She
acted in over 350 films in a career of over five decades
Veteran
actor Anjali Devi — who defied conventional film industry wisdom that married
women cannot be leading stars on screen as early as the 1940s — died of cardiac
arrest in a city hospital on Monday. She was 86, and is survived by two sons.
One
of the earliest stars of the black and white era in South India and a
contemporary of the likes of Kannamba, Krishnaveni, Bhanumathi, Sowcar Janaki
and Savithri, the actor was known for her bold portrayals and held her own in
both glamorous roles, when she played the vamp, and the pious ones in
mythological features.
Her
biggest source of encouragement was her husband Adhi Narayana Rao, whom she
referred to as “guru, father, mother … everything” during an interview to The
Hindu in 2011. When she was hesitant to take up to her first film role in 1946,
just after the birth of her second son, it was he who encouraged her to take it
up.
Her
first film ‘Gollabhama’ by director C. Pulliah created a bit of a stir. She
received flak for her bold scenes, including a kissing scene, which was in fact
a trick shot. However, braving the odds, Anjali Devi, went on to establish
herself in a series of varied roles, working with some of the leading Telugu
film stars of the time.
She
also formed a production house with her husband, Aswini Pictures, and produced
her own films.
Her
portrayal of goddess Sita, opposite veteran actor and former Andhra Pradesh
Chief Minister N.T. Rama Rao in ‘Lava Kusha’ in the year 1963, had a tremendous
impact with many women in rural Andhra Pradesh literally treating her like a
goddess, and prostrating at her feet, said Anjali Devi in an interview with
this paper in 1996.
She
had a good run in the black and white classics in Tamil too, starring opposite
the likes of T.R. Mahalingam, M.G. Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan and Gemini
Ganesan. In fact, she had signed Sivaji Ganesan for the film ‘Poongothai,’ a
bi-lingual, before his debut film, ‘Parasakti’, which released first.
In
all, Anjali Devi's career spanned five decades in which she acted in over 350
films, a majority of them in Telugu and around 50 in Tamil. She produced a
serial on Sai Baba for television. She was a resident of Chennai since 1946.
Anjali Devi was honoured recently at the centenary celebrations of the Indian
cinema organised by the Tamil Nadu government. The final rites will be held at
her house in Raja Annamalaipuram and the cremation at the Besant Nagar
crematorium on Thursday.
CM expresses condolence
In
her condolence message to Anjali Devi’s family, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
Jayalalithaa said her demise was a big loss not just for the film fraternity
but also to her personally. Recalling Anjali Devi’s contributions as both actor
and producer, Ms. Jayalalithaa said she was one of the rare early actresses in
Tamil films to have experienced multi-lingual success in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada
and Hindi. In his message, Tamil Nadu Governor K. Rosaiah said, “Anjali Devi
was a renowned artist who enthralled rasikas by her scintillating performance
in Tamil, Telugu and other Indian language films.”
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