Vasundhara Devi

Vasundhara Devi Biography

Vasundhara Devi was a south Indian actress of yesterdays. She was a renowned dancer and singer too. She is also remembered as the mother of famous Bollywood actress, Vyjayanthimala, who worked in south Indian films before shifting to Mumbai. Vasundhara Devi lived during the period, 1917-1988.  She was a performer of Bharathanatyam dance and Carnatic music, and she also got opportunity to perform before the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church; perhaps the only Indian artist to earn this recognition. Less-known actor Suchindra Bali is her grandson (son of Vyjayanthimala).

Vasundhara Devi was born in the year 1917 in Chennai, then Madras Presidency under British rule. She started her film journey in the early 1940s when the popularity of talkies has just started to flourish. She appeared as a singing actress throughout 1940s, and played lead roles as well. She starred in Tamil movie Mangamma Sapatham, released in 1943. She also sang a few songs for the movie, and her dance moves became quite sensational in the 1940s. She shared screen space with Ranjan for this Tamil film, and her role was well appreciated by audience too.

Rishyashringar is yet another popular movie in which she appeared. In those days, most of the film producers chose Hindu mythology and folk stories as themes for their films, and Vasundhara appeared in this kind of roles most. After the release of Mangamma Sapatham, her career witnessed a downfall, and she got into a few personal issues and court cases as well. It brought her career virtually to a freezing point. She is the only Indian actress till date who has met the Pope of the Catholic Church. She was only 16 when Vyjayanthimala was born, and they shared a sibling-relationship rather than mother-daughter relation.

Published: September 17, 2018

Updated: September 17, 2018