K. R. Indira Devi (1949–2017) was an Indian actress who was active in

Tamil Cinema Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywood' ...

during the latter half of the 20th century. She was well known for her supporting roles, but was also a successful dubbing artist. In a career spanning close to five decades, she acted in more than 250 films in the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

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 ...

Kannada 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 s ...

and

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 was des ...

. Indira debuted as heroine in ''

Konjum Kumari ''Konjum Kumari'' () is 1963 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film, directed by G. Viswanathan and produced by T. R. Sundaram of Modern Theatres. The script was written by Mana and K. Devarajan, with music by Vedha. The film stars K. R. Ind ...

'' (1963). She was awarded the

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 ...

by Government of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

Early life

Indira Devi was born in the Kanchipuram district. At the age of 14, she moved to

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

and joined drama troupe and began performance in stage plays. Then she entered film industry and started her career in Supporting role. In 1959, she acted with ''Kann Thirandhathu'' starring Mynavathi under the direction of K. V. Srinivasan produced by Narayanan Companies and she was the onscreen pair for A. Karunanidhi. She made her acting debut as heroine with ''

'' starring

R. S. Manohar Rasipuram Subramaniyan Iyer Manohar was an Indian actor who performed roles ranging from hero to villain to comedic characters. He was born at Namakkal in 1925. He acted in over 200 films. He is known for his versatility and dominating personal ...

and Manorama under the direction of G. Viswanathan and produced by Modern Theatres in 1963. Indira was the onscreen pair for

M. N. Nambiar Manjeri Narayanan Nambiar (7 March 1919 – 19 November 2008) was an Indian actor who worked predominantly in Tamil cinema, known mostly for his villain roles in an eight decade long career. He has also appeared in a few Malayalam films. ...

in MGR's ''

Petralthan Pillaiya ''Petralthan Pillaiya'' is a 1966 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by Krishnan–Panju and written by Aaroor Dass. The film stars M. G. Ramachandran, B. Saroja Devi and Sowcar Janaki. Based on Charlie Chaplin's 1921 American film, ''T ...

'' (1966),

Gemini Ganesan Ramasamy Ganesan (17 November 1920 – 22 March 2005), better known by his stage name Gemini Ganesan, was an Indian actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema. He was referred to as the ''Kaadhal Mannan'' (King of Romance) for his romantic roles ...

in ''

Sumaithaangi ''Sumaithaangi'' () is a 1962 Indian Tamil-language drama film, written and directed by C. V. Sridhar. The film stars Gemini Ganesan, Devika and R. Muthuraman. Based on Ra. Ki. Rangarajan's novel of the same name that was serialised in ''Kumudam ...

'' (1962) and

M. R. Radha Madras Rajagopalan Radhakrishnan (14 April 1907 – 17 September 1979) was an Indian actor and politician active in Tamil plays and films. He was given the title "Nadigavel" (spearhead of acting) by Periyar E. V. Ramasamy. He mostly play ...

in ''

Hello Mister Zamindar ''Hello Mister Zamindar'' is a 1965 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film, directed and produced by K. J. Mahadevan under the banner of Sudharsanam Pictures. The film dialogue was written by Ve. Lakshmanan and the story was written by Mahad ...

'' (1965). She starred 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

Sivakumar Palaniswamy, better known by his stage name Sivakumar (born 27 October 1941), is an Indian visual artist and former actor who has portrayed a wide range of leading and supporting roles onscreen in Tamil cinema and television. He made his actin ...

. She acted in more than 250 films in the

and other Indian languages, the notable ones being

Kandhan Karunai ''Kandhan Karunai'' () is a 1967 Indian Tamil-language Hindu mythological film, written and directed by A. P. Nagarajan. It features an ensemble cast including Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan, Sivakumar, Savithri, K. R. Vijaya and Jayalalithaa ...

Sindhu Bhairavi The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

, and with superstar

Rajinikanth Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 160 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannad ...

in films such as Mannan, and

Panakkaran ''Panakkaran'' () is a 1990 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language masala film directed by P. Vasu. A remake of the Hindi film ''Laawaris (1981 film), Lawaaris'' (1981), it stars Rajinikanth and Gautami. The film was released on 14 January 1990, ...

. Her last film was '' Girivalam'' (2005) where she played Granny to

Richard Rishi Richard Rishi is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Tamil and Telugu films and few Malayalam and Kannada films. He is known for Koottu, ''A Film by Aravind'' and his controversial caste movies with director Mohan G, namely '' Draupat ...

. Indira acted in many television serials, and worked as a dubbing artist in more than 500 films.

Other works

Indira also worked as a heroine in the film ''

''. The film also marked versatile actress Manorama raised to the status of heroine. The film was made by editor-turned-director G. Viswanathan. The film was Modern Theatres' 100th film.

T. R. Sundaram Tiruchengodu Ramalingam Sundaram Mudaliar (16 July 1907 – 30 August 1963) was an Indian actor, director, and producer. He was the founder of the Salem-based film production company Modern Theatres. Early life Sundaram was born in 1907 fro ...

's last film. Indira worked along with

and

S. S. Rajendran Sedapatti Suryanarayana Rajendran, also known by his initials SSR (January 1928 – 24 October 2014), was an Indian actor, director, producer and politician who worked in Tamil theatre and cinema. Film career Rajendran made his acting de ...

in R. K. S. drama troupe, and with

's stage play named as ''Thenkkoodu''.

Personal life

Indira's father K. S. Ramasamy was a popular Carnatic singer as well as a stage artiste. Indira is also the elder sister of popular dubbing artist Anuradha and mother of dubbing artist Jayageetha. Indira was married to Shankara Narayanan and they have one daughter, named Jayageetha.

Death

On 16 March 2017, Indira Devi was admitted to hospital in

for respiratory problems and died following a

Cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

. She was 68 years old. A number of

Tamil film Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywood' ...

celebrities including Secretary

Vishal Vishal may refer to: People * Vishal (name), a common Indian given name * King Vishal, emperor of the Mahabharata era who founded the ancient city of Vishalapura * Vishal (actor) (born 1977), Indian film actor, producer and anti-piracy activi ...

, Vice-president Ponvannan, and General council members

Udhaya ''Udhaya'' is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language action drama film which was directed by Azhagam Perumal which released on 26 March 2004. The film stars Vijay and Simran, while Vivek, Nassar and Rajesh play supporting roles. The soundtrack for the f ...

and Hemachander from Nadigar Sangam visited her place and paid their obeisance.

Award

* ''

'' award by Government of

Partial filmography

Indira Devi acted in more than 250 films.

Tamil

Kannada

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devi, K. R. Indira 1949 births 2017 deaths 20th-century Indian actresses Indian film actresses Actors from Kanchipuram district Actresses from Tamil Nadu Indian stage actresses Tamil actresses Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Kannada cinema