T. P. Muthulakshmi (Native name: தமிழ்: டி. பி. முத்துலட்சுமி) was an Indian actress who was active from the 1950 to 1969. She was a prominent lead

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term ori ...

actress during the early 1950s in Tamil films. She has acted in around 350 movies 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 ...

. Her debut film was '' Ponmudi'' in 1950, directed by

Ellis R. Dungan Ellis Roderick Dungan (May 11, 1909 – December 1, 2001) was an American film director, who was well known for working in Indian films, predominantly in Tamil cinema, from 1936 to 1950. He was an alumnus of the University of Southern Californ ...

Early life

Muthulakshmi was born in 1931 to Ponnaiyapandiyan and Shanmugathammal at

Thoothukudi Thoothukudi (formerly Tuticorin) is a port city, a municipal corporation and an industrial city in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The city lies in the Coromandel Coast of Bay of Bengal. Thoothukudi is the capital an ...

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including th ...

(now in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

). She studied up to eighth grade and while studying she desired to learn

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. It is o ...

and Classical dance and enter the film industry. She confirmed that she would be a cinema actress. 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 ...

, her uncle M. Perumal worked as a dancer at the director of the film K. Subramaniyam. With his help she decided to enter the film industry. With the help of Perumal, Muthulakshmi got the chance to be in the mural dance of ''

Chandralekha Chandralekha may refer to: Films * ''Chandralekha'' (1948 film), an Indian Tamil film directed and produced by S. S. Vasan starring M. K. Radha * ''Chandralekha'' (1995 film), an Indian Tamil film directed by Nambirajan starring Vijay * ''Chandra ...

'' (1948). Muthulakshmi played the dance scene with a large number of women participants and danced with

T. R. Rajakumari Thanjavur Radhakrishnan Rajayee (5 May 1922 – 20 September 1999), known by her screen name T. R. Rajakumari, was an Indian actress, Carnatic singer and dancer. She has been called the first "dream girl" of Tamil cinema. Film career Ra ...

in some scenes. She worked for a few months at a salary of 65 rupees at Gemini Studio.

Career

After ''Mahabahli Chakravarthi'', she starred in minor roles in films such as ''Minmini'', ''Deethwa Manohari'' and ''Parijatham''. In 1950, she appeared in a comedy role in '' Ponmudi'' produced by Modern Theatres, which made a big turn in Muthulakshmi's career. In '' Or Iravu'' (1951), with screenplay written by C. N. Annadurai and produced by

AVM Productions AVM Productions is an Indian film production studio founded by A. V. Meiyappan. It is the final oldest survived studio in India. The filming studios are located in Vadapalani, Chennai. It has produced over 300 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, ...

, she played K. R. Ramasamy's wife Bhavani. In ''

Thirumbi Paar Thirumbi Paar may refer to: * ''Thirumbi Paar'' (1953 film), a Tamil language film * ''Thirumbi Paar'' (1996 film), a Tamil comedy-drama film {{disambiguation ...

'' (1953), she played a dumb woman. Muthulakshmi was paired with

K. A. Thangavelu Karaikal Arunachalam Thangavelu (15 January 1917 – 28 September 1994) popularly known as "Danaal Thangavelu", was an Indian actor and comedian popular in the 1950s to 1970s. Not known for physical, acrobatic comedy like his contemporarie ...

Kaka Radhakrishnan T. V. Radhakrishnan, better known as Kaka Radhakrishnan ( – 14 June 2012) was an Indian actor who acted in Tamil language films from the year 1940. He is also notable for having introduced his childhood friend, Sivaji Ganesan, into films. Car ...

A. Karunanidhi A. Karunanidhi ( Tamil : கருணாநிதி) was an Indian actor and comedian who featured mainly in Tamil-language films. He was active in the field from 1948 till 1978. Though he was a comedian, the roles he played in some of the film ...

J. P. Chandra Babu Joseph Panimayadas Chandrababu Rodriguez (1927–1974) was an Indian actor, comedian, director, singer and dancer, whose Chaplinesque-style on-screen movements and singing style made him popular from the late 1940s to the early 1970s. He had ...

T. R. Ramachandran Thirukampuliyur Ranga Ramachandran (9 January 1917 – 30 November 1990) was an Indian actor and comedian who acted mainly in Tamil films. He was cast mostly in lead or supportive roles, especially in comical parts, from the 1940s to the 1960s. Kn ...

Major Sundarrajan Srinivasan Sundarrajan (17 March 1925 – 28 February 2003), popularly known as Major Sundarrajan, was an Indian actor and director who performed predominantly in Tamil language films and plays. He was well known for his sophisticated and ...

, S. Rama Rao, and M. R. Radha.

Personal life

Muthulakshmi married P. K. Muthuramalingam in 1958, he was supervisor of the state agency. Chairman of the Tamil Nadu Peninsula Institute. She was Sister in law of famous director

T. P. Gajendran T. P. Gajendran (1955 – 5 February 2023) was an Indian film director and actor who played minor roles. He directed more than 15 films and acted in more than 100 films. He was the son of Tuticorin MR.Perumal. Actress T. P. Muthulakshmi, his s ...

. She died on 29 May 2008, having suffered ill health and being hospitalised in Vijaya hospital, then she was shifted to home. She spent one month at home with proper medical care. Her body was cremated in Nungamabakkam, Chennai.

Filmography

She has acted in around 350 movies in Tamil films.

1940s

1950s

1960s

References

External links

* *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muthulakshmi, T. P. 1931 births 2008 deaths Tamil actresses Indian film actresses 20th-century Indian actresses People from Thoothukudi Actresses from Tamil Nadu