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Vyajayantimala

Vyjayanthimala Bali (born on 13 August 1936, in present day Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India) is an 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 in a Tamil Brahmin family; she did her schooling at Sacred Heart Church Park Convent, Chennai. She trained in Bharatnatyam, a South Indian genre of classical dancing.

Career

Early career

At the age of 5, Vyjayanthimala got the rare chance of performing a dance before the Pope. At age 15, she got a break in AVM Productions 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 Sadhna’ 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.)

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.

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.

Personal life

Vyjayanthimala married Dr. Chamanlal Bali. After marriage, she terminated her acting career and moved to Chennai. She has a son, Suchindra Bali, by Dr. Bali. After she moved to Chennai, she entered politics as a member of the Lok Sabha (lower house). Later, she was nominated as a member of the Rajya Sabha (upper house). In 2007, she published her autobiography, titled Bonding, with Jyoti Sabarwal as co-writer.

Filmography

• Nagin (1954)
• Devdas (1955)
• New Delhi (1956)
• Aasha (1957)
• Naya Daur (1957)
• Madhumati (1958)
• Paigham (1959)
• Aas Ka Panchhi (1961)
• Ganga Jamuna (1961)
• Nazrana (1961)
• Leader (1964)
• Sangam (1964)
• Zindagi (1964)
• Amrapali (1966)
• Suraj (1966)
• Jewel Thief (1967)
• Sunghursh (1968)
• Duniya
• Prince (1969)
• Ganwaar (1970)

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.)

• 1958 – Filmfare Best Actress Award, for a role in Madhumati

• 1958 – Filmfare Nomination for Best Actress, for a role in Sadhna’

• 1961 – Filmfare Best Actress Award, for a role in Ganga Jamuna

• 1961 – BFJA Award for Best Actress for her role in Ganga Jamuna

• 1964 – Filmfare Best Actress Award, for a role in Sangam

• 1968 – Padma Shri Award

• 1982 – Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, 1982 for Bharatanatyam

• 1996 – Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award

• 2004 – “Legend of Indian Cinema” Award at Atlantic City (United States).

• 2005 – Lifetime Achievement Award at the Bollywood Movie Awards

See also

• List of Indian film actresses

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