T. P. Rajalakshmi

T. P. Rajalakshmi got famous by being the first Tamil and Telugu movie actress. She was also a very famous female director and producer in the film industry of South India. Her full name was Thiruvaiyaru Panchapakesa Rajalakshmi. Her date of birth was on 11th November 1911. Her birth place was Thiruvaiyaru in the Tanjore District of the Madras Presidency. She was married to T. V. Sundaram when she was only 20 years old. Her husband, T. V. Sundaram, was her co-actor. The couple was very sensible, and they both supported the “Save the Girl Child Assassination” campaign by adopting a female child after they both got married. This campaign was very active at that time in the southern parts of India. Later in 1936, she gave birth to a female child, and her name was Kamala. Born in the India, which was not independent of the colonial rule, she protested against the British rule by performing various stage shows and acts. For her protests and rebels, she got arrested by the British Government and went to jail a lot of times. In 1931, she got her break and was the star cast of her first Tamil talkie, Kalidas. She was not only an actress but was an ideal and inspiration for the rest of the people. She also started the social awareness and fought for saving the Girl Child from assassination.

The acts and the lifestyle followed by her facilitated the struggle for Freedom of the Country. T. P. Rajalakshmi directed a movie, Miss Kamala, to celebrate the birth of her girl child. The movie came out as a blockbuster of that time, and she was the best actress of her era. People would look out for all her upcoming movies and admired her for her performances and work of art. She was the leading actress of that time and in her acting career, she did lots of movies. She was a wealthy woman and was the owner of various properties at Kilpauk. Her first house was Palace house, and she lived there with her family and in-laws. Her last movie was Indhiya Thaai. She died in 1964 because of her feeble health. She also learned dancing and music from Sankaradas Swamigal, a much-admired dramatist. She got honored with titles like “Cinema Rani” and awards like “Kalaimamani” for her excellence in the film industry. The entire film industry of that time in Southern India was very proud of T. P. Rajalakshmi. She even worked with stunt artists for performing few scenes in the movies. Her name was in association with the Indian National Congress and the Freedom Movement. The Tamil Nadu government organizes a function to celebrate her birth anniversary every year. Her achievements are recorded in the worldwide blockbuster book by UTV motion pictures Dhananjayan. Her life story was inspiring and admirable, and many film magazines published her story by interviewing her daughter, Ms. Kamala.