S. Varalakshmi

S. Varalakshmi Biography

Saridey Varalakshmi, known by the name S. Varalakshmi was a singer cum actress of Telugu and Tamil movies of yesterdays. Telugu movies like Mahamantri Timmarasu and Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam and Tamil movies like Veerapandiya Kattabomman and Poovaa Thalaiyaa are her noted movies as a heroine and singer. Sivaji Ganesan Memorial Award Presented by the Sivaji Family in October 2007 and Kavignar Kannadasan Award presented by the Tamil Nadu Government in 2004 were the recent awards received by her. She died on 22 September 2009 aged 84.

Varalakshmi was born in Jaggampeta, Andhra Pradesh on 13 August 1925. She started her career as child artist in saint role in Balayogini (1937). Later she appeared in classic movie of director K. Subrahmanyam - Seva Sadanam (1938) with M. S. Subbulakshmi. Sge played supporting role in this movie. Parasuraman (Tamil, 1940) was another noted movie of Varalakshmi as a child artist. She played supporting role in commercial hit - ‘Aayiram Thalai Vaangi Apoorva Chinthamani’ (1947). She was paired opposite Govindan and their pairing was successful. Together they were casted in lead role in ‘Bhojan’ (1948). But the movie was a commercial failure.

Her first commercial hit as the lead heroine was Balaraju in 1948 produced and directed by Ghantasala Balaramaiah. Then she began to be counted among the top heroines of the time and she was casted opposite all top heroes of her time. Veerapandiya Kattabbomman opposite Sivaji Ganesan, Chakravarthi Thirumagal, Maattukara Velan and Needhikku Thalaivanangu opposite MGR, Poova Thalaiya opposite Gemini Ganesan and Lava Kusha opposite N. T. Rama Rao are among those. Other noted movies are En Magan, Maamiyaar and Naga Panchami. Varaala beramaya ( Sri Venkateswara Mahatmyam) and Namo bhoothanaatha (Satya Harischandra) are her noted songs as a singer.

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Updated: January 17, 2014