Vijaya Nirmala (born Nidudavolu Nirmala; 20 February 1946 – 27 June 2019) was an Indian actress, director, and producer known for her works predominantly in

Telugu cinema Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, ...

along with a few

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

and Tamil films. In a career spanning over six decades, she acted in more than 200 films and directed 44 films. In 2002, she entered the ''

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' as the female director who has directed the most number of

films A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

in the world. In 2008, she received the Raghupathi Venkaiah Award for lifetime achievement in Telugu cinema. Born as Nirmala, she ventured into acting as a child artist with films like '' Macha Rekai'' (1950) and '' Panduranga Mahatyam'' (1957). She debuted as a lead actress in the 1964 Malayalam film '' Bhargavi Nilayam'' which became one of the biggest hits of that year. She then acted in the Tamil film '' Enga Veettu Penn'' (1965) produced by Vijaya Productions. She added Vijaya to her name as a mark of gratitude to the production house that gave her a break as an artiste. She debuted as a leading lady in Telugu with '' Rangula Ratnam'' (1966). She made her directorial debut in Telugu with ''Meena'' (1973) and went on to direct over 44 films. She acted with her husband

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is on ...

in over 40 films from '' Sakshi'' (1967) to '' Sri Sri'' (2016) and the duo was considered as a hit pair. She launched her own production house – Vijaya Krishna Movies and went onto produce 15 films on the banner. She also handled the operations of Padmalaya Studios and Padmalaya Tele Films. Her son Naresh is also a noted actor in

Early life

She was born as Nidudavolu Nirmala on 20 February 1946 into a

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

family settled in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

who were originally from

Narasaraopet Narasaraopet is a city and district headquarters of Palnadu District of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The town is a municipality and mandal headquarters of Narasaraopet mandal and Headquarters of Narasaraopet revenue division. The town al ...

. Her father was a film producer. Her paternal uncle is scholar and literary historian, Nidudavolu Venkatarao. Actress Jayasudha is Venkatrao's granddaughter while singer Raavu Balasaraswathi is her paternal aunt's daughter.

Personal life

Vijaya Nirmala was married to Krishna Murthy and had a son Naresh, who is also an actor. She later married actor

Career

Vijaya Nirmala entered cinema as a child artist with the Tamil movie '' Macha Rekai'' (1950). At age eleven, she debuted in Telugu films with '' Panduranga Mahatmyam'' (1957). In 1964, she starred opposite

Prem Nazir Prem Nazir (born Abdul Khader; 7 April 1926 – 16 January 1989) was an Indian actor known as one of Malayalam cinema's definitive leading men of his generation. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential actors in the history of Indi ...

and rose to stardom with the Malayalam film '' Bhargavi Nilayam''. Also, in 1967, she starred again opposite

in '' Udhyogastha'', by

P. Venu P. Venu (8 November 1940 – 25 May 2011), was an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, and lyricist with over 20 films to his name.His directorial venture Udhyogastha in 1967 was the first-ever multi-star cast film of the south Indi ...

. She debuted in the Telugu industry in the film '' Rangula Ratnam'' (1966). Her first film in Tamil was '' Enga Veettu Penn'' (1965), which was followed by '' Panama Pasama'' (1968), '' Uyira Maanama'' (1968), '' En Annan'' (1970), and '' Gnana Oli'' (1972). She met her second husband Krishna on the sets of '' Sakshi'' (1967), her second film in Telugu, and they starred together in 47 films. It was ''Sakshi'' that kindled her interest in direction. She has acted in over 200 films with 25 each in Malayalam and Tamil, and the remaining in Telugu. Her small screen debut came with Balaji Telefilms' ''Pelli Kanuka''. Soon after, she launched her own banner Vijaya Krishna Movies and produced 15 films. She added Vijaya to her name as a gratitude to the production house. She made her directorial debut with a Malayalam film on a budget of 3 lakhs. She made her directorial debut in Telugu with ''Meena'' and directed 40 films in

and one film each in Malayalam (directorial debut film) and Tamil (''Kungumachimizh''). The actress-director was based in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

and managed Padmalaya Studios and

Padmalaya Telefilms Ltd Padmalaya Studios is an Indian film production and distribution company established by actor Krishna and his brothers. Based in Hyderabad it mainly produces and distributes Telugu and Hindi films. The studio currently operates through its su ...

Selected filmography

Telugu

Malayalam

Tamil

Director

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nirmala, Vijaya 2019 deaths Telugu film directors Indian women film directors Nandi Award winners Actresses in Malayalam cinema Indian film actresses 1946 births Film producers from Tamil Nadu Malayalam film directors 20th-century Indian film directors Film directors from Tamil Nadu 21st-century Indian film directors Actresses in Telugu cinema 20th-century Indian actresses Actresses from Tamil Nadu Women artists from Tamil Nadu Actresses in Tamil cinema