Pandari Bai (18 September 1928 – 29 January 2003) was an Indian actress who worked in

South Indian cinema Cinema of South India, refers to the cinema of the four major film industries in South India; primarily engaged in making feature films in the four major Dravidian languages of the region, namely Telugu cinema, Telugu, Tamil Cinema, Tamil, Ma ...

, mostly in

Kannada cinema Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. Kannada cinema is based in Gandhi Nagar ...

during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. She is considered Kannada cinema's first successful heroine. She has acted as both heroine and mother to stalwarts such as Rajkumar,

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 – 24 December 1987), popularly known by his initialism M.G.R. and as Makkal Thilagam/Puratchi Thalaivar, was an Indian actor, politician, and philanthropist who served as the chief minister of ...

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

. She was the heroine in Rajkumar's debut movie '' Bedara Kannappa'' and also Sivaji's debut movie '' Parasakthi''. She has acted in over 1,000 films in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. Bai was honoured by

Kalaimamani The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the ''Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram'' (literature, music and theatre), a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government ...

from the Tamil Nadu government.

Career

Pandaribai began her career in acting in plays based on mythological stories before making her film debut in 1943 with the

Kannada language Kannada () is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, an ...

film, ''

Vani Vani ( ka, ვანი ) is a town in Imereti region of a western Georgia (country), Georgia, at the Sulori river (a tributary of the Rioni river), 41 km southwest from the regional capital Kutaisi. The town, with a population of 3,744 as of 201 ...

''. She appeared in the 1954 Kannada film '' Bedara Kannappa'' opposite Rajkumar. In the film, she played Neela, wife of Kanna (played by Rajkumar), a hunter. She established herself as a lead actress portraying a woman with a "progressive" image assuming the burdens of a feudal patriarchy in films such as ''Sant Sakhu'' (1955) and ''

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 Dr. Rajkumar, Rajkumar, Kalyan Kumar, Mynavathi, H. R. Shastry, H. Ramachandra Shastry, Pandari Bai and ...

'' (1957). In 1959, she appeared in '' Abba Aa Hudugi'', with her sister

Mynavathi Mynavathi (26 July 1935 – 10 November 2012) was an Indian actress. She made her first screen appearance as an actor in the 1955 Kannada film ''Santa Sakhu'' and acted in over 100 Kannada films. She was the younger sister of another popular Ka ...

. The film is considered a landmark in Kannada cinema. Later in her career Pandari Bai played the mother of stars older than her, most of whom had played the lead with her in her earlier years.

Awards and honours

* The lesson ''"Gunasagari Pandari Bai"'' is added to the class IX Kannada Language Textbook in Karnataka state to honour the legendary actress. * 2001 - Filmfare Awards South - Lifetime Achievement Award * 1994–95 - Dr. Rajkumar Lifetime Achievement Award from

Karnataka Government The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as GoK or GoKA, formerly known as Government of Mysore (1956–1974), is a democratically elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka. ...

* 1968–69 - Karnataka State Film Award for Best Supporting Actress -

Namma Makkalu ''Namma Makkalu'' ( ) is a 1969 Indian Kannada film, directed by R. Nagendra Rao and produced by Harini. The film stars Chandrashekar, K. S. Ashwath, Pandari Bai, KM Jayashree, and Amarnath in the lead roles. The film has musical score by V ...

* 1967–68 - Karnataka State Film Award for Best Supporting Actress - Belli Moda * 1965 - Kalaimamani Award from Tamil Nadu Government

Filmography

References

External links

*
Potpourri of titbits about Pandari Bai
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bai, Pandari Actresses from Karnataka Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema 1928 births 2003 deaths Kannada actresses Actresses in Tamil cinema Indian film actresses 20th-century Indian actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners People from Uttara Kannada