Vijaya Nirmala (born Nidudavolu Nirmala; 20 February 1946 – 27 June 2019) was an Indian actress, director, and producer known for her works predominantly in

Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, ...

along with a few

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

films. In a career spanning over six decades, she acted in more than 200 films and directed 44 films. In 2002, she entered the ''

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' as the female director who has directed the most number of

films A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

in the world. In 2008, she received the

Raghupathi Venkaiah Award The Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu Award is an award issued by the Indian state government of Andhra Pradesh, to recognise lifetime achievements in Telugu cinema. The award was introduced in 1981 in honour of Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu, a pioneer of ...

for lifetime achievement in Telugu cinema. Born as Nirmala, she ventured into acting as a child artist with films like ''

Macha Rekai ''Macha Rekai'' is a 1950 Indian Tamil-language film directed by P. Pullaiah and produced by T. R. Mahalingam. It is based on Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass' play of the same name. The film stars Mahalingam, S. Varalakshmi, Santha Kumari, B. R. Pan ...

'' (1950) and ''

Panduranga Mahatyam ''Panduranga Mahatyam'' () is a 1957 Indian Telugu-language biographical film, based on the life of Pundarika, produced by N. Trivikrama Rao under the National Art Theatres banner and directed by Kamalakara Kameswara Rao. It stars N. T. Ram ...

'' (1957). She debuted as a lead actress in the 1964 Malayalam film ''

Bhargavi Nilayam ''Bhargavi Nilayam'' () is a 1964 Indian Malayalam-language romantic horror film directed by A. Vincent (in his directorial debut) and written by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer based on his own short story ''Neela Velicham''. The film stars Madhu, Vi ...

'' which became one of the biggest hits of that year. She then acted in the Tamil film '' Enga Veettu Penn'' (1965) produced by Vijaya Productions. She added Vijaya to her name as a mark of gratitude to the production house that gave her a break as an artiste. She debuted as a leading lady in Telugu with '' Rangula Ratnam'' (1966). She made her directorial debut in Telugu with ''Meena'' (1973) and went on to direct over 44 films. She acted with her husband

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is on ...

in over 40 films from '' Sakshi'' (1967) to '' Sri Sri'' (2016) and the duo was considered as a hit pair. She launched her own production house – Vijaya Krishna Movies and went onto produce 15 films on the banner. She also handled the operations of

Padmalaya Studios Padmalaya Studios is an Indian film production and distribution company established by actor Krishna and his brothers. Based in Hyderabad it mainly produces and distributes Telugu and Hindi films. The studio currently operates through its succes ...

and Padmalaya Tele Films. Her son Naresh is also a noted actor in

Early life

She was born as Nidudavolu Nirmala on 20 February 1946 into a

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

family settled in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

who were originally from Narasaraopet. Her father was a film producer. Her paternal uncle is scholar and literary historian,

Nidudavolu Venkatarao Nidudavolu Venkatarao (3 January 1903 – 15 October 1982) was an Indian littérateur, and historian in the Telugu language. He was regarded as "Jangama Vijnanasvarasvam" in Telugu ("Moving encyclopedia"). Venatrao was a Lecturer, Reader and He ...

. Actress

Jayasudha Jayasudha Kapoor (born Sujatha Nidudavolu) is an Indian actress and politician known for her works predominantly in Telugu cinema. She has also worked in few Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi films. Known as natural actress, she received fiv ...

is Venkatrao's granddaughter while singer Raavu Balasaraswathi is her paternal aunt's daughter.

Personal life

Vijaya Nirmala was married to Krishna Murthy and had a son Naresh, who is also an actor. She later married actor

Career

Vijaya Nirmala entered cinema as a child artist with the Tamil movie ''

'' (1950). At age eleven, she debuted in Telugu films with '' Panduranga Mahatmyam'' (1957). In 1964, she starred opposite

Prem Nazir Prem Nazir (born Abdul Khader; 7 April 1926 – 16 January 1989) was an Indian actor known as one of Malayalam cinema's definitive leading men of his generation. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential actors in the history of India ...

and rose to stardom with the Malayalam film ''

''. Also, in 1967, she starred again opposite

in '' Udhyogastha'', by

P. Venu P. Venu (8 November 1940 – 25 May 2011), was an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, and lyricist with over 20 films to his name.His directorial venture Udhyogastha in 1967 was the first-ever multi-star cast film of the south Indi ...

. She debuted in the Telugu industry in the film '' Rangula Ratnam'' (1966). Her first film in

was '' Enga Veettu Penn'' (1965), which was followed by ''

Panama Pasama ''Panama Pasama'' () is a 1968 Indian Tamil-language drama film, directed and produced by K. S. Gopalakrishnan. The film stars Gemini Ganesan and B. Saroja Devi. It was released on 23 February 1968, and had a theatrical run of over 140 days ...

'' (1968), ''

Uyira Maanama ''Uyira Maanama'' () is a 1968 Indian Tamil-language film written and directed by K. S. Gopalakrishnan. The film stars Jaishankar, Vijaya Nirmala, R. Muthuraman and Krishna Kumari. It was released on 21 October 1968 (Diwali day), and was comm ...

'' (1968), ''

En Annan ''En Annan'' (), is a 1970 Indian Tamil-language crime thriller film, directed by P. Neelakantan, starring M. G. Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa. The film is a remake of the Telugu film '' Poola Rangadu'' (1967), which itself was loosely based ...

'' (1970), and ''

Gnana Oli ''Gnana Oli'' () is a 1972 Indian Tamil language film, directed by P. Madhavan and written by Vietnam Veedu Sundaram, starring Sivaji Ganesan. It is a loose adaptation of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel '' Les Miserables''. This film was remade in H ...

'' (1972). She met her second husband Krishna on the sets of '' Sakshi'' (1967), her second film in Telugu, and they starred together in 47 films. It was ''Sakshi'' that kindled her interest in direction. She has acted in over 200 films with 25 each in Malayalam and Tamil, and the remaining in Telugu. Her small screen debut came with Balaji Telefilms' ''Pelli Kanuka''. Soon after, she launched her own banner Vijaya Krishna Movies and produced 15 films. She added Vijaya to her name as a gratitude to the production house. She made her directorial debut with a Malayalam film on a budget of 3 lakhs. She made her directorial debut in Telugu with ''Meena'' and directed 40 films in

and one film each in Malayalam (directorial debut film) and Tamil (''Kungumachimizh''). The actress-director was based in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...

and managed

and Padmalaya Telefilms Ltd.

Selected filmography

Telugu

Malayalam

Tamil

Director

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nirmala, Vijaya 2019 deaths Telugu film directors Indian women film directors Nandi Award winners Actresses in Malayalam cinema Indian film actresses 1946 births Film producers from Tamil Nadu Malayalam film directors 20th-century Indian film directors Film directors from Tamil Nadu 21st-century Indian film directors Actresses in Telugu cinema 20th-century Indian actresses Actresses from Tamil Nadu Women artists from Tamil Nadu Actresses in Tamil cinema