Tuesday 27 July 2021

KANCHANAMALA, THE FIRST BIKINI ACTRESS IN TELUGU CINEMA BORN 1917 MARCH 5 - 1981 JANUARY 24

 

KANCHANAMALA, THE FIRST 

BIKINI ACTRESS IN TELUGU  CINEMA 

BORN 1917 MARCH 5 - 1981 JANUARY 24




Kanchanamala MARCH 5,1917–JANUARY 24,1981) was an Indian actress known for her works in Telugu cinema.[1][ 

Personal life[edit]

She was born in TenaliAndhra Pradesh. During her childhood days, she went to live with her uncle who was a violin teacher. She was married to Gali Venkaiah, who died of tuberculosis.


Career[edit]

Kanchanamala and Umamaheswara Rao in Illalu (1940)

She started her film career in Srikrishna Tulabharam, in a minor role as Mitravinda in 1935. The film was based on a play by Telugu cinema's first lyricist Chandala Kesava Dasu. Relangi Venkataramaiah played a bit role in the movie.

She captured the audience with her beauty and played lead roles in films such as VeerabhimanyuGruhalakshmi and Malapilla.

During his stint as a production director with Vel Pictures, Ramabrahmam felt that she was not fit for acting and rejected her. As she rose in her career, he realised he was wrong and signed her for the harijan village girl Sampalatha in Malapilla, based on Gudipaati Venkata Chalam's unpublished novelette. Sceptics commented that she was a misfit for such a complex character. But she rendered a scintillating performance in the first half as an illiterate downtrodden village belle and as the literate modern city woman in the later portions.


Her next role was as Uthara in Veerabhimanyu (1936) produced by Sagar Movietone in Bombay. Kodavatiganti Kutumba Rao debuted as a screenwriter with this film. Mesmerised by her beauty, Jaddan Bai, actor and producer and mother of Hindi cinema's most elegant actress, Nargis, asked her to act in Hindi films. Mehaboob Khan and popular hero of the time Motilal also told her to learn Hindi so that they could make her a big star in Hindi cinema. Kanchanamal, still a teenager, spurned their offers. Her third starring role, Vipra Narayana catapulted her to stardom.

In Vandemataram, Chittoor Subrahmanya Pillai's Madhuranagarilo challanamma bodhu was used as a duet rendered by Nagaiah and Kanchanamala. Under the production of Gemini Movies, Kanchanamala signed a contract for the role of Nagamma in the movie Bala nagamma which included clause to work only under Gemini movies. During the filming of the movie, she had differences with the director and producer S. S. Vasan which led to legal entanglement. Unable to work in movies outside Gemini movies and having lost her husband caused despair and led to mental imbalance.

She later moved into her sister's place in her hometown Tenali.

Cultural impact[edit]

Mothers of those days used to put their child to sleep humming this lullaby, "Dina Dinamu Papadni Deevinchi pondi Devalokamuloni Devathallaara", first performed by Kanchanamala.

Kanchanamala's photograph from the Malapilla film's promotional calendar adorned many homes and she generated such a "craze" among the cinema patrons.



Kanchanamala: The first pin-up girl of Telugu cinema


Kanchanamala: The first pin-up girl of Telugu cinema June 17, 2018  Actors
Kanchanamala etched her name permanently in the history of Telugu cinema with a career spanning just 11 films. She was the first dream girl of Indian cinema and the first pin-up girl of Telugu cinema. She was a bold actress and the first heroine of Telugu film industry to wear a bikini. After a humongous stardom and Nationwide following, her career ended abruptly to the conspiracies of the industry.
049 kanchanamala telugu actress 1
EARLY CAREER:
Kanchanamala was born in 5th March, 1917 in Tenali, Andhra Pradesh. She had a keen interest on music and acting since her childhood. She started her acting career with a minor role as Mitravinda in the 1935 film, Srikrishna Tulabharam. The filmmaker who popularized social films in Telugu, Gudavalli Ramabrahmam, assumed that she couldn’t act and eventually rejected her. The music director Bhimavarapu Narasimha Rao criticized her voice. But Kanchanamala rose in her career with each film. Her next role was Uthara in Veerabhimanyu, which is also another minor role.

