Pandari Bai (1930 – 29 January 2003) was an Indian actress who worked in

South Indian cinema The Cinema of South India refers collectively to the six distinct film industries based in Southern region of India namely Tamil, Telugu, Tulu, Kannada, Konkani, and Malayalam. Although these industries developed independently for a long p ...

, mostly in

Kannada cinema Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. The 1934 film ''Sati Sulochana'' directed ...

during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. She is considered Kannada cinema's first successful heroine. She has acted as both heroine and mother to stalwarts such as Rajkumar,

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 ...

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 ...

. She was the heroine in Rajkumar's debut movie ''

Bedara Kannappa ''Bedara Kannappa'' is a 1954 Indian Kannada-language Hindu mythological film directed by H. L. N. Simha and written by G. V. Iyer. The film stars Rajkumar playing the title character along with Pandari Bai, Kushala Kumari, G. V. Iyer, Sandh ...

'' and also Sivaji's debut movie '' Parasakthi''. She has acted in over 1,000 films in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. Bai was honoured by

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 ...

from the

Tamil Nadu government Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, lik ...

Career

Pandaribai began her career in acting in plays based on mythological stories before making her film debut in 1943 with the

Kannada language 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 sp ...

film, ''

Vani Vani ( ka, ვანი) is a town in Imereti region of a western Georgia, at the Sulori river (a tributary of the Rioni river), 41 km southwest from the regional capital Kutaisi. The town with the population of 3,744 (2014) is an administr ...

''. She appeared in the 1954 Kannada film ''

'' opposite Rajkumar. In the film, she played Neela, wife of Kanna (played by Rajkumar), a hunter. She established herself as a lead actress portraying a woman with a "progressive" image assuming the burdens of a feudal patriarchy in films such as ''Sant Sakhu'' (1955) and ''

Rayara Sose ''Rayara Sose'' is a 1957 Indian Kannada-language film produced by Pandari Bai and directed by R. Ramamurthy and K. S. Murthy. It stars Rajkumar, Kalyan Kumar, Mynavathi, H. Ramachandra Shastry, Pandari Bai and Ramadevi. The music of the fil ...

'' (1957). In 1959, she appeared in ''

Abba Aa Hudugi ''Abba Aa Hudugi'' () is a 1959 Indian Kannada-language film written, directed and produced by H. L. N. Sinha based on his own play of the same name. It stars Rajashankar in his debut role, Rajkumar in an extended cameo along with Narasimhara ...

'', with her sister

Mynavathi Mynavathi (26 July 1935 – 10 November 2012) was an Indian actress. She made her first screen appearance as an actor in the 1955 Kannada film ''Santa Sakhu'' and acted in over 100 Kannada films. She was the younger sister of another popular Ka ...

. The film is considered a landmark in Kannada cinema. Later in her career Pandari Bai played the mother of stars older than her, most of whom had played the lead with her in her earlier years.

Awards and honours

* The lesson ''"Gunasagari Pandari Bai"'' is added to the class IX Kannada Language Textbook in Karnataka state to honour the legendary actress. * 2001 - Filmfare Awards South - Lifetime Achievement Award * 1994-95 - Dr. Rajkumar Lifetime Achievement Award from

Karnataka Government The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as, GoK, or simply Karnataka Government, is a democratically-elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka. The governor who is appointed ...

* 1968-69 -

Karnataka State Film Award for Best Supporting Actress 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 ...

Namma Makkalu ''Namma Makkalu'' (Kannada: ನಮ್ಮ ಮಕ್ಕಳು) is a 1969 Indian Kannada film, directed by R. Nagendra Rao and produced by Harini. The film stars Chandrashekar, K. S. Ashwath, Pandari Bai, KM Jayashree, and Amarnath in the lead rol ...

* 1967-68 -

Belli Moda ''Belli Moda'' () is a 1967 Kannada-language film directed by Puttanna Kanagal. It was based on the novel of same name by Triveni. Kanagal remade the movie in Malayalam in 1967 as ''Swapnabhoomi'' and in Telugu in 1968 as ''Palamanasulu''. Thi ...

* 1965 -

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 of ...

from

Tamil Nadu Government Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, lik ...

Filmography

References

External links

*
Potpourri of titbits about Pandari Bai
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bai, Pandari Actresses from Karnataka Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema 1928 births 2003 deaths Kannada actresses Actresses in Tamil cinema Indian film actresses 20th-century Indian actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners People from Uttara Kannada