Nanjil Nalini (1944-2020) was an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

actress who mainly appeared in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

films and TV serials (soap-operas), in a career spanning over 50 years. She started as a child artist in theatre at age 12 and later went on act in over 100 films. She was honoured with the

kalaimamani 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 of ...

award in 1978. Nalini died in Chennai on 19 January 2020, aged 76.

Background

Nanjil Nalini was born in

Thuckalay Thuckalay or Thakkalai is a town in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, India. Thuckalay comes under the Padmanabhapuram Municipality, and is the administrative headquarters of Kalkulam Taluk. The Revenue Divisional Office is located in Mettuka ...

Kanyakumari District Kanniyakumari district is one of the 38 districts in Tamil Nadu state and the southernmost district in mainland India. It stands second in terms of population density among the districts of Tamil Nadu. It is also the richest district in Tamil Nad ...

. An early inclination to acting led her to

Tirunelveli Tirunelveli (, ta, திருநெல்வேலி, translit=Tirunelveli) also known as Nellai ( ta, நெல்லை, translit=Nellai) and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tami ...

town, where she joined a theatre troupe, at the age of 12. Her very first role at this age was that of a mother, in a play called ‘Nalvar’. She later went on act in drama troupes of legendary Tamil theatre artistes like

T. K. Shanmugam T. K. Shanmugam (1912–1973; also known as "Avvai" T. K. Shanmugam) was a Tamil theatre and film artist. He acquired the prefix "Avvai" after portraying saint-poet Avvaiyar in a play. Early life T.K. Shanmugam was born on 26 April 1912 to Tamil ...

(TKS),

S. S. Rajendran Sedapatti Suryanarayana Rajendran, also known by his initials SSR (January 1928 – 24 October 2014), was an Indian actor, director, producer and politician who worked in Tamil theatre and cinema. Film career Rajendran made his acting de ...

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 ...

and ‘Vairam Nataka Sabha’.

Film and TV

Nanjil Nalini’s talents and experience in theatre led to

Tamil Cinema Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywood' ...

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 th ...

, where she was given a small role in the 1968

Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Ga ...

starrer,

Enga Oor Raja ''Enga Oor Raja'' () is a 1968 Indian Tamil-language drama film, directed and produced by P. Madhavan. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Jayalalithaa, Sowcar Janaki and M. N. Nambiar. It was released on 21 October 1968, and ran for more than 100 ...

. She also acted in

starrer films like

Thanga Pathakkam ''Thangappathakkam'' () is a 1974 Indian Tamil-language action drama film, directed by P. Madhavan and written by Mahendran. Based on Mahendran's play of the same name, the film stars Sivaji Ganesan, K. R. Vijaya, Srikanth and Prameela. It ...

(1974),

Annan Oru Koyil ''Annan Oru Koyil'' () is a 1977 Indian Tamil-language drama film, directed by K. Vijayan and written by Vietnam Veedu Sundaram. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Sujatha, Suruli Rajan and Jaiganesh. It become a blockbuster at the box-office, runn ...

(1977) and Theerpu (1982). Nalini acted in some well-known Tamil films of the 1970’s, 80’s and 90's in films of some major actors of the time - with

Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali l ...

Aadu Puli Attam The Lambs and Tigers Game locally referred as the Game of Goats and Tigers ( ta, Aadu puli aatam, te, Meka puli aata, kn, Aadu Huli aata) or Pulijudam, is a strategic, two-player (or 2 teams) leopard hunt game that is played in south India. T ...

(1977),

Rajinikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 160 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannad ...

Dharma Yuddham ''Dharma Yuddam'' () is a 1979 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by R. C. Sakthi. It stars Rajinikanth and Sridevi. The film was released on 29 June 1979. Trivia: This film was a major hit and is credited for establishing Rajinikant ...

(1979) and

Sathyaraj Rangaraj Subbiah (born 3 October 1954), professionally known as Sathyaraj, is an Indian actor, producer, director and a media personality who has predominantly appeares in Tamil cinema and Telugu cinema, Telugu Cinema. His 240 films also includ ...

Rickshaw Mama ''Rickshaw Mama'' () is a 1992 Indian Tamil-language film directed by P. Vasu. The film stars Sathyaraj, Gouthami and Khushbu. It was released on 15 January 1992, and completed a 100-day run. Plot Bhuvana, a lonely girl who is parent-less, ...

(1992). She was honoured with a

award in 1978 for her contribution in the field of arts. She also received other popular Tamil film awards like AVM award, Aringar Anna, Kalaignar and Selvi Jayalalithaa awards. In later years, she acted in some popular

TV serials (soap-operas) like Azhagi, Valli, Mandhira Vaasal, Soolam, Krishnadasi, Achcham Madam Naanam and Brindhavanam.

Later life

Nalini resided at Velachery,

. Even during her film career, Nalini started and ran her own theatre troupe called ‘Revathy Fine Arts’. Nanjil Revathy, Nalini’s daughter was part of the troupe. Nanjil Nalini died in

on 19 January 2020, after a brief illness. She was 76.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nalini, Nanjil Indian actresses Tamil actresses People from Kanyakumari district 2020 deaths 1944 births Actresses in Tamil television