 

The Bollywood actor and producer, Jaddan Bai (the mother of most elegant Hindi actress, Nargis), was mesmerized by her beauty and asked her to act in Hindi films. Even Mehboob Khan and renowned hero Motilal requested Kanchanamala to learn Hindi and promised her stardom in Bollywood. Being a teenager, she rejected all these offers and is content with her career in Telugu film industry.


049 kanchanamala telugu actress 2 mala pilla
 

SUCCESS AND STARDOM:
Her next movie, Vipranarayana, made her a big star. She was seen in a supporting role in the film. She acted in Two sensational films in the year 1938. Kanchanamala enacted the role of a depraved dancer in the film, Gruhalakshmi, which was a milestone in her career. Gudavalli Ramabrahmam, who rejected her earlier, realized that he was wrong and signed her for the Harijan village girl Sampalatha in the film Malapilla. It is based on Gudipaati Venkata Chalam’s unpublished novelette.
During the times when inter-caste marriage campaigns are active, Malapilla narrates the story of an orthodox Brahmin guy falling in love with a Harijan girl. The critics ruled her out calling her misfit for such a complex character. But the audience embraced her performance as an illiterate downtrodden village girl in the first half of the film and as a learnt modern city damsel in the second half. Bhimavarapu Narasimha Rao, who criticized her voice, had to make her sing for the film. Malapilla turned out to be the highest grossing Telugu film of its time.
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FIRST PINUP GIRL OF TOLLYWOOD:
The promotional calendars of Malapilla with the picture of Kanchanamala wearing sleeveless blouse, fancy ear rings, plaited hair on shoulders with a coffee cup in her hands decorated houses all over the state at that time. Her craze was so phenomenal that sarees, blouses and bangles were sold after her name. The producers and directors started believing that her name is enough for the success of the film and lined up for her.
Her subsequent films were Vande Mataram, Malli pelli and Illalu. The leading lawyer from Kadapa with stage experience, Uma Maheswara Rao, produced Illalu while debuting as a hero. The film attained commercial success. In 1940, Andhra Patrika started their first film ballot and Illalu won best film, best director and best actress (Kanchanamala) awards. Kanchanamala sang the song “Dina dinamu papadni deevinchi pondi devalokamuloni devathalaara,” which was so popular at that time that mothers used to hum this song as a lullaby to put their children to sleep.
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CONSPIRACIES AND DOWNFALL:
She was married to her childhood friend, Gali Venkaiah. She enacted the role of Chandrasena in the film Mahiravana. The founder of Gemini studios, S. S. Vasan, selected her for the title role in Balanagamma. No one knows how they’ve convinced her but Kanchanamala ended up signing the contract for Balanagamma which included clause to work only under Gemini studios. According to the contract, she couldn’t work for other studios and the permission of Gemini studios is required to work for others. She had differences with the producer and director of Balanagamma, S. S. Vasan, which lead to the legal entanglement. Balanagamma was released and became a blockbuster with huge profits to Gemini studios. There was another conspiracy happening within the Gemini studios. Some other director in Gemini studios made them not to work with her. This marked the abrupt end of her acting career.
049 kanchanamala telugu actress 3
PERSONAL PROBLEMS AND END OF CAREER:
Kanchanamala had to deal with the problems in her personal life during the same time. Her husband, Gali venkaiah, suffered from tuberculosis. She tried hard for his treatment but eventually lost him. Later fell prey to depression and lost mental imbalance. She later moved to her younger sister’s home in her hometown in Tenali. She stopped talking to people and spent her time sitting under a tree staring into the sky. Several people tried to help her but she couldn’t recover from it. Tripuraneni Gopichand announced a film titled ‘Anadha Bala’ with Kanchanamala during 1950s, but the film never happened. She later performed in stage dramas which couldn’t be as successful as her films. She stopped acting in dramas and eventually disappeared.
The producer of Nartanasala (1963), Lakshmi Rajyam, offered her a role in the hope that she could recover if she returns to Madras. After learning about her return, many admirers, friends and industry personnel met her and tried to remind her of the past. She didn’t recognize anyone. After 40 years of despair, she left this world on 24th January, 1981. We have lost our first glamourous actress to the deception and conspiracies of the film industry.
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The song ‘Dina dinamu paapadni deevinchi pondi’: Lullaby of the 40s 


