Vyjayanthimala

Infobox actor


imagesize = 150px
name = Vyjayanthimala (வைஜெயந்திமாலா பாலி)
birthname =Vyjayanthimala
birthdate = birth date and age|1936|8|13
location = flagicon|India Tamil Nadu, Chennai, India
deathdate =
deathplace =
height =
othername =
homepage =
notable role =
Chandramukhi in "Devdas"
Janaki in "New Delhi"
Madhumati in "Madhumati"
Radha in "Sangam"|
filmfareawards=Best Supporting Actress: "Devdas" (1956)
Best Actress: "Sadhna" (1958)
Best Actress: "Ganga Jamuna" (1961)
Best Actress: "Sangam" (1964)
Lifetime Achievement
spouse = "Dr. Bali"

Vyjayanthimala Bali (வைஜெயந்திமாலா பாலி) was born on August 13, 1936, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Her Mother Tongue is Tamil. She 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 cinema career, she entered Indian politics, and became a Member of Parliament.

Early life

Born in Madras, now known as Chennai, she trained in Bharatnatyam, a South Indian genre of classical dancing.

Career

Early career

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.

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 [ [http://www.indiafm.com/slideshow/2007/09/10/90/index.html Vyjayantimala remembers the RK-Dilip Kumar rivalry ] ] .)

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. [ [http://www.boloji.com/cinema/040.htm Remake Rage in Bollywood by MS Ahsan ] ]

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.

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. [http://in.news.yahoo.com/070830/48/6k4td.html] 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. [ [http://www.thehindu.com/mp/2007/09/13/stories/2007091350210100.htm The Hindu : Metro Plus Kochi / Books : On life and the arts ] ]

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.) [ [http://www.upperstall.com/people/vyjayantimala.html Vyjayantimala ] ]

* 1958 - Filmfare Best Actress Award, for a role in Madhumati

* 1958 - Filmfare Nomination for Best Actress, for a role in "Sadhana" [ [http://deep750.googlepages.com/FilmfareAwards.pdf 1st Filmfare Awards 1953 ] ]

* 1961 - Filmfare Best Actress Award, for a role in "Ganga Jamuna"

* 1961 - BFJA Award for Best Actress for her role in "Ganga Jamuna" [ [http://www.bfjaawards.com/legacy/pastwin/196225.htm 69th & 70th Annual Hero Honda BFJA Awards 2007 ] ]
* 1964 - Filmfare Best Actress Award, for a role in "Sangam"

* 1995 - Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award

* 2004 - "Legend of Indian Cinema" Award at Atlantic City (United States). [ [http://movies.indiainfo.com/newsbytes/devanand_112204.html Dev Anand, Prem Chopra honoured ] ]

* 2005 - Lifetime Achievement Award at the Bollywood Movie Awards [ [http://www.bollywoodawards.com Bollywood Awards | Bollywood Fashion Awards | Bollywood Music Awards ] ]

ee also

* List of Indian film actresses
-! colspan="3" style="background: #DAA520;" | Filmfare Award
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References

External links

*imdb name|id=0904537
* [http://www.upperstall.com/people/vyjayantimala.html Upperstall profile]
* [http://rediff.com/entertai/2002/may/06dinesh.htm Rediff profile]