Saridey Varalakshmi (13 August 1925 – 22 September 2009) was an Indian actress and singer who worked in

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 ...

and

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, nativ ...

-language films. She was popular for her roles and songs in Telugu films like ''

Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam ''Sri Venkateswara Mahatmyam'' is 1960 Indian Telugu-language Hindu mythological film directed by P. Pullaiah and produced by V. Venkateswarlu. It is based on the Venkateswara avatar of Vishnu at Tirumala. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, Savitri, and ...

'' (1960) and '' Mahamantri Timmarasu'' (1962) and Tamil films like ''

Veerapandiya Kattabomman Veerapandiya Kattabomman was an 18th-century Tamil Palayakarrar and king of Panchalankurichi in Tamil Nadu, India. He refused to accept the sovereignty of the British East India Company and waged a war against them. He was captured by the Briti ...

'' (1959) and in '' Poova Thalaiya'' (1969).

Life

Varalakshmi was born in

Jaggampeta Jaggampeta is a town in Jaggampeta mandal, located in Kakinada district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located on the banks of river Godavari. A town in which worked under British rule since 17th century, Primarily known as an expo ...

, Andhra Pradesh, India. She started her career as child artist in saint role in ''

Balayogini ''Balayogini'' ( ''Girl Saint'') is a 1937 Indian film made in Tamil language, Tamil and Telugu language, Telugu languages. It was directed by K. Subramanyam. It is one of the earliest Tamil films to be set in a contemporary social setting and to ...

'' (1937), when she was nine years old.

Gudavalli Ramabrahmam Gudavalli Ramabrahmam was an Indian film film director, director, screenwriter, and film producer, producer who worked in Telugu cinema. He is known for directing critically acclaimed social problem films like ''Mala Pilla'' (1938) and ''Raithu ...

was engaged by the pioneer filmmaker K. Subramanyam to direct the Telugu version of this movie. He spotted young Varalakshmi in Kurnool. Subramanyam later cast her in his classic '' Seva Sadanam'' (1938) with

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 ...

. She played a young friend of the heroine (M.S.), and they became close friends. She played a young girl's role in ''Parasuraman'' (Tamil, 1940) along with T. R. Mahalingam.

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 ...

, cast her in a major role in his box office hit 'Aayiram Thalai Vaangi Apoorva Chinthamani' (1947). The title role was played by V. N. Janaki. The film was a major success and Govindan and Varalakshmi made an attractive pair. T. R. Sundaram cast her again in the lead role in 'Bhojan' (1948). Her first successful movie was ''

Balaraju ''Balaraju'' is a 1948 Indian Telugu-language swashbuckler fantasy film produced and directed by Ghantasala Balaramayya under the Pratibha Productions banner. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, S. Varalakshmi, and Anjali Devi with music jointly co ...

'' in 1948 produced and directed by

Ghantasala Balaramaiah Ghantasala Balaramayya was an Indian film director, producer, and actor in Telugu cinema. His notable films include '' Sri Seetarama Jananam'' (1944), '' Balaraju'' (1948), '' Swapna Sundari'' (1950), and '' Sri Lakshmamma Katha'' (1950). Bala ...

. She later acted with all top heroes in Telugu and Tamil industries including M K Tyagaraja Bhagavatar in the classic Tamil film by B A Subba Rao called 'Syamala' in 1953;

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 ...

(''Veerapandiya Kattabbomman''),

M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...

(''Chakravarthi Thirumagal'', ''Maattukara Velan'', ''Needhikku Thalaivanangu''),

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 ...

(''Poova Thalaiya'', ''Panama Pasama''),

N. T. Rama Rao Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996), often referred to by his initials NTR, was an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who served as List of Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh fo ...

(''

Satya Harischandra ''Satya Harischandra'' is a 1951 Nepali language film based on Raja Satya Harischandra. It was the first ever Nepali language movie. Satya Harischadra is said to have directed by DB Pariyar. It is supposed to be the first movie in Nepali languag ...

''),

A. Nageswara Rao Akkineni Nageswara Rao (20 September 1923 – 22 January 2014), widely known as ANR, was an Indian actor and producer, known for his works majorly in Telugu cinema. He starred in many landmark films in his seventy five-year career, and became on ...

(ANR) (''

''),

V. Nagayya V. Nagayya (born Vuppaladadiyam Nagayya Sarma; 28 March 1904 – 30 December 1978) also known as Chittoor Nagayya was an Indian actor, singer, music composer, and director known for his works in Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, and Telugu theatre. ...

(''Naga Panchami''), Ranjan (''En Magan'') and

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 ...

(''Maamiyaar''). She was also famous for her voice, and sung her songs in all movies she acted. Her roles as Sivaji's wife in ''

'', and important roles in '' Poova Thalaiya'', ''

Savale Samali ''Savaale Samali'' () is a 1971 Indian Tamil-language film, starring Sivaji Ganesan in is his 150th film. The film was remade in Telugu as ''Manchi Rojulu Vachchaayi'' (1972), in Malayalam as ''Randu Lokam'' (1977), in Kannada as '' Siritanakke ...

'', ''Maattukkara Velan'', Shivaji's sister in ''Raja Raja Chozhan'' and ''Neethikku thalaivanangu'' won her critical acclaim as a talented singer and actress in Tamil movies. In her later career, she acted in mother and aunt roles. She married film producer A. L. Srinivasan, an elder brother of Kavignar Kannadasan; they had two children named Nalini and Muruga She continued to act after marriage in senior roles in Telugu and Tamil cinema. She sang many beautiful songs in Telugu and Tamil films. Her son, S. Muruga, died after suffering cardiac arrest in Chennai on 22 October 2013. He lived for 48 years. Her daughter Nalini is a homemaker with 2 children.

Death

Varalakshmi was bedridden during the last 6 months of her life after she

fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle o ...

and injured her back. She died on 22 September 2009.Veteran actress passes away
''IndiaGlitz''. Retrieved on 25 September 2009.

Honors and awards

She has received several awards commending her service to Tamil cinema. The most recent ones were: # Sivaji Ganesan Memorial Award Presented by the Sivaji Family in Oct 2007 # Kavignar Kannadasan Award presented by the Tamil Nadu Government in 2004

Filmography

Note: The lists are not comprehensive.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Varalakshmi, S. 1927 births 2009 deaths Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in India Indian women playback singers Indian film actresses Telugu playback singers 20th-century Indian singers 20th-century Indian actresses Tamil playback singers Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses from Andhra Pradesh Singers from Andhra Pradesh People from East Godavari district Indian child actresses Child actresses in Telugu cinema 20th-century Indian women singers Film musicians from Andhra Pradesh Women musicians from Andhra Pradesh