Santha Kumari

Santha Kumari Biography

Santha Kumari was a singing actress of south Indian films who was active in the early talkies and black and white films. She lived during the period, 17 May 1920 – 16 January 2006. Santha Kumari is the screen name of Vellaala Subbamma, and she was married to Telugu film director and producer P. Pullaiah, with whom she has worked in many films. Santha Kumari was awarded the Raghupathi Venkaiah Award in 1998 for her contributions towards Telugu cinema. She has been associated with cine world since mid-1930s, and thus one of the early heroines of Telugu talkies. She played character roles in the 1970s before she retired from films in 1979.

Vellala Subbamma was born on 17 May 1920 in Proddatur, Kadapa District, Andhra Pradesh to Sreenivasa Rao and Pedda Narasamma. She was born into a family of artists. Her father was an actor and her mother was a classical music singer. She started learning classical music and violin at a young age from P. Sambamurthy before she joined a drama troupe as an artist. She also joined AIR at the age of 16 and has given performances for many years. She also worked in a school.

Telugu film Mayabazar released in 1936 marked her acting debut. Since then she worked in film industry till 1979, for more than 4 decades. Initially she worked as a singing actress before the era of playback singers took a full swing in the late 1940s. Initially she mostly appeared in mythological films, playing the role of princess multiple times. Later she met P. Pullaiah and married him. They also started a film banner PadmaSree Pictures in the name of their daughter. She worked in films - Shavukaru, Ardhangi, Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam, Shanti Nivasam and Ramudu Bheemudu made by her husband.

Published: February 27, 2019

Updated: February 27, 2019