NAKARAJAN

TRAVANCORE SISTERS -  THE INTERESTING STORY Bharatanatyam and Tamil cinema have had a long association. Several noted actors were dancers and several practitioners of Bharatanatyam were invited to perform on screen. At most times all of these were Tamils or of Tamil origin, barring a few odd exceptions. But it took great guts for three sisters from Kerala to come and rule the Tamil industry. This is the story of the famous three, popular in later years as "Travancore Sisters". Today when Indian cinema is celebrating its centenary, none of them were remembered or their memory invoked. Thankappan Pillai a wealthy landlord and his wife Saraswathiyamma belonged to a large Nair family from Thiruvananthapuram. They lived in Thiruvanathapuram in the erstwhile princely state of Travancore. They had four children. Lalitha born in 1930, Padmini born in 1932, Ragini born in 1939 and son Chandrakumar. Living in a large joint family in the palatial mansion of Malaya Co...