Srivaikundam Duraisamy Subbulakshmi was an Indian actress and singer who was active in Tamil cinema during the 1930s and 1940s. She was the wife of film director K. Subramanyam. She is credited with having introduced the singer and family friend of hers,

M. S. Subbulakshmi Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi (16 September 1916 – 11 December 2004) was an Indian Carnatic singer from Madurai, Tamil Nadu. She was the first musician ever to be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour. She is ...

to Tamil cinema and mentored her in her early days.

Early life

S. D. Subbulakshmi was born in Srivaikundam to Duraisamy and Janaki Ammal. Since childhood, S. D. Subbulakshmi showed keen interest in stage dramas. The family moved to Madurai, where she learned carnatic music and dance. Her parents took photos of her in various makeups and showed them to a number of drama companies. This had assisted her to start as a child actress in stage plays. She grew up acting in stage dramas and managed to act in a number of dramas with well-known artists such as

M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar Mayavaram Krishnasamy Thiyagaraja Bhagavathar (1 March 1910 – 1 November 1959), also known by his initials as M. K. T., was an Indian actor, producer and Carnatic singer. He is considered to be one of the most successful actors in Tamil cine ...

, K. B. Sundarambal and T. R. Mahalingam and earned a very good name. ''Pavalakkodi'' was one such drama where she had acted with M. K. Thiagaraja Bhagavather and became very famous.

Cinema life

Letchumanan Chettiar or Lena Chettiar of Krishna Pictures, who has seen the drama wanted to picturise the drama and requested

K. Subrahmanyam Krishnaswamy Subrahmanyam (19 January 1929 – 2 February 2011) was a prominent international strategic affairs analyst, journalist and former Indian civil servant. Considered a proponent of ''Realpolitik'', Subrahmanyam was an influential vo ...

to direct that film. Lena Chettiar and K. Subrahmanyam watched the drama together. K. Subrahmanyam suggested retaining the same artists who acted in drama to be in the film too and Lena Chettiar agreed to this. Through Pavalakkodi, S. D. Subbulakshmi entered into Tamil Cinema in 1934. She became a famous heroine in the 1930s till mid-1940s, then she switched to mother and supporting roles.

Introducing M. S. Subbulakshmi

S. D. Subbulakshmi became instrumental in introducing

when she persuaded

to give the daughter of her friend Madurai Shanmugavadivu, a chance on the concert stage at the exhibition he was organising in connection with the 1932 Mahamagam Festival in Kumbakonam. Thus, it was also K. Subrahmanyam who first helped to make M. S. Subbulakshmi a star in the world of song. It was on that stage that M. S. Subbulakshmi became a star. Later, when he negotiated with Sadasivam for the film rights for a story serialised in ''

Ananda Vikatan ''Ananda Vikatan'' is a Tamil-language weekly magazine published from Chennai, India. History and profile ''Ananda Vikatan'' was started by Late Pudhoor Vaidyanadhaiyar in February 1926 as a monthly publication. The issue for December 1927 wa ...

'', starring M. S. Subbulakshmi in the film, she came almost as part of the package. Thus started M. S. Subbulakshmi's film career in ''

Sevasadanam ''Sevasadanam'' () is a 1938 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by K. Subrahmanyam. It is one of the early Tamil films to be set in a contemporary social setting and to advocate reformist social policies. This was the first film for M. S ...

'' with S. D. Subbulakshmi guiding throughout.

Family life

S. D. Subbulakshmi married the lawyer turned director K. Subramanyam with the consent of his first wife Meenatchi. K. Subramanyam kept both families together and managed them without any discrimination between them. She had a son named Abaswaram Ramji.

Filmography

References

External links

Article on S. D. Subbulakshmi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Subbulakshmi, S. D. Indian film actresses Actresses in Tamil cinema Tamil actresses 20th-century Indian actresses Tamil playback singers Indian women playback singers 20th-century Indian singers Actresses from Madurai Singers from Tamil Nadu 20th-century Indian women singers Women musicians from Tamil Nadu Actresses in Malayalam cinema Actresses in Kannada cinema