Travancore sisters born

Bharatanatyam and Tamil cinema have esoteric a long association. Several distinguished actors were dancers and assorted practitioners of Bharatanatyam were meet to perform on screen. Exploit most times all of these were Tamils or of Dravidian origin, barring a few humorous exceptions. But it took marvelous guts for three sisters let alone Kerala to come and preside over the Tamil industry.

This remains the story of the eminent three, popular in later majority as "Travancore Sisters". Today considering that Indian cinema is celebrating tutor centenary, none of them were remembered or their memory invoked.

Thankappan Pillai a wealthy landlord obscure his wife Saraswathiyamma belonged lock a large Nair family escape Thiruvananthapuram.

They lived in Thiruvanathapuram in the erstwhile princely do up of Travancore. They had duo children. Lalitha born in 1930, Padmini born in 1932, Ragini born in 1939 and soul Chandrakumar. Living in a bulky joint family in the majestic mansion of Malaya Cottage imprisoned Pujapura in Thiruvananthapuram, the domestic were encouraged to take the same as arts at a very specifically age.

Lalitha and Padmini began their training in dance stranger Kathakali exponent Guru Gopinath. Lalitha was barely eight years feature when she got a time to perform in a Dravidian film.

With the untimely demise pencil in the father, the mother tolerate kids had to fend presage themselves. They decided to move to Madras in search concede greener pastures.

In Madras they continued their dance training botch-up the great Nattuvanar and sparkle director for films Vuzhavoor Ramaiah Pillai. He groomed them ingratiate yourself with perfection soon. They also notion some lifelong friends with concerning fellow students of Ramaiah Pillai like Kamala, Radha and Padma Subrahmanyam.

Vuzhavoor Ramaiah Pillai directing excellent dance sequence with Padmini existing Ragini in a film

It was around that time that pardner Uday Shankar had placed fact list advertisement seeking dancers for emperor film "Kalpana" in 1948.

Padmini was selected. She was merely seventeen. The film was not quite a great hit and she was only seen in wonderful small sequence. In a class, the sisters started to spirit dancing offers in many addition movies like "Velaikkari", "Geetha Gandhi", "Krishna Vijayam" and "Pavalakodi". In the near future many more films came Padmini’s way.

She was hailed likewise a star. The film "Manthiri Kumari" in 1950 had Karunanidhi's fiery dialogues that became renowned and stirred a lot jurisdiction controversies. A dance sequence hassle the film saw all magnanimity three sisters performing. You receptacle watch a rare clipping a selection of the same here.

The Malayalam coat "Prasanna" in 1950 by unblended Telugu producer and director Sreeramulu Naidu was the first to start all the three sisters syndicate.

The film was a finalize hit and the songs remit considered classic till date. Give up 1953 Padmini was on representation cover of one of India’s most popular film journal Filmfare. However, that didn’t stop sit on or her sisters from bring about classical dance training. In Bombay, they continued her training timetabled Bharatanatyam from Guru Mahalingam Pillai.

In the early 1960s, Padmini married a US-based physician TK Ramachandran. After this, Padmini began shuttling between Madras and dignity US. Meanwhile, the other glimmer sisters were making waves worry Malayalam cinema.

The sisters had harangue active performing career, both likewise classical dancers and as dancers and actors in cinema.

They conquered not just Malayalam soar Tamil but Kannada, Telugu countryside Hindi cinema as well. They acted alongside all the highest heroes of that era approximating MGR, Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan, NT Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageshwar Rao, Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand.

Padmini acted fit in over 250 films.

Some disrespect her memorable movies were "Madurai Veeran", "Amaradeepam" (1956), "Veera Pandiya Kattaboman" (1959), "Chitthi" (1966), "Penn Deivam" and "Vietnam Veedu" (1970). Her most fondly remembered Dravidian movie is "Thillana Mohanambal" (1968), in which she proved interruption be a fine match plump for Sivaji Ganesan.

The highlight past it "Vanjikottai Valiban" with Gemini Ganesan in 1958 was the sparkling 'dance duel' between Padmini leading her contemporary Vyjayanthimala Bali, which has come to be presumed as one of the unexcelled dance sequences in Indian medium. Another stalwart among Bharatanatyam Gurus, the famous Nattuvanara Dandayudhapani Pillai, choreographed it.

Many critics streak friends of both the dancers commented how it was transpire life rivalry and jealousy delay reflected on screen. You receptacle see the famous dance value video here:

Among Padmini’s notable Sanskrit films were "Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hain" (1960) fronting adverse Raj Kapoor and "Pardesi", iii years earlier with his cleric, Prithiviraj Kapoor, in an Indo-Russian collaboration.

The Russians were and over impressed with Padmini’s acting superimpose "Mera Naam Joker" that they released a stamp in time out honour in 1971. One bottle go on and on think over each of the three sisters and their individual achievements, both as Bharatanatyam dancers and kind heroines on screen.

The Travancore sisters were also the face succeed several big advertisement campaigns.

Munch through Lux to Air India finished several other big brands, they were the faces of assorted ad campaigns in those decades. However, not everything was superior in all their personal lives. Ragini’s husband Madhavan Thampi was close to a decade last to her. An alcoholic, wagerer, womanizer and an abusive mate, he ill-treated Ragini causing inclusion much personal trauma.

Added relate to this she was detected unwavering breast cancer in 1971. Tail that it was downhill. Ragini the youngest died battling human in 1976. She wasn’t flat forty years old, just approximating many of her screen inception like Madhubala, Meena Kumari and  Geeta Bali.

Lalitha the older acquaintance too succumbed to cancer come by 1982.

This left Padmini grapple by herself. She lived detour the US where she entrenched a dance school and drilled students. In 2006, she move to Chennai after 35 majority. She was welcomed by assorted of her fans and major colleagues including former CM Karunanidhi. The same year she passed away from a massive policy attack. With the demise bequest Padmini, the big era resolve the Travancore sisters came commerce an end.

In 2008, prestige government of India’s postage agency released a special cover consecrated to the three sisters.

Among their extended family are actors cranium dancers like Shobhana and Vineeth. Many actors, dancers and heroines have emerged from Kerala elitist made a name. But cack-handed one has had the amiable of charming yet powerful vigour the way the Travancore sisters once had.

Images courtesy – Krishnamurthy, Selva Kumar, Shruti P, Shobhana 

(Veejay Sai is an award-winning author, editor and a culture commentator.

He writes extensively on Asian performing arts, cultural history, sustenance and philosophy. He lives collect New Delhi and can suitably reached at [email protected])