T. V. Kumudini (13 October 1916 – 2000) was an Indian actress. She made her debut in the Tamil historical film '' Mathru Bhoomi'' in 1939, playing the lead role. She acted in over 100 films in various roles.

Early life

Kumudini's birth name was Kalyani Gandhimathi. She became well-known after playing the character "Kumudini" in the film '' Mathru Bhoomi'', and adopted that name as her stage name, changing it to T. V. Kumudini. She was born on 13 October 1916 in Aathankal, near

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

. Her father, Veeramani Iyer, passed away when she was four. She had one younger brother, Harikar Iyer. Kumudini began learning Carnatic music at a young age from Anantha Bhagavathar and Ayyachi Bhagavathar in Thiruvananthapuram. Her debut performance was at the Padmanabhaswamy Temple, where the King of Travancore honored her with a gold medal. Later, her family moved to

Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...

, where she married S. V. Venkateshwar Iyer at the age of 13 as his second wife. In her later years, she resided in "Kumudini Illam," a house in

Royapettah Royapettah is a neighbourhood of Chennai, India. Location Royapettah is located at the central part of the city of Chennai, with an elevation of 9 m (29 ft.) above mean sea level. The neighbourhood comes under Teynampet Zone (numbe ...

, Chennai.

Film career

While in Madurai, she recorded Carnatic beginner lessons with Nagaswami Bhagavathar for His Master's Voice. Following this, some of her solo songs were also released. One of her admirers, singer-actor T. R. Mahalingam, played a key role in introducing her to the film industry. Director H. M. Reddy and ALRM Productions cast her as the lead actress in their film '' Mathru Bhoomi'' after obtaining her husband's consent. Narayanan Nair trained her in sword fighting and horse riding for the role. The film was a major success, earning her recognition as T. V. Kumudini. She also sang two songs in the film: "Namadu Janma Bhoomi" and "Annaiyin Kaalil Vilankukalo." Her second film was ''

Ashok Kumar Ashok Kumar (born Kumudlal Ganguly; 13 October 1911 – 10 December 2001), was an Indian actor who attained iconic status in Indian cinema. He is regarded as one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema. He is considered to be the first Super-st ...

'', released in 1941, where she starred alongside Thyagaraja Bhagavathar. The film further solidified her popularity. She performed duets with Bhagavathar, including "Ullankavarum En Paavai" and "Kidaitha Vaalvidhile." Later, she was cast opposite

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 ...

in ''Saaya'' in 1941, but MGR was replaced by

P. U. Chinnappa Pudukottai Ulaganathan Chinnaswamy Pillai (5 May 1916 – 23 September 1951), popularly known as P. U. Chinnappa, was an Indian actor and playback singer during the 30s era from Pudukottai, India. He is also credited as one of the first major ...

, and the film was completed but never released. Kumudini acted in many other films, including ''Bhakta Kalathi'' (1945), ''Bhakta Jana'', and later in supporting roles such as in ''Auvaiyar (film)'' and ''

Vietnam Veedu ''Vietnam Veedu'' () is a 1970 Indian Tamil-language drama film, directed by P. Madhavan and written by Sundaram. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan and Padmini, with Nagesh, K. A. Thangavelu, Srikanth, M. Bhanumathi and Rama Prabha in supporti ...

''. Kumudini further honed her Carnatic skills with Subbu of Alandur and performed several concerts on All India Radio, earning accolades. She also acted in numerous stage dramas with prominent actors like T. S. Baliah,

V. S. Raghavan V S Raghavan (18 February 1925 – 24 January 2015) was an Indian actor, who has acted both in Tamil films as well as television. He started his career as a dramatist and stage actor and went on to act as a character actor in films, starting ...

, and

Sachu Saraswathi Sundaresan Iyer, professionally known as Kumari Sachu is an Indian actress who has acted in more than 500 films in five different languages and a few television serials. She is a character actress/comedienne who nonchalantly blended ...

. One notable play was ''Neerottam.'' She was also active in radio dramas during the 1940s.

Awards

The Tamil Nadu government honored her with the

Kalaimamani Award 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 o ...

. She also received titles such as Kalaiselvam, Sangeetha Jyothi, and Veera Vanithai. Kumudini was a committee member of the South Indian Actors' Association.

Death

T. V. Kumudini passed away in 2000 at the age of 84.

Filmography

* '' Mathru Bhoomi'' (1939) * ''

'' (1941) * ''Bhakta Kalathi'' (1945) * ''

Sri Murugan ''Sri Murugan'' is a 1946 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language film produced by Jupiter Pictures and directed by M. Somasundaram and V. S. Narayanan. The film featured Honnappa Bhagavathar in the lead role. M. G. Ramachandran performed a dance ...

'' (1946) * ''Sulochana'' (1947) * '' Sivandha Mann'' (1969){{fact, date=July 2025

References

External links

T. V. Kumuthini on IMDb
1916 births 2000 deaths Indian film actresses Indian playback singers Actresses in Tamil cinema Recipients of the Kalaimamani Award 20th-century Indian actresses