T. R. Rajakumari

Thanjavur Radhakrishnan Rajayee, aka TR Rajakumari, a multi-talented, was born on 5^th May 1922 in Thanjavur to Radhakrishnan and Ranganayaki. She is an actress, dancer, cum classical singer. She is the first dream girl of the Tamil cinema industry. Rajakumari had a sister, TS Damayandhi, and a brother, TR Ramanna, a renowned director and producer. She was credited as TR Rajayee in her debut film, Kumara Kulothungan, which had a delayed release after Kacha Devayani. Originally, her second film was DS Marconi-directed Mandharavathi. In 1944, Rajaakumari played a glamorous role alongside MK Thyagaraja Bhagavathar in Haridas. The film was a Diwali release and it was a super hit success with a 133-week continuous run without any interruption. Besides playing in Tamil films, Rajakumari played in Telugu, Hindi and Urdu movies and proved her versatility as a multilingual actress. Her villainy role in Manohara with Sivaji Ganesan The Honorable Mr. Ganesan was the second son in hi >> Read More... has been remembered still by the film veterans.

In 1948, she was featured in Chandralekha, a heavy-budget multilingual film in the titular role. The film was directed and produced by Gemini Pictures’ “ S S Vasan S S Vasan is also known as Subramaniam Srinivasan. >> Read More... .” The film was under production for 5 years. After released in Tamil, it was released in Hindi. The film became a super hit in Hindi and the original production costs were reimbursed in the Hindi version. It is the first heavy-budget film in the world after the US films. The film also had a release in Japan in 1954 and collected a huge sum. Made in a budget of Rs 3 Million in 1948, its Hindi version collected Rs 7 Million with a total box office collection of Rs 20 Million.

After gaining huge stardom in multiple languages, Rajakumari launched a production house, RR Pictures, with her brother, TR Ramanna. She produced various films including, Koondukuli in 1954, which was the first film that Sivaji Ganesan and “ M G Ramachandran M G Ramachandran was a demigod for his fans. And h >> Read More... ” shared the screen space. Gulebagaavali, Paasam, Peiya Idathu Penn, Parakkum Paavai, and Panam Padaithavan are some of the films she produced with MGR. In 1963, Rajakumari ended her film career with Vaanambaadi in a supporting role.

On 29^th September 1999, TR Rajakumari died in Chennai at the age of 77 due to prolonged illness.