Padmapriya (born Padmalochani; died 16 November 1997) was an Indian actress who worked in

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

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, nativ ...

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 2 ...

and Telugu films. Her first movie was in Telugu, ''Adapillala Tandri'' (1974). In Kannada, she debuted with '' Bangarada Gudi'' (1976) and was a popular actress during the late 1970s. She has the distinction of having acted opposite the legendary

Dr. Rajkumar Singanalluru Puttaswamaiah Muthuraj (24 April 1929 – 12 April 2006), better known by his stage name Dr. Rajkumar, was an Indian actor and singer who worked in Kannada cinema. Regarded as one of the greatest actors in the history of Indian ci ...

in three successive movies in a single year (1978) - ''

Operation Diamond Racket ''Operation Diamond Racket'' is a 1978 Indian Kannada-language action spy thriller film produced and directed by the duo Dorai–Bhagavan, starring Rajkumar and Padmapriya. The supporting cast features Chandralekha, Vajramuni, Thoogudeepa S ...

'', ''

Thayige Thakka Maga ''Thayige Thakka Maga'' (''Like Mother Like Son'') is a 1978 Indian Kannada-language sports action film directed by V. Somashekhar and produced by Parvathamma Rajkumar. It is based on the story written by Anjaneya Pushpanand. The film starr ...

'' and '' Shankar Guru''. She starred opposite Anant Nag in the comedy ''

Narada Vijaya ''Narada Vijaya'' is a 1980 Indian Kannada-language comedy film directed and co-produced by Siddalingaiah. The story is written by M. D. Sundar. The film starred Ananth Nag, Padmapriya, Hema Choudhary and M. P. Shankar. Plot Ananth Nag plays ...

'' and the novel-based '' Baadada Hoo'', and both were highly successful. She acted in four to five movies with Dr. Vishnuvardhan, playing glamorous roles. Srinath, Ashok and Lokesh were her other costars in Kannada movies. She had a successful career in Tamil films as a lead heroine between 1974 and 1981 movies Vazhthungal, ''

Vaira Nenjam ''Vaira Nenjam'' () is a 1975 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written, directed and produced by C. V. Sridhar. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Padmapriya, R. Muthuraman and K. Balaji. It is a remake of Sridhar's own 1973 Hindi film ''G ...

Mohana Punnagai ''Mohana Punnagai'' () is a 1981 Indian Tamil-language film written and directed by Sridhar. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Geetha, Jayabharathi, Padmapriya, Anuradha and Anandhi. It was released on 14 January 1981. The film was an average g ...

Vaazhnthu Kaattugiren ''Vaazhnthu Kaattugiren'' is a 1975 Indian Tamil language drama film directed by Krishnan–Panju and produced by S. S. Karuppusamy. The story was written by S. S. Thennarasu. The screenplay and dialogue were written by Mahendran. Music was co ...

, Kuppathu Raja, Aayiram Jenmangal, and

Madhuraiyai Meetta Sundharapandiyan ''Madhuraiyai Meetta Sundharapandiyan'' () is a 1978 Indian Tamil-language historical action film, directed by M. G. Ramachandran, starring himself in the lead role, with M. N. Nambiar, P. S. Veerappa, Latha and Padmapriya. It was Ramachan ...

'' are some of her notable Tamil films. She acted opposite

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 ...

in ''

'' and ''

''. She was paired with

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...

in ''

'' portraying the role of a princess. She acted in nearly 80 movies, mainly in South Indian languages.

Personal life

Padmapriya was regarded as the

Hema Malini Hema Malini (born 16 October 1948) is an Indian actress, director, producer, and politician. She is primarily known for her work in Hindi films. Known for starring in both comic and dramatic roles, she is one of the most popular and successful ...

of the South. Padmapriya was born in

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. In 1983, she married Srinivasan and the couple has a daughter named Vasumathi. Just a year after marriage, the couple filed for divorce, which dragged on for a long time. After filing for divorce, Padmapriya stayed with her parents for 13 years at

T. Nagar Thyagaraya Nagar, commonly known as T. Nagar, and historically known as East Mambalam, is a very affluent commercial and residential neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is surrounded by Nungambakkam in the North, Teynampet in the ...

Death

Padmapriya died on 16 November 1997 from heart disease as well as kidney failure. After her death, Vasumathi tried to enter the film industry but failed and is now settled in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Partial filmography

Padmapriya was fluent in all four South Indian languages and dubbed in her own voice. Her last movie in

was ''

Thotta Chinungi ''Thotta Chinungi'' is a 1995 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film starring Karthik, Raghuvaran, Revathi, Devayani and Nagendra Prasad. The film was remade in Hindi as '' Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam'' (2002) by the same director. It was the Tami ...

'', where she played a mother's role. Table is in order of languages in which she acted, from the most to the fewest films after her marriage.

Tamil

Kannada

Malayalam

Telugu

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Padmapriya Indian film actresses 1997 deaths Year of birth missing Actresses from Karnataka Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Malayalam cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema