Ratnamala (born as Kamal Bhiwandkar; 1924 – 24 January 1989) was an Indian film actress. She known for her roles in

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

films, particularly for portraying

Dada Kondke Krishna "Dada" Kondke (Marathi pronunciation: ̪aːd̪a koːɳɖke 8 August 1932 – 14 March 1998) was an Indian actor and film producer. He was one of the most renowned personalities in Marathi film industry, famous for his double entendre ...

's mother consistently throughout her films, earned the special title of "Dada Kondke's mother."

Career

In 1938, at the age of fourteen, she starred in the Marathi film ''Bhagwa Zenda'' under the screen name Kamal Bhiwandkar, which was later changed to Ratnamala. Afterward, she assumed the role of the protagonist for the first time in the film ''Mazi Ladki'' (1939). Therefore, "Station Master" marked her debut in

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

. Some of her famous major Marathi films are as follows. ''Rukhmini Swayamvar'' (1946), ''Maza Ram'' (1949), ''Gokulcha Raja'' (1950), ''Ramram Pavana'' (1950), '' Sangatye Aika'' (1959), '' Manini'' (1961), ''Kortachi Payari'' (1970), ''Rangapanchami'' (1961), ''Kali Baiko'' (1970), '' Mumbaicha Jawai'' (1970) Ratnamala debuted as Dada Kondke's on-screen mother in his first Marathi film, '' Songadya'' in 1971. Following that, she reprised the role in subsequent films such as ''

Ekta Jeev Sadashiv ''Ekta Jeev Sadashiv'' is a 1972 Indian Marathi-language comedy drama film directed by Govind Kulkarni, starring Dada Kondke and Usha Chavan as leads. It was remade in Hindi as ''Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rehta Hain,'' which was released in 2000. The ...

'' (1972), ''Harya Narya Zindabad'' (1972), ''Thapadya'' (1973), '' Pandu Havaldar'' (1975), ''Preet Tuzhi Majhi'' (1975), ''

Ram Ram Gangaram ''Ram Ram Gangaram'' is a 1977 Indian Marathi-language drama film directed and produced by Dada Kondke under the banner of Dada Kondke Productions. It stars Kondke himself with Usha Chavan, Ashok Saraf and Anjana Mumtaz. The music is composed by ...

'' (1977), ''Bot Laveen Tith Gudgulya'' (1978), ''Lakshmi'' (1978), ''Hyoch Navra Pahije'' (1980), ''Aali Angavar'' (1982), ''Navre Sagle Gadhav'' (1982), ''Dhagala Lagli Kal'' (1985), and ''Muka Ghya Muka'' (1987).

Personal life

Ratnamala was married to Raja Pandit.

Death

Ratnamala died on 23 January 1989.

References

External links

* {{IMDb name, id=0711832 Indian actresses 1924 births 1989 deaths Marathi actresses Actresses in Marathi cinema Actresses in Hindi cinema