Golden Era of Bollywood: Remembering VYJAYANTIMALA on her 83rd Birthday

Vyjayanthimala Bali (born 13 August 1933)

Vyjayantimala in her childhood

Vyjayanthimala was one of the biggest Bollywood stars with a career lasting almost two decades Specially The Golden Era of Bollywood.She was the first South Indian actress to become a national star and "paved a way" for other south Indian actresses to foray into Bollywood.

Vyjayantimala in her teens

. She made her debut in the Tamil language film AVM's Vazhkai in 1949 and in the Telugu Version of the same film Jeevitham in 1950. The Telgu version was a grear success.Then AVM people decided to make it in Bollywood. The hindi version was made in the name of BAHAAR which was released in 1951.Which was a commercial successful.The film's soundtrack was composed by S. D. Burman while the lyrics was penned by Rajendra Krishan.^] Almost all the songs was a chartbusters and the album proved to be successful for music director S. D. Burman who previously taste success through Shabnam.

Saiyaa Dil Me Aana Re

Bahar also one of the rare soundtrack where Burman uses Shamshad Begum as his main singer. Her voice for the song "Saiyan Dil Mein Aana Re" becomes a hit.The album also features Kishore Kumar's early hit song, "Qasoor Aapka" who later becomes as one of the leading male playback singer in Bollywood .

Man Dole Mera Tan Dole

In 1954 released Naagin which made her a Star.She was the Heroine of this film and the song Mera man Dole became a craze,She became one of the top Heroines of Bollywood.

Vyjayanthimala established herself as one of Bollywood's leading actresses while making in-roads in successful Tamil and Telugu films.After successfully establishing herself as a commercial actress, Vyjayanthimala appeared in Devdas playing Chandramukhi, the hooker with a heart of gold, in 1955. In her first dramatic role, she received her first Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress at the 4th Filmfare Awards where she refused to accept the award citing that hers was not a supporting role, being the first person to refuse a Filmfare Award.

Maang Ke Saath from Naya Daur

Following that, Vyjayanthimala appeared in series of blockbuster films such as New Delhi, Naya Daur andAasha. She reached the pinnacle of her success in 1958, when two of her films — Sadhna and Madhumati — became huge critical and commercial hits. She was nominated for two Filmfare Award for Best Actress Award for Sadhna and Madhumati and won the award for the former.

Aurat Ne Janam Diya Mardon Ko from Sadhna(1958)

The plus point with Vyjayantimala was that she knew Hindi because she studied hindi in Hindi Prachar Sabha Madras.She was an accomplished dancer and was one of those who introduced semi-classical dance toBollywood. Her subsequent dance numbers in her films had earned her the title of "twinkle toes". She was also referred to as one of the first female superstars of Hindi cinema and was known as "Numero Uno actress" for her "illustrious career in 1950s and 1960s

Dhoondo Dhoondo Re Saajna More Kaan ka Bala

. In 1961, the release of Dilip Kumar's Ganga Jumna saw her playing a rustic village belle Dhanno who speaks Bhojpuri dialect. Critics applauded her performance with some labeled it as her best till date. She won her second Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her role in Ganga Jumna.

In 1964, with the success of Sangam her career hits the peak again. She reinvented herself playing a modern Indian girl appearing in revealing costumes and one-piece swimsuit.She got the Filmfare Award for that film.The same year "Leader" with Dilip Kumar released but it didn't fared well in box office,Next release was Gemini Film's Zindagidirected by Ramanand Sagar. A female centric film, it features Vyjayanthimala alongside Rajendra Kumar, Raaj Kumar..Zindagi became success at box office . Her last release in 1964 was Ishaara, in which she co-starred actor Joy Mukherjee for the first time which was average.

Baharon Phool Barsao from Suraj

1965 was not a good year for her,Nya Knoon and Do Dilon Ki Daastan were released that year both were flop In 1966 her film with Rajendra Kumar Suraj released which was a huge box office success and was one of the popular costume drama in Bollywood.

Amrapali a historical Hindi film, directed by Lekh Tandon, starring Vyjayanthimala and Sunil Dutt as leads.It was based on the life of Amrapali (Ambapali), the nagarvadhu (royal courtesan) of Vaishali in present-day Bihar, Though the film wasn't a commercial success, in time it started being seen as classic and is remembered not just for its dramatic cinematography of war scenes by Dwarka Divecha Another highlight of the film was its music by the duo Shankar Jaikishan, then at the peak of their career, who gave a highly restrained yet fully Indian classical music-based score in the four songs.,After Amrapali which was the biggest flop in her career and some personal issues with co-stars, Vyjayanthimala lost interest in films

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1967 saw the release of Jewl Thief which was a hit. Vyjayanthimala's dance number in "Hothon Pe Aisi Baat Main" sung by Lata Mangeshkar becomes huge hit where it was considered as one of the best dance number in Indian cinema

In 1968, Vyjayanthimala appeared in three big budget film with high profile actors such as Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand and Rajendra Kumar. The films were Duniya with Dev Anand,Saathi with Rajendra Kumar and Sangharsh with Dilip kumar.Out of these three films only Duniya did average business other two were flops.

In 1969 her two films Pyaar Hi Pyaar with Dharmendra and Prince with Shammi Kapoor were released both didn't fared well
In 1970 her last film Ganwaar with Rajendra Kumar released which was also an average film,

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Vyjayanthimala married Chamanlal Bali in 1968. After marriage, she gave up her acting career and moved to Chennai. They have a son, Suchindra Bali. In 2007, she published her autobiography, titled Bonding, with Jyoti Sabarwal co-writer.
Vyjayanthimala's political career was initiated in 1984 when she contested in 1984 Tamil Nadu general election for the South Chennai constituency as the nominee of the Indian National Congress opposite Era Sezhiyan, the leader of Janata Party and seasoned parliamentarian.She won that election became M P in Lok Sabha
In 1989, Vyjayanthimala again had to face the 1989 Tamil Nadu general election, this time she was opposed by Aladi Aruna of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.^[166] She again beat her opposition by nearly 12584 votes.Later in 1993, she was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India for a six-year term. In 1999, she has resigned from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress party. Later she joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on 6 September 1999.
RARE SONGS of VYJAYANTIMALA