L. Vijayalakshmi

L. Vijayalakshmi Biography

L. Vijayalakshmi is a popular face and a top artist of south Indian cinema in the golden Black & White era of 1960s and 1970s. She is best known as the heroine of 'Jnana Sundari' and 'Laila Majnu' the popular movies in Kerala during early 60's. This beautiful actress who has appeared in over 100 movies has been a fantastic dancer too. She made her film debut through Marumakal in 1952 and later worked in all south Indian languages. 'Iru Vallavargal', 'Vallavan Oruvan','Kudiyiruntha Kovil','Kaakkum Karangal' and 'Pancha Varnakili' are some of her noted Tamil films. Currently she resides in USA.

Vijayalakshmi Lakshmanan was born in Ernakulam and was raised in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu. But later she shifted to Pune at the age of 6 where she happened to watch the famous artists Vyjayanthimala, Lalitha and Padmini performing at the South Indian Associate. Since then she was drawn towards dance and used to dance at backyard of her house. Seeing her interest in dancing her father sent her to Guru Sukumara Pillai where she started learning classical dance forms. Her first performance was at a temple in Andhra Pradesh at the age of 9. For her advanced learning, the family shifted to Chennai where she learnt Bharatnatyam from Guru Kamala.

She made her film debut with the Malayalam movie - Marumakal in 1952. Prem Nazir was the leading actor of the movie. Sipayi Kuthuru in 1959 marked her Telugu debut where she exhibited her talents as a dancer too. Since then she received similar roles of dancing actress and went on to become a star. She played female lead opposite Prem Nazir in Malayalam blockbusters - Jnana Sundari, Laila Majnu and Sathya Bhama. Aalukkoru Veedu in year 1960 was her debut Tamil film and she has been paired with all lead heroes of her time. Bommai – the suspense thriller was a decent hit. Ooty Varai Uravu was her last film. She got married to Surajit Kumar De Datta, an Indian American agronomist and got settled in US.

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Updated: December 30, 2015