The year was early 1940. Gudavalli Ramabrahmam was holding a song composing session at his office for his movie, Illalu. Saluru Rajeswara Rao was signed to compose the music. Kanchanamala, who was playing the female lead, had to sing two songs in the movie. Ramabrahmam introduced Rajeswara Rao to her. Looking at him mockingly, she said, “Is this boy going to teach me how to sing?” and left the room. Recalling that incident, Rajeswara Rao once said, “I was 19 then. She made fun of me with these words, Ee kurrakunka sangeetha darsakudigaa naaku ishatam ledu (I do not like this little fellow as the music director). However, Ramabrahmam garu managed to persuade her for about 10 days and made her agree to sing.”

In fact, it was just two years earlier, with Gudavalli Ramabrahmam‘s Malapilla (1938), that Kanchanamala had attained stardom. Recognising her new status as a superstar, Gudavalli Ramabrahmam had signed her for his next movie, Illalu, on a monthly salary of ₹3,000 with a four- month contract — the total of ₹12000 was a whopping salary for an actor in those days (when a gram of gold was being sold at less than nine rupees). Kanchanamala, who had by then turned hauteur, refused to listen to her mentor, despite his coaxing. Gudavalli Ramabrahmam hit upon an idea. He asked Rao Balasaraswati, who was also a part of the project as a singer-actress, to sit next to Kanchanamala and hum a few lines from one of the two songs, a lullaby, which Kanchanamala had to sing in the movie. That did the trick. Captivated by Balasaraswati’s mellifluous humming, Kanchanamala, realising her folly, agreed to sing the song for the young composer.

Kanchanamala and Umamaheswara Rao in ‘Illalu’

Kanchanamala and Umamaheswara Rao in ‘Illalu’   | Photo Credit: By arrangement

The dialogues and the lyrics for Illalu were credited to Tapi Dharma Rao. However, Gudavalli Ramabrahmam used a couple of songs penned by Basavaraju Apparao, including the duet, Kavyapaanamu jesi kaipekkinaane, rendered by and filmed on Rajeswara Rao and Balasaraswathi.

One of the most popular songs from Illalu was the lullaby Dina dinamu paapadnni deevinchi pondi, rendered by Kanchanamala. It is largely believed to have been written by Tapi Dharma Rao. But neither the 78 rpm gramophone records nor the song book mention the lyricist’s name.

The song

Dina dinamu paapadni deevinchi pondi / Devalokamu loni devathallaaraa / Dina dinamu... / Naa papa niduralo navvukuntaadu / Aassekaalaadeno apsarasalathonu apsarasalathonu / Kannayya niduralo kannu gilikenu / Verri lokamu joochi vekkirinchenu/ Dina dinamu paapadni deevinchi pondi / Devalokamu loni devathallaaraa devathallaaraa.

The scene

Indira (played by Kanchanamala) is happily married to Murthy (Umamaheswara Rao) till Murthy falls in love with Leela (Lakshmi Rajyam) and brings her as his second wife. Though it leaves Indira in anguish, she performs her duty as a devoted wife and a doting mother of her child. While patiently bearing with her husband, she sings the lullaby to put her child to sleep in the swing.

