Unjalur Ramayamma Jeevaratnam
was an Indian actress, singer, producer and playback singer. Most of her works are in Telugu and Tamil languages.
Early life
Born in
Unjalur
Unjalur is a panchayat town situated in Erode district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Unjalur is located about from district headquarters Erode and from Kodumudi, which is known for the Mahudeswarar, Veera Narayana Perumal and Brama De ...
,
Erode
Erode () is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Erode is the seventh largest urban agglomeration in the state, after Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Tiruppur and Salem. It is also the administrative headquarters of the E ...
,
Madras Presidency
The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...
in
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
to Subramaniam and Kunjammaal. She was very much interested in music right from the time of her school days and could sing very well also. K. S. Angamuthu, a very popular comedian of that time helped her to join the Krishna Drama Company at the age of 9. She had tutelage of
carnatic music
Carnatic music, known as or in the Dravidian languages, South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, an ...
from Kailasa Bhagavathar and Kunnakkudi Venkatrama Iyer. She used to watch the acting style of everyone with attention.
Career
When Salem
Modern Theatres
Modern Theaters Ltd was an Indian film studio in Salem, Tamil Nadu started by T. R. Sundaram Mudaliar in 1935. The studio produced over more than 150 films until 1982 in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Sinhalese and even English of w ...
was founded, she joined as an artiste. She made her debut through the
Modern Theatres
Modern Theaters Ltd was an Indian film studio in Salem, Tamil Nadu started by T. R. Sundaram Mudaliar in 1935. The studio produced over more than 150 films until 1982 in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Sinhalese and even English of w ...
maiden film
Sathi Ahalya in 1937 at the age of ten. She appeared as a celestial lady from the heaven. She appeared in other films till 1941 when was offered a main role in Bhaktha Gowri. She was a good singer and the song 'Theruvil varaandi' was a testimony to her mellifluous voice.
She had acted in films such as Poompavai, Abhimanyu, Bhojan and Devakanya. In the film Kannagi she had acted as ''Kaunthi Adigal'' (An old Jain nun in the Tamil epic Silapathikaram). She was awarded the title ''Isai Kuyil'' (Nightingale Of Music) by Swami Dhinakar at the 100th day function of Kannagi held at
Thiruvarur
Thiruvarur () also spelt as Tiruvarur is a town and municipality in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Thiruvarur district and Thiruvarur taluk. The temple chariot of the Thyagaraja temple, weighing and mea ...
. She appeared in many
Modern Theatres
Modern Theaters Ltd was an Indian film studio in Salem, Tamil Nadu started by T. R. Sundaram Mudaliar in 1935. The studio produced over more than 150 films until 1982 in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi, Sinhalese and even English of w ...
productions.
After marriage, they started a film production company Mercury Films. The first production was ''Pona Machan Thirumbi Vanthaan'' (1954) with Sriram and
T. D. Kusalakumari
Thanjavur Damayanthi Kusalakumari (6 December 1937 - 7 March 2019) was an Indian actress and dancer. She featured in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam language films.
Early life
Born in Thanjavur, Kusalakumari is a niece of T. R. Rajakumari. Her bir ...
in the lead roles. The film earned a moderate profit. The second production was ''
Vaazhvile Oru Naal'' (1956) with
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 ...
and
G. Varalakshmi in the lead roles.
The third attempt was a film titled, ''Sirikkum Silai'' with
MGR M. G. Ramachandran (1917–1987) was the Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
MGR may also refer to:
* ManaGeR (MGR), graphical window system
* Merry-go-round train, British freight-train design
Mgr. is an honorific or abbreviation for:
* Manager ...
with the expectation of recovering the money that were lost in their previous films, but the production had to be given up within a few days of shooting. They tried a fourth attempt in the film ''Adichathu Yoham'' with
Ravichandran Ravichandran is an Indian name. Notable people with the name include:
* Ravichandran (Tamil actor) (1942–2011)
* Ravichandran (Tamil film director) (born 1971)
* N. Ravichandran (professor) (1955), professor at IIM Ahmedabad
* N. Ravichandran, ...
which unfortunately had also to be shelved in the middle. They incurred heavy losses due to these two films.
She was also a playback singer. She sang for J Sushila and T N Rajalakshmi in
Dewan Bahadur
Dewan Bahadur or Diwan Bahadur was a title of honour awarded during British rule in India. It was awarded to individuals who had performed faithful service or acts of public welfare to the nation. From 1911 the title was accompanied by a special T ...
(1943),
T. D. Kusalakumari
Thanjavur Damayanthi Kusalakumari (6 December 1937 - 7 March 2019) was an Indian actress and dancer. She featured in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam language films.
Early life
Born in Thanjavur, Kusalakumari is a niece of T. R. Rajakumari. Her bir ...
in Pona Machan Thirumbi Vanthaan (1954) and
G. Varalakshmi in Vaazhvile Oru Naal (1956).
Personal life
She married T. S. Venkataswami who was the manager of
Central Studios
Central Studios was an Indian film studio in the neighbourhood of Singanallur, Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, started by B.Rangaswamy Naidu (a.k.a. B. R. Naidu) and other prominent industrialists like Swamikannu Vincent of Coimbatore in 1935 to ma ...
. After her marriage she said bid adieu to the films but she was active in stage dramas. The couple had four daughters and one son, four granddaughters and two grandsons. Her husband died on 7 April 1971. Jeevarathnam died on 26 July 2000 when she was living at Mandaveli, Chennai. Her body was cremated at her native place Unjalur. The entire film industry paid its last respects to this veteran artiste. Her son Vetrivel and his wife Jothi Paappammaa have planned to publish a book on Jeevarathnam's biography. Jeevarathnam's family happily recalls the marriage of Vetrivel which was attended by the then chief minister MGR and
V. N. Janaki. MGR handed over the sacred ''thaali'' to Vetrivel and blessed the couple.
Filmography
Actress
Playback singer
Producer
*
Pona Machaan Thirumbi Vandhan (1954)
*
Vaazhvile Oru Naal (1956)
References
Article on U. R. Jeevarathnam*
*
U. R. Jeevarathnam in Tamil Wikipedia
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeevarathnam, U. R.
Tamil actresses
2000 deaths
Year of birth missing
20th-century Indian actresses
People from Erode district
Actresses from Tamil Nadu