Kambayanatham Rangaswami Kanakavalli (born 1918), known professionally as K. R. Chellam, was an Indian actress who appeared in

Tamil language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Pud ...

films.

Early life

Kambayanatham Rangaswami Kanakavalli was born in 1918 to a middle-class

Iyengar Iyengar (also spelt Ayyangar or Aiyengar, pronounced ) refers to the name of an ethnoreligious community of Tamil-speaking Hindu Brahmins, whose members follow Sri Vaishnavism and the Visishtadvaita philosophy propounded by Ramanuja. Found ...

family in

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the ...

. She lost her mother at an early age, so her father Rangaswami, a lawyer, raised her along with her two siblings. Chellam, as she was informally known, dropped out of school early, and married a

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the '' de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the sec ...

-based insurance salesman, later settling there with him. This marriage resulted in two daughters. After the family incurred financial losses due to the insurance salesman's mismanagement, they went to

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...

almost penniless.

Career

Kanakavalli made her film debut with a minor role in ''Kausalya'' (1935) to support her family financially. As cinema was considered taboo in India at that time and she did not want her acquaintances to know she was in that profession, she chose her nickname Chellam as her stage name, though her family ultimately learned the truth. The film became a box office bomb and its production company closed, forcing Chellam to continue as an actress to stay afloat. With help from actress T. N. Meenakshi, she was cast in a bigger role in '' Madras Mail'' (1936). This film performed well and got Chellam noticed, resulting in her being cast in ''

Balayogini ''Balayogini'' ( ''Girl Saint'') is a 1937 Indian film made in Tamil and Telugu languages. It was directed by K. Subramanyam. It is one of the earliest Tamil films to be set in a contemporary social setting and to advocate reformist social polic ...

'' (1937), also a success. Her next film ''

Vanaraja Karzan ''Vanaraja Karzan'' () is a 1938 Indian Tamil-language action adventure film directed by Homi Wadia and Nari Ghadiali. The film stars John Cawas and K. R. Chellam. It is the first Tamil film based on the character Tarzan, the first Tamil film to ...

'' (1938) received significant media attention because she wore a revealing outfit. '' Adrishtam'' (1939), in which she played a lawyer, established her as an actress of "high merit". Her last film was ''

Pattaliyin Vetri ''Nammina Bantu'' () is a 1960 Indian Telugu-language drama film produced by Yarlagadda Venkanna Chowdary under Sambhu Films and directed by Adurthi Subba Rao. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, S. V. Ranga Rao, and Savitri, with music jointly c ...

'' (1960). As of September 1990, Chellam was living in Madras with one of her daughters being a doctor.

Filmography

References

External links

*{{IMDb name Actresses in Tamil cinema 1918 births