Breaking away from the convention in vogue then, Rajeswara Rao designed a new pattern for the lullaby with only the background music for the first 30 seconds and then followed it up with the singer’s melodious rendition. “Dina dinamu paapadni deevinchi pondi was the most popular jola paata (lullaby) of the time. Almost every mother in the Telugu home used to sing this song to put their offspring to sleep,” recalls J Madhusudana Sarma, an expert in Telugu and Hindi film music up to the 60s. “Prior to this the popular lullaby was Jo Achhutaananda jo jo mukunda enacted and rendered by C Krishnaveni playing Anasuya in the all children star cast — Sati Anasuya — Dhruva Vijayam (1936).” On a lighter note he adds, “with due respect to Ramatilakam as a veteran actress, however, her rendition of the lullaby, Jo jo jo komala syamala gokula bala in Sri Krishna leelalu (1935) used to wake up even those children who were in deep slumber.”

Journalist turned actor and film historian Ravi Kondala Rao says that he first heard the song as a nine year old, when his eldest sister-in-law used to sing the lullaby to put her child to sleep. “It remained the most popular lullaby for the next many years.”

Though Saluru Rajeswara Rao made his debut as a music director with Jayaprada (1938), it was Illalu which established him in the field, with songs from the film appealing to all and sundry.


Kanchanamala was a bold actress of Telugu film industry. In fact, she was the first heroine of Telugu film industry to wear a bikini. Born in the year 1923, Kanchanamala was known as the “Queen of the 70s”. 


Kanchanamala kick started her career in film industry with the1935 film Srikrishna Tulabharam when she was just 12 years old. That was not a major role. She wooed the audience with her beautiful eyes and acted in some other films, including Veerabhimanyu, Malapilla and Gruhalakshmi. 


Born in Tenali, Kanchanamala has only 19 movies to her credit. There is an interesting story in the film career of Kanchanamala. Director-producer Ramabrahmam assumed that this beautiful actress was not fit for acting. He eventually ignored her. But Kanchanamala steadily had an upswing in her career, and this is when Ramabrahmam realized that he made a mistake. He later cast her in the role of Harijan, a rural girl in the film Malapilla. Hardcore critics ruled her out, but nevertheless this beauty came with a brilliant performance as an illiterate village girl in the initial half and as a learnt modern city damsel in the second half. 


Later Kanchanamala acted in the 1936 flick Veerabhimanyu in a supporting role. Jaddan Bhai, who is a producer as well as an actress (Bollywood’s good actress Nargis is her daughter), was attracted towards Kanchanamala, and expressed her wish to see the Telugu star in Hindi films. Even Mehboob Khan, and renowned hero Motilal requested Kanchamala to get to know Hindi. They wanted Kanchanamala to be a great star of Bollywood. But Kanchanamala rejected all these offers. She was just a teenager then. The flick Vipra Narayana made her a big star. She was seen in a supporting role in this film. 


The film Gruhalakshmi was a milestone in Kanchanamala’s career, and she enacted the significant role of a depraved dancer in the film. 


Kanchanmala was mainly known for her glamour. The Telugu song "Dina Dinamu Papadni Deevinchi Pondi Devalokamuloni Devathallaara" in which Kanchanamala acted was such a hit that mothers used to sings this as a lullaby. Also such was Kanchanamala’s magnetic presence that her photograph decorated several homes.

    


Filmography[edit]

  1. Srikrishna Thulabhaaram (1935) as Mitravinda
  2. Veerabhimanyu (1936) as Uttara
  3. Vipranarayana (1937) as Devadevi
  4. Gruhalakshmi (1938) as Madhuri
  5. Malapilla (1938) as Shampalatha
  6. Vande Mataram (1939) as Janaki 


  1. Malli Pelli (1939) as Lalitha
  2. Illalu (1940)
  3. Mahiravana (1940) as Chandrasena
  4. Bala Nagamma (1942) as Balanagamma
  5. Narthanasala (1963) in a guest role

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