Pushpalatha (1937 or 1938 – 4 February 2025) was an Indian actress, who worked predominantly in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

-, Telugu-,

Kannada Kannada () is a 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, and is additionally a ...

- and

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

-language films. She acted in heroine and character roles in more than 100 films. Her debut film was '' Sengottai Singam'', released in 1958. When Pushpalatha co-starred with A. V. M. Rajan in '' Naanum Oru Penn'', the two fell in love and got married. In 1964, she was a model for

Lux The lux (symbol: lx) is the unit of illuminance, or luminous flux per unit area, in the International System of Units (SI). It is equal to one lumen per square metre. In photometry, this is used as a measure of the irradiance, as perceived by ...

soap.

Early career

Pushpalatha's native home is Mettupalayam, Coimbatore. Her father sold brass and silver. She was born in a strict

Chettinad Chettinad (also known as Chettinadu) is a name that collectively refers to a locality that comprises 56 villages in the Sivaganga district and 20 villages in Pudukkottai district, Pudukottai district, which was historically ruled by the Ramnad ...

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

family. She was the fifth child out of 8 children. She completed

Bharatnatyam ''Bharatanatyam'' is a Indian classical dance form that came from Tamil Nadu, India. It is a classical dance form recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas of Hinduism and Jain ...

at the age of 9. In 1955, she had a cameo role in the movie ''

Nalla Thangai ''Nalla Thangai'' () is a 1955 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language Drama (film and television), drama film produced and directed by S. A. Natarajan. The film stars M. N. Nambiar, Madhuri Devi, Rajasulochana, S. A. Natarajan and T. S. Balaiah. ...

'', produced and directed by actor S. A. Natarajan.

Film career

She made her debut in the movie ''Konga Nattu Thangam'' (1962). Following that, she has acted as lead actress and supporting actress in more than one hundred films, such as '' Sarada'', '' Paar Magaley Paar'', '' Naanum Oru Penn'', '' Yarukku Sontham'', '' Thaaye Unakkaga'', '' Karpooram'', '' Jeevanaamsam'', '' Dharisanam'', Kalyanaraman, Sakalakalla Vallavan, '' Simla Special'', ''Puthu Vellam'' and ''Ammavum Neeye Appavum Neeye''. She has acted in several Telugu and Malayalam films. Pushpalatha produced two films. Both of them failed at the box office.

Personal life and death

AVM Rajan and Pushpalatha were one of the popular star couples in Tamil cinema. Pushpalatha was a Christian, while AVM Rajan was a fervent Hindu devoted to Lord Muruga. Pushpalatha produced two films. Both of the films failed. Pushpalatha financially suffered for that reason. The couple had two daughters, one of whom is

Mahalakshmi Lakshmi (; , , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, , ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of wealth, fortune, prosperity, beauty, fertility, sovereignty, and abundance. She along with Parvat ...

who has acted in some films. Their family has converted to Christianity, doing fulltime ministry today. Pushpalatha died on 4 February 2025, at the age of 87.Veteran actress Pushpalatha passes away at 87 due to health issues
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Partial filmography

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

References

External links

* {{IMDb name, 0701110 1930s births Year of birth uncertain 2025 deaths Actresses in Tamil cinema Indian film actresses 20th-century Indian actresses Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Malayalam cinema