Kumari Rukmani

Kumari Rukmani
Kumari Rukmani
	Rukmani in the 1940s
Born	19 April 1929
Died	4 September 2007 (aged 78); Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1935–2000
Spouse	Y. V. Rao
Children	Lakshmi
Parent	Nungambakkam Janaki
Relatives	Aishwariyaa Bhaskaran (granddaughter)

Kumari Rukmani (19 April 1929^[1] – 4 September 2007), also known as Kumari Rukmini,^[2] was an Indian actress and dancer. She has acted in about 100 films in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi languages.^[3]

Childhood

She is the daughter of Nungambakkam Janaki, also an actress. She hails from Melattur in Thanjavur district. During the shooting of Harishchandra (1932) in Bombay (now Mumbai) the producers were looking for a young actor to feature as Lohidasan. Kumari Rukmani, as a child, was staying with her parents in the next room where T. P. Rajalakshmi who was the female lead in the film, was staying. Rajalakshmi recommended Kumari Rukmani to the producers. The producers talked to the parents and made Kumari Rukmani to feature as Lohidasan in the film. Thus began her film career.^[4]

Film career

She featured in many films together with T. P. Rajalakshmi. Her first film as heroine was Sri Valli in which she acted as Valli paired with T. R. Mahalingam.^[3] In 1946 she featured in Lavangi paired with the multi-talented Y. V. Rao. While the shooting of this film was going on both she and Rao fell in love with each other and later got married. Cine actress Lakshmi is their daughter.^[2]

Partial filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1935	Harichandra	Lohidasan	Child Artist
1937	Chintamani		Child Artist
1937	Balayogini		Child Artist
1938	Desa Munnetram		Child Artist
1941	Rishyasringar		Child Artist
1945	Sri Valli	Goddess Valli
1946	Lavangi	Jagannatha Pandita Rayalu's wife
1947	Pankajavalli	Lord Krishna
1955	Mullaivanam
1961	Kappalotiya Thamizhan^[3]	Meenakshi Ammal	V. O. Chidambaram Pillai's wife
1963	Mani Osai^[3]
1963	Idhayathil Nee
1963	Kadavulai Kanden
1963	Paar Magaleya Paar	Sekar Mother
1964	Poompuhar	Govalan Mother
1964	Karnan	Radha Karnan Step Mother
1964	Navarathri	Ananth Mother
1965	Vennira Aadai^[3]	Seetha
1965	Idhayak Kamalam^[3]	Baskar Mother
1966	Thedi Vantha Thirumagal
1970	Vilaiyaattu Pillai
1970	Thalaivan	Manimegalai
1971	Avalukendru Or Manam	Rajam
1971	Irulum Oliyum
1971	Moondrudeivangal
1973	Karaikkal Ammaiyar	Dharmavathi	Punithavathi's mother
1976	Rojavin Raja^[3]	Visalam
1978	Ennai Pol Oruvan	Sekar Mother
2000	Kandukondain Kandukondain	Sivagnanam's mother

Producer

She has produced two films in Hindi, with Lavangi and Manjari.^[3]

Death

After ailing for some time, Kumari Rukmani died on 4 September 2007 at her daughter actress Lakshmi residence in Chennai.^[3]

K. T. Rukmini

There was another actress/singer named K. T. Rukmini during 1930/40s. She was featured in films like Menaka (1935), Thirumangai Alwar (1940) and her last film was Ponnuruvi (1947).

References

^ "Birthdays of Film stars". Kundoosi (in Tamil): 34–35. 1951.
^ ^a ^b Randor Guy (25 May 2013). "Blast from the past - lavangi 1946". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 10 September 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2016. The heroine was Kumari Rukmini, daughter of dancer Nungambakkam Janaki. She entered films as Baby Rukmini and went on to become a star.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "Yesteryear actor Rukmani dies". The Hindu. 5 September 2007. Archived from the original on 19 November 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
^ "சூப்பர் ஸ்டார்களின் கதாநாயகி!" [Heroine of super stars]. The Hindu (in Tamil). 12 September 2015. Archived from the original on 9 January 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2016. (English translation)

External links

Rukmani at Bollywood Hungama
Rukmini at IMDb
Chyamalan Vanthaaradi on YouTube - A song sung by Kumari Rukmani from the film Ramadas (1948)
Kalaba Mayile on YouTube - A song sung by K. T. Rukmini (with Kothamangalam Seenu from the film Thirumangai Alvar (1940)

[1] "Birthdays of Film stars". Kundoosi (in Tamil): 34–35. 1951.

[lavangi-2] Randor Guy (25 May 2013). "Blast from the past - lavangi 1946". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 10 September 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2016. The heroine was Kumari Rukmini, daughter of dancer Nungambakkam Janaki. She entered films as Baby Rukmini and went on to become a star.

[hindu-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "Yesteryear actor Rukmani dies". The Hindu. 5 September 2007. Archived from the original on 19 November 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2016.

[4] "சூப்பர் ஸ்டார்களின் கதாநாயகி!" [Heroine of super stars]. The Hindu (in Tamil). 12 September 2015. Archived from the original on 9 January 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2016. (English translation)

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