Padmini Priyadarshini (later Padmini Ramachandran) was an Indian actor, dancer and choreographer. She acted in supporting roles during the 1950s and 1960s in Tamil, Kannada and Hindi films. She established a dancing school in Bangalore named ''Natya Priya'' and trained students in dancing. In 2013, she received

Shantala Natya Sri Award The Shantala Natya Sri Award is an award given every year by the Government of Karnataka to dancers in recognition of their contributions in the field of classical dance. Santala, the queen of Vishnuvardhana, the Hoysala king, was a dancer who ...

from Karnataka Government.

Personal life

Born in

Mavelikkara Mavelikkara is a taluk and municipality in the '' Onattukara'' region of Alappuzha district in the Indian state of Kerala. Located in the southern part of the district on the banks of the Achankovil River. Etymology The name Mavelikar ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South C ...

, she was brought up in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of ...

. She learned dancing from Vazhuvoor B. Ramaiyah Pillai. Padmini Priyadarshini was married to Ramachandran from

Thalassery Thalassery (), formerly Tellicherry, is a municipality, Commercial City on the Malabar Coast in Kannur district, in the state of Kerala, India, bordered by the districts of Mahé (Pondicherry), Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kasaragod and Kodagu (Kar ...

and the couple had 3 sons and 1 daughter.

Career

She established a dancing school in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. She has performed dance concerts with her students in countries like

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. She was appointed as its Head when Karnataka government formed the 'Education Board'.

Notable films

* ''

Sahodhari ''Sahodari'' (also written as ''Sahodhari'') () is a 1959 Indian Tamil language film directed by A. Bhimsingh, starring K. Balaji, Rajasulochana, Prem Nazir, Devika and J. P. Chandrababu. It was released on 11 December 1959. Plot Pazhani has ...

'' (1959) *'' Paadha Kaanikkai'' (1962) * ''

Life of Pi ''Life of Pi'' is a Canadian philosophical novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist is Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry, India who explores issues of spirituality and metaphysics from an early age. He ...

'' (2012)

Partial filmography

(in Alphabetical order)

English and French

Life of Pi (film) ''Life of Pi'' is a 2012 adventure-drama film directed and produced by Ang Lee and written by David Magee. Based on Yann Martel's 2001 novel of the same name, it stars Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Rafe Spall, Tabu and Adil Hussain in lead r ...

Hindi

# '' Dil Hi To Hai'' # ''

Do Behnen Do, DO or D.O. may refer to: Languages * The English verb, ''do'', which may serve as an auxiliary verb; see do-support * ''Do'' (kana), a mora symbol in Japanese writing * Ditto mark People * Đỗ, a Vietnamese surname * Do (surname), includes ...

'' (1959)

Kannada

# '' Bettada Kalla'' # '' Bhakta Markandeya'' # '' Jagajyothi Basveshwara'' # ''

Rayara Sose ''Rayara Sose'' is a 1957 Indian Kannada-language film produced by Pandari Bai and directed by R. Ramamurthy and K. S. Murthy. It stars Rajkumar, Kalyan Kumar, Mynavathi, H. Ramachandra Shastry, Pandari Bai and Ramadevi. The music of the film ...

Tamil

# '' Annaiyin Aanai'' (Dancer) # '' Baghdad Thirudan'' # '' Bhaktha Markandeya'' (Dancer - Pazhanimalaiyaanai) # ''

Deiva Balam ''Deiva Balam'' () is a 1959 Indian Tamil-language film directed by P. Vasanthakumar Reddy. The film stars K. Balaji and Jayashree. This film is partly coloured by Gevacolor. Plot Cast The following list is compiled from the database of ...

'' # '' Iru Sagodharigal'' (Dancer) # '' Iruvar Ullam'' # '' Kuravanji'' (Dancer) # ''

Maalaiyitta Mangai ''Maalaiyitta Mangai'' () is a 1958 Indian Tamil-language film directed by G. R. Nathan and produced by Kannadasan under his own production company Kannadasan Films. The film's soundtrack was composed by Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy. The film sta ...

'' # '' Nenjam Marappathillai'' # '' Paadha Kaanikkai'' # ''

Petra Manam ''Petra Manam'' () is a 1960 Indian Tamil-language film directed by A. Bhimsingh and produced by National Pictures. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Pushpavalli, S. S. Rajendran and Padmini. It is the Tamil version of the 1953 Telugu film ''P ...

'' # '' Rathinapuri Ilavarasi'' # ''

'' # ''

Thamarai Kulam ''Thamarai Kulam'' () is a 1959 Indian Tamil language film directed by Muktha Srinivasan, written by S. R. Natarajan and produced by him along with S. R. Veerabahu. It features Sowcar Janaki, V. Gopalakrishnan, M. R. Radha, N. N. Kannappa, ...

'' # '' Then Nilavu'' # '' Vidivelli'' # '' Bhaaga Pirivinai''

Telugu

# '' Kalasi Vunte Kaladu Sukham'' (Dancer) # '' Nartanasala'' (

Urvashi Urvashi ( sa, उर्वशी, Urvaśī}) is the most prominent apsara (celestial nymph) in Hindu mythology, considered to be the most beautiful of all the apsaras, and an expert dancer. She is mentioned in both ''Vedic'' and '' Puranic'' s ...

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Priyadarshini, Padmini Actresses in Kannada cinema Kannada actresses Actresses in Tamil cinema Indian film actresses 20th-century Indian actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema