Santha Kumari (born Vellaala Subbamma; 17 May 1920 – 16 January 2006) was an Indian musical artist and actress. She was married to the Telugu film director and producer

P. Pullayya P. Pullayya (also spelled P. Pullaiah; 1911–1985) was an Indian film director and producer known for his work in Telugu films. He was the recipient of Raghupathi Venkaiah Award for his contributions to Telugu cinema. Personal life Pullayya m ...

Early years

Vellaala Subbamma was born in

Proddatur Proddatur (1915) is a city in the YSR Kadapa District of Andhra Pradesh, located on the banks of the Penna River. The city is a municipality, and also the mandal headquarters of Proddatur mandal. It is the second-largest town in former Kadap ...

town, ( Kadapa District,

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

) to Sreenivasa Rao and Pedda Narasamma. Her father was an actor and her mother was a classical music singer. Santhakumari learned classical music and violin under the guidance of Professor P. Sambamurthy and was a classmate of D. K. Pattammal. She joined a drama troupe and was an

AIR The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...

artiste by the age of sixteen. She came to Madras (now Chennai) to pursue a career in music. She found employment in Vidyodaya School for a remuneration of Rs 2 per month. She sang along with music director S. Rajeswara Rao for AIR.

Film career

P. V. Das, producer and director of '' Mayabazaar'' (also known as ''Sasirekhaa Parinayam'') was scouting for a young girl to play Sasirekha. He saw Subbamma at a music concert. At the time, she was teaching music at Vidyodaya School, Madras. Das liked her mellifluous voice and innocence, essential qualities to portray Sasirekha's character. Her parents were against her joining films. They wanted to see her as classical singer. Subbamma was adamant and resorted to hunger strike. On the fourth day they relented. Das changed her name as Santhakumari. The film released in 1936. In the following year she was a member of the cast of ''

Sarangadhara ''Sarangadhara'' is an epic story during the reign of Rajaraja Narendra. Gurajada Apparao wrote the story in long poetic form in English and published in "Indian Leisure Hour" in 1883. It was a favourite Telugu drama and made into South Indian f ...

'', a film that was directed by

, whom she met and married in the same year. The couple used the name of PadmaSree Pictures, named after their daughter Padma, for some of their movies and had success with films such as ''

Jayabheri ''Jayabheri'' () is a 1959 Indian Telugu-language biographical film directed by P. Pullayya who co-wrote the script with Acharya Aatreya. The film is based on the life of poet Kaasinath and stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Anjali Devi. The film ...

'' (1959), '' Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam'' (1960), and '' Preminchi Choodu'' (1965). Santhakumari acted in most of the movies that were made by her husband, including ''

Shavukaru ''Shavukaru'' () is a 1950 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by L. V. Prasad. The film was produced by Nagireddy and Chakrapani under the Vijaya Productions banner as their maiden production. It stars N. T. Rama Rao in his first lead ...

'' (1950), ''Ardhangi'' (1955), ''Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam'' (1960), ''Santhi Nivasam'' (1960), and ''

Ramudu Bheemudu ''Ramudu Bheemudu'' is a 1964 Indian Telugu-language film, produced by D. Ramanaidu under the Suresh Productions banner and directed by Tapi Chanakya. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, Jamuna and L. Vijayalakshmi , with music composed by Pendyala. Th ...

'' (1964). In 1947, the couple started the Ragini Pictures banner with Bheemavarapu Narasimha Rao and Bhakta Jana. They made 22 films on both PadmaSree and Ragini banners put together. She played many lead and supporting roles, with around 250 appearances in total.Find Tamil Actress P. Santha Kumari Videos, P. Santha Kumari Movies, P. Santha Kumari Pictures and Filmography , Jointscene.com
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Awards and recognition

For her contributions to Telugu Cinema, Santha Kumari was awarded the

Raghupathi Venkaiah Award The Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu Award is an award issued by the Indian state government of Andhra Pradesh, to recognise lifetime achievements in Telugu cinema. The award was introduced in 1981 in honour of Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu, a pioneer of t ...

in 1998.

Filmography

This is partial filmography of Santha Kumari. Kindly help expanding it.

References

External links