M. V. Rajamma (10 March 1918 – 23 April 1999) was an Indian actress, producer and playback singer of films mostly in

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

, Tamil and Telugu languages from the 1930s through 1970s. She has the distinction of having acted as both heroine and mother to stalwart South Indian actors such as Dr. Rajkumar,

Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Ga ...

, MGR and NTR.

Karnataka Government The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as, GoK, or simply Karnataka Government, is a democratically-elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka. The governor who is appointed ...

established ''M. V. Rajamma Award'' in her honor. Making her debut as a lead actress in the 1936 released ''

Samsara Nauka ''Samsara Nauke'' ( kn, ಸಂಸಾರ ನೌಕ) is a 1936 Indian Kannada language social drama film directed by H. L. N. Simha and produced by K. Nanjappa. This film was the fourth sound film produced in Kannada cinema and the first melodram ...

'' Rajamma enjoyed an elaborate career in feature films across South India. She was the first and foremost woman producer in South India and in Kannada films. She produced the film ''

Radha Ramana Radha Ramana (Devanagari: राधा रमण, IAST: rādhā ramaṇa) (or Radharaman) is a famous image of Radha Krishna worshiped in Hinduism. There is a famous temple of this deity in Vrindavana, Uttar Pradesh, India. Name This name of Kr ...

'' in 1943 under her own home banner Vijaya Films. Her entry to the Tamil films was through the 1940 classic hit film '' Uthama Puthiran''. She went on to star in about 60 Kannada, 80 Tamil, 20 Telugu and one Hindi films in her career spanning around four decades.

Early life

Rajamma was born in 1921 at Agandanahalli, a village in today's Bangalore Urban district, hitherto a part of Kingdom of Mysore. Her father Nanjappa, a merchant, was fond of

stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...

and encouraged her to act. Rajamma joined the theatre group Chandrakala Nataka Mandali as a teenager and performed in plays alongside

B. R. Panthulu Budaguru Ramakrishnaiah Panthulu (26 July 1910 – 8 October 1974) was an Indian film director, producer and actor. He is best known for directing films in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. His most popular films are '' Karnan'', ''Veerapandiya ...

, who she would go on to collaborate frequently on stage and in films. She did her schooling at the Arya Balika school in Bangalore till the 8th grade. She later shifted base to Chennai for doing films.

Career

In the early 1930s, Rajamma was attracted to the stage theatre and entered the field at a time when male actors disguised themselves to play female characters. Rajamma enacted several inspiring roles in dramas such as ''Samsara Nauke'', ''Gauthama Buddha'' and ''Subhadra''. In 1935, when one of her stage plays ''Samsara Nauke'' was made into a film, she was cast again as the lead actress opposite to Panthulu. They went on to work together in many films for about 20 years. In 1940, she entered Tamil film industry in Chennai with the film '' Uthama Puthiran''. From then on, she became one of the most sought after actresses across all the South Indian film industries. After her marriage, she concentrated mainly on playing motherly roles to the actors whom she had paired as a heroine earlier. In 1943, Rajamma took her career to another level by producing the Kannada film ''

'' directed by Jyothish Sinha that featured herself opposite B. R. Panthulu in the lead. Acclaimed artists such as

Balakrishna Bala Krishna ( sa, बाल कृष्ण, lit=child Krishna/divine child Krishna, translit=Bālakṛṣṇa). Present day Krishna worship is an amalgam of various elements. According to historical testimonies Krishna-Vasudeva worship alread ...

and G. V. Iyer were introduced through this film. It went on to perform well at the box-office which resulted in her second production venture ''

Makkala Rajya ''Kuzhandhaigal Kanda Kudiyarasu'' () is a 1960 Indian Tamil language film, directed by B. R. Panthulu. The film stars Panthulu, M. V. Rajamma, K. Sarangapani and Javar Seetharaman. The film had musical score by T. G. Lingappa. It was simul ...

'' (1960). Though the film was lauded by the critics, the box-office collections soared which made her back off from film production for a long while. However, she went on to star in many box-office blockbusters in both Kannada and Tamil film industries. Some of the most popular Kannada films featuring Rajamma as a lead actress were '' Bhakta Prahalada'' (1942), '' Rathnagiri Rahasya'' (1957), '' School Master'' (1958), '' Abba Aa Hudugi'' (1959) among others.

Awards

* 1997-98 - Dr. Rajkumar Lifetime Achievement Award by the

Selected filmography

References

External links

*
Potpourri of titbits about M. V. Rajamma
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajamma, M. V. 1921 births 1999 deaths Actresses from Karnataka Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema Indian film actresses Kannada playback singers 20th-century Indian actresses Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners Indian women film producers Film producers from Karnataka Kannada film producers Indian women songwriters People from Bangalore Rural district 20th-century Indian singers Women musicians from Karnataka Singers from Karnataka 20th-century Indian women singers Film musicians from Karnataka Businesswomen from Karnataka 20th-century Indian businesspeople 20th-century Indian businesswomen