S. D. Subbulakshmi

Srivaikundam Duraisamy Subbulakshmi(S. D. Subbulakshmi), An Actor, Theater Artist, and also a Producer. Not only she was into acting, but she was also a singer. S. D. Subbulakshmi was a Tamil actress of mid 90’s and is famous for introducing M. S. Subbulakshmi into the cinema industry as a singer. M. S. Subbulakshmi shone out as a great singer for Tamil Industry. S. D. Subbulakshmi remained her mentor during the early days of her career.

Though she didn’t do as many movies, she was related to cinema industry in some or the other way. Also, S. D. Subbulakshmi was one of the actresses who marked the beginning of the film industry (Tamil) and made the cinema popular among the youth. Personal Life: S. D. Subbulakshmi, daughter of Duraisamy and Janaki Ammal. She is from Srivaikundam, Tamil Nadu, her birthplace and later, the family moved to Madurai for S. D. Subbulakshmi’s career and interest in acting and fine arts.

Her family supported her and helped her a lot with her career. She married K.Subramaniam, a lawyer and a famous film director, who was already married. But still K.Subramaniam managed both the relations and treated them equally. Abaswaram Ramji is the son of S. D. Subbulakshmi and K.Subramaniam.

Career:

S. D. Subbulakshmi started her career as a child artist with theater. When she was in Madurai, she learned Carnatic music and dance there which her with her career. Later she started with dramas and was seen acting up with well-known artists. M. K. Thiagaraja Bagavather is one of the eminent personalities with whom she acted in dramas. Other such personalities are K.B.Sundarambal and also T.R.Mahalingam. 'Pavalakkodi,' one of the famous dramas which also included M. K. Thiagaraja Bagavather changed her name. Though she became famous for her acting in dramas and made her name, there was something more to her. Lena Chettiyar, who watched this drama Pavalakkodi, liked it so much that he wanted to make a film on it and thus asked K.Subramaniam to direct it. After watching the drama,

Lena Chettiyar and K.Subramaniam decided to cast same people in the film who were in the drama. This was the reason for the entry of S. D. Subbulakshmi into the film industry. The film named as Pavalakkodi only was released in 1934. Later, for a decade, she did various movies in Tamil and Kannada and made her name in the cinema industry. Few of her films are ‘Naveena Sadharam’, ‘Usha Kalyanam’ and ‘Thyaga Bhoomi’. After a decade in the film industry with the role of a lead actress, she did to other supporting roles. Her career in singing was also marked and loved by everyone. After films, she started her career as a producer and continued with it till the end.

The Subbulakshmi Family Tree (Infographic Family Tree)