Vijayasree


Vijayasree was an Indian actress who predominantly worked in Malayalam cinema in the 1970s. She acted in many movies opposite Prem Nazir and also worked in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films.

Biography

Vijaysree was born in a Malayali family, to Vasu Pillai and Vijayamma. Her roots are from Travancore–Cochin.
Her first appearance onscreen was in the Tamil film Chitthi. Her first film in Malayalam was Poojapushpam, directed by the patriarch Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair. She ended up being a part of 3 of the 6 movies Thikkurissy directed in his prolific career as a director. She also got to share screen space with the leading lady of the times, Sheela in her debut movie itself.
She gained popularity due to her beauty in the Malayalam film history. She was a contemporary of the popular Malayalam actress Jayabharathi. Her most notable films are Angathattu, Postmane Kananilla, Lanka Dahanam, Maravil Thirivu Sookshikkuka, Pacha Nottukal, Taxi Car, Aromalunni and Ponnapuram Kotta. In all these films, she starred opposite Prem Nazir and the Prem Nazir-Vijayasree pair created biggest hits in box office. "Theirs was the most successful pair in Malayalam cinema ever, I cannot think of a single film of theirs flopping." says R. Gopalakrishnan, one of the senior-most still photographers in Malayalam cinema. Many of her movies are directed by Kunchacko. At the end of her career, she parted ways with Kunchacko and joined with P. Subramaniam.
She also acted in a number of Tamil films but in supporting roles. She had played an important role in Babu, a Sivaji Ganesan starrer, as the pair of Sivaji who is killed early in the story. She had also acted opposite Gemini Ganesh in Chitthi, a hit. Other notable ones are Deivamagan, Adhe Kangal and Kulavilakku.
Many celebrities praised the beauty of Vijayasree. "She is the most beautiful woman I have ever met", said director Bharathan to his associate, Jayaraj, once. "She was verily the Marilyn Monroe of Malayalam. No other actress had as many male admirers as she had. No other actress had as many hits as her in such a short span of time. No actress had made such a sudden impact in Malayalam cinema. People went to the theatre to see her, and that is something that has not happened before ", said Jayaraj. He directed a film Naayika, by which the character in the movie named "Vani" portrays slight resemblance to Vijayasree's life. "If Jayan epitomised the essence in manly beauty among male actors, then there has never been an actress in Malayalam whose voluptuous beauty compared to Vijayasree's. Her graceful statuesque beauty was almost a symbol of God's artistry", said actor Kaduvakulam Antony. Many actors and directors said, due to the bad fate, Malayalam film fans could not see the great Jayan-Vijayasree combination on the screen. "She was extremely beautiful of course, but she was a capable performer too.", said actor Raghavan.
She committed suicide at the age of 21 on 17 March 1974. However, there were lot of controversies around the suicide and many still believe that she was murdered.
Vijayasree loved children with all her innocence, she used to distribute sweets or candies whenever she saw children nearby.

Filmography

Malayalam

  1. Youvanam as Minikutti
  2. Alakal
  3. Jeevikkan Marannupoya Sthree
  4. Ajnathavasam as Kunjulakshmi
  5. Angathattu as Archa
  6. Padmavyooham as Jaya, Rani
  7. Panchavadi as Nalini
  8. Veendum Prabhatham as Sarojam
  9. Pavangal Pennungal
  10. Ponnapuram Kotta
  11. Thiruvabharanam
  12. Swargaputhri as Lisy
  13. Thenaruvi as Neeli
  14. Pacha Nottukal as Leenamma
  15. Thaniniram as Radha
  16. Prethangalude Thazhvara
  17. Kaadu as Maala
  18. Aromalunni
  19. Manthrakodi
  20. Maravil Thirivu Sookshikkuka as Indumathi
  21. Postmane Kananilla as Kamalam
  22. Pushpanjali as Usha
  23. Adyathe Kadha as Rajakumari
  24. Anweshanam
  25. Maaya as Kamala
  26. Professor as Mayadevi
  27. Sree Guruvayoorappan
  28. Sambhavami Yuge Yuge as Sumathy
  29. Taxi Car as Rani
  30. Shiksha as Dancer
  31. Bobanum Moliyum
  32. Lanka Dahanam as Rajani
  33. Marunnattil Oru Malayali as Geetha
  34. Achante Bharya as Omana
  35. Palunkupaathram
  36. Dathuputhran as Vanaja
  37. Othenante Makan as Kunji Kunki
  38. Detective 909 Keralathil
  39. Rakthapushpam
  40. ''Poojapushpam''

    Tamil

  41. Chitthi
  42. Adhey Kangal
  43. Naan
  44. Kulavilakku
  45. Naalum Therindhavan
  46. Neeyum Naanum
  47. Deiva Magan
  48. Thalattu
  49. Nilave Nee Satchi
  50. Thedi Vandha Mappillai as a seducer
  51. Kathal Jothi
  52. Babu as Kannamma
  53. Yanai Valartha Vanampadi Magan
  54. Delhi To Madras
  55. Kanimuthu Paappa
  56. Maru Piravi
  57. Malai Naattu Mangai
  58. Akkarai Pachai - Last movie in Tamil

    Kannada

  59. Bangalore Mail
  60. Broker Bheeshmachari
  61. Sri Krishnadevaraya
  62. Naguva Hoovu
  63. Kasturi Nivasa
  64. Nanda Gokula
  65. ''Janma Rahasya''

    Telugu

  66. Bhimanjaneya Yuddham
  67. Rangula Ratnam
  68. Manchi Kutumbam
  69. Prema Kanuka
  70. Ukku Pidugu as Sarpakesi, Nagakanya
  71. Jeevitha Chakram
  72. Revolver Rani as Lilly
  73. Kathanayakuralu as Hema
  74. Kiladi Bullodu
  75. Kalavari Kutumbam as Ruby
  76. Dora Babu
  77. Nippulanti Manishi as Rani