Jumnahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Then_Nilavuhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baghdad_Thirudanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Irumbu_Thiraihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Parthiban_Kanavu_%281960_film%29


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Documents

Vyjayanthimala.pdf