Kundrathur L. V. Vasantha (1923–2008) was an Indian actress, singer and dancer who worked mainly in

Tamil language Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world,. "Tamil is one of ...

films.

Biography

Vasantha was born in 1923 in

Kundrathur Kundrathur is a suburb located in the Chennai Metropolitan Area and the headquarters of Kundrathur taluk in Kanchipuram District. It is the birthplace of Sekkizhar, a well-known poet-saint who authored the Periyapuranam. Gerugampakkam, Iran ...

, then based in

Ramanathapuram district Ramanathapuram District, also known as Ramnad District, is one of the 38 administrative districts of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The old Ramanathapuram District consists of Present day Virudhunagar and Sivagangai districts, it touches th ...

. As a young girl, she was actively involved in singing and dancing. According to actress S. D. Subbulakshmi, Vasantha played in a minor, uncredited role in ''

Pavalakkodi Pavalakkodi may refer to: *Pavalakkodi (1934 film), a Tamil language Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the ...

'' (1934). After becoming a teenager, she appeared in B. N. Rao's ''Rambaiyin Kaathal'' (1939), a box-office success that catapulted Vasantha into stardom. Rao later cast her in ''Bhooloka Ramba'' (1940), also a hit. When

Gemini Studios Gemini Studios was an Indian film studio based in Madras, Tamil Nadu. It was launched when S. S. Vasan, a businessman of many ventures (including the ownership of Ananda Vikatan) bought Motion Picture Producers' Combines from Krishnaswamy Su ...

opened in 1941, Vasantha portrayed the lead female character in its debut production '' Madanakamarajan'', financed by Gemini founder

S. S. Vasan Subramaniam Srinivasan (4 January 1904 – 26 August 1969), popularly known by his screen name S. S. Vasan, was an Indian journalist, writer, advertiser, film producer, director and business tycoon. He is the founder of the Tamil-language maga ...

. The success of this film further enhanced Vasantha's reputation. When Vasan planned '' Chandralekha'' in 1943, he announced that Vasantha would star as the lead female, but she was eventually replaced by T. R. Rajakumari. Vasantha shifted to Salem where she joined T. R. Sundaram's

Modern Theatres Modern Theaters Ltd was an Indian film studio in Salem, Tamil Nadu started by T. R. Sundaram Mudaliar in 1935. The studio produced over more than 150 films until 1982 in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Sinhalese and even English ...

, and played the female lead in many of Sundaram's films such as ''Rajarajeswari'' (1944), '' Burma Rani'' (1945) and ''Sulochana'' (1947). Vasantha was already an accomplished dancer and singer, so she did both in most of her films. Her dance-drama sequence in ''Madanakamarajan'' became notable. In 1946, she played the lead roles in two Modern Theatres films: the Wahab Kashmiri-directed ''Chitra'' which was not successful, and ''Subhadhra''. After acting in a few more films, she returned to

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

(then known as Madras) and lived there till her death in 2008.

Personal life

Vasantha was separately married to producer K. K. Vasu, and Sundaram.

Partial filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vasantha, K L V 1923 births 2008 deaths Indian film actresses Indian female dancers Actresses in Tamil cinema Indian women playback singers Tamil playback singers People from Ramanathapuram district Singers from Tamil Nadu Dancers from Tamil Nadu 20th-century Indian singers 20th-century Indian dancers 20th-century Indian actresses 20th-century Indian women singers Women artists from Tamil Nadu