Vennira Aadai Nirmala (born as A. B. Shanthi in

Kumbakonam Kumbakonam (formerly spelt as Coombaconum or Combaconum), or Kudanthai, is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the States of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Chennai and is the hea ...

) is an Indian actress who has appeared in Tamil,

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 ...

and Telugu films. She was a prominent lead actress from 1960s and 70s. She is credited as Ushakumari in Malayalam film industry.

Personal life

She was born as Shanthi to Aranmanai L Balakrishnan and Rukmani at

in a Saurashtra family. She had four siblings. She remains unmarried.

Acting career

Debuting through C. V. Sridhar's '' Vennira Aadai'' in 1965, she has acted as lead roles in over 400+ films encompassing four languages - Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu & Kannada. Her screen name in Malayalam films was 'Usha Kumari' In addition to her acting career, Nirmala is a trained

Bharatanatyam ''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 Jainism.< ...

dancer. She acted in the TV series - Deivamagal.

Political career

M. G. Ramachandran had adopted her as his sister and wanted to be his heir in politics. However, she refused. MGR had nominated her to the

Tamil Nadu Legislative Council Tamil Nadu Legislative Council was the upper house of the former bicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It began its existence as Madras Legislative Council, the first provincial legislature for Madras Presidency. It was initia ...

. Her swearing in ceremony was scheduled for 23 April 1986. Nirmala had earlier declared insolvency and according to Article 102-(1)(c) of the Indian Constitution, an insolvent person cannot serve as a member of parliament or state legislature. This annulment made Nirmala's nomination valid and the writ petition against it was dismissed. However, Nirmala withdrew her nomination to the council. Miffed with this incident, MGR decided to abolish the council.

Partial filmography

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1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

Television serials

Awards and honours

*2009; Kaviarasu Kannadasan Tamizh Sangam Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nirmala, Vennira Aadai Actresses in Malayalam cinema Living people Indian film actresses Actresses in Tamil cinema Actors from Thanjavur district Year of birth missing (living people) Indian television actresses Actresses in Tamil television Actresses from Tamil Nadu 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam politicians Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Kannada cinema