Vyjayanthimala Filmography

Vyjayanthimala (born 13 August 1933) is an Indian actress, Bharatanatyam dancer, Carnatic singer, dance choreographer and parliamentarian. She was the highest-paid actress of her time. Regarded as the "first female superstar" of Indian cinema, she made her debut in the Tamil language film '' Vaazhkai'' in 1949 at the age of 16 and in the Telugu language film '' Jeevitham'' in 1950. She later became one of the most prominent actresses of South Indian cinema and of the golden era of Hindi cinema and is also known as one of the most iconic leading actresses of all time. Later, Vyjayanthimala acted in the Bollywood movies '' Bahar'' and ''Ladki''. Following the success of '' Nagin'', Vyjayanthimala established herself as one of Bollywood's leading actresses while making inroads in successful Tamil and Telugu films. After successfully establishing herself as a commercial actress, Vyjayanthimala appeared in ''Devdas'', playing Chandramukhi, the hooker with a heart of gold, in 1955. In her first dramatic role, she received her first Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress at the 4th Filmfare Awards, where she refused to accept the award citing that hers was not a supporting role, becoming the first person to refuse a Filmfare Award. Following that, Vyjayanthimala appeared in a series of blockbuster films such as ''New Delhi'', '' Naya Daur'' and '' Aasha''. She reached the pinnacle of her success in 1958 when two of her films — '' Sadhna'' and ''Madhumati'' — became huge critical and commercial hits. She was nominated for two Filmfare Awards for Best Actress for ''Sadhna'' and ''Madhumati'' and won the award for the former. At this point, Vyjayanthimala made a comeback to Tamil films, where she tasted commercial success with '' Vanjikottai Vaaliban'', '' Irumbu Thirai'', ''Baghdad Thirudan'' and ''Then Nilavu''. In 1961, the release of Dilip Kumar's '' Ganga Jumna'' saw her playing a rustic village belle, Dhanno, who speaks the Awadhi dialect. Critics applauded her performance, while some labeled it her best to date. She won her second Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her role in ''Ganga Jumna''. Beginning in 1962, most of her films performed either averagely or poorly at the box office. However, in 1964, with the success of '' Sangam'', her career hit its peak again. She reinvented herself by playing a modern Indian girl appearing in revealing costumes and a one-piece swimsuit. She went on to receive her third Best Actress Award at the 12th Filmfare Awards for her role as Radha in ''Sangam''. She later achieved critical acclaim for her performance in the historical drama ''Amrapali'', which was based on the life of nagarvadhu Amrapali, the royal courtesan of Vaishali. The film received universal acclaim, but it was a huge box office failure, which left Vyjayanthimala, who had huge expectations of the film, disenchanted to the point where she decided to quit films. Towards the end of her career, Vyjayanthimala was mostly seen in commercially successful films such as '' Suraj'', '' Jewel Thief'' and ''Prince'' with a few critically acclaimed films such as ''Hatey Bazarey'' and ''Sunghursh''. Most of them were released after Vyjayanthimala left the film industry (a total of app. 65 films).

Filmography

As an actress

As choreographer

As producer

As playback singer

Miscellaneous Crew

See also

* List of awards and nominations received by Vyjayanthimala

References

External links

* {{IMDb name, id=0904537

Vyjayanthimala profile
at ''Upperstall.com''

Indian filmographies
Actress filmographies