Person Details

Birthday: 1932-06-12 13:15:48

Death: 2006-09-24 13:15:48

Aliases: Падмини , பத்மினி , पदमिनी , Pappima , Natiya Peroli , Padmini Ramachandran , Travancore sisters

Gender: Female

Place of birth: Thiruvananthapuram, Travancore, British India

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 41

TV Involvements: 0


Most Famous Work

Biography

Padmini (12 June 1932 – 24 September 2006) was an Indian actress and trained Bharathanatyam dancer, who acted in over 250 Indian films. She acted in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi language films. Padmini, with her elder sister Lalitha and her younger sister Ragini, were called the "Travancore sisters". Padmini was born and raised in Thiruvananthapuram, in what was then the princely state of Travancore (now the Indian state of Kerala). She was the second daughter of Sree Thankappan Pillai and Saraswathi Amma, both coming from noble Nair families. Her sisters Lalitha and Ragini, were also well known film actresses. Together, the three were known as the Travancore sisters. Padmini and her sisters learnt Bharathanatyam from Thiruvidaimarudur Mahalingam Pillai. The trio were the disciples of Indian dancer Guru Gopinath. They learnt Kathakali and Kerala Natanam styles of dancing from him. N.S. Krishnan noticed her talents while she was presenting Parijatha Pushpapaharanam in Thiruvananthapuram. After that performance, he said that in the future she would become an actress. She was thus cast as heroine in his own production Manamagal. The Travancore Sisters grew up in a joint family tharavadu (Malaya Cottage) in Poojappura, Trivandrum. The matriarchial head of the family was Karthiyayini Amma, whose husband was P.K. Pillai (Palakunnathu Krishna Pillai of Cherthala) alias "Penang Padmanabha Pillai". P.K. Pillai had six sons, of whom Satyapalan Nair (Baby) was a leading producer of many early Malayalam films. They performed at the 1955 Filmfare Awards. Padmini was a leading actress and one of the highest paid actresses of the 50s, 60s and 70s. She is also known as one of the charming beauty queens of the 50s and 60s. She was given the title "Natya Peroli" in Tamil Nadu because of her excellent Bharatnatyam performances in Tamil films. Her Tamil movie Thillana Mohanambal, is a cult classic of Tamil cinema and continues to be remembered even today. Her beautiful performance in Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai was outstanding and made her a national star.

Most Famous Work

Mera Naam Joker
Average
8

Mera Naam Joker

(1970) Meenu
Veerapandiya Kattabomman
Average
6

Veerapandiya Kattabomman

(1959) Vellayamma
Prasanna
Average
0

Prasanna

(1950) Madanika
Nokkethadhoorathu Kannum Nattu
Average
8

Nokkethadhoorathu Kannum Nattu

(1984) Kunjoonjamma Thomas
Singapore
Average
6

Singapore

(1960) Lata
Saraswathi Sabatham
Average
7

Saraswathi Sabatham

(1966) Parvathi
Thillana Mohanambal
Average
7

Thillana Mohanambal

(1968) Mohanambal
Madurai Veeran
Average
5

Madurai Veeran

(1956) Velliaiyamma

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
1993 Ammachi
1991 Bhavani
1986 N/A
N/A
1985 Poongavanathamma
1984 Kunjoonjamma Thomas
1982 N/A
1978 N/A
1977 Vayiduriyam
1976 N/A
1972 N/A
1971 N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Thangam
N/A
1970 Meenu
N/A
Gauri
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Ponnamma
N/A
1969 Parvathi / Sathi
N/A
Gauri
Rani / Tara
1968 Mohanambal
Dancer
1967 N/A
N/A
N/A
Nani
1966 N/A
Parvathi
N/A
1965 N/A
Draupadi
1963 N/A
Rukmani
N/A
Bahar
1962 N/A
N/A
Rani Samyuktha
Preeti
1961 N/A
Parvathi
N/A
1960 Rosie
N/A
Bindya
N/A
N/A
Nirmala
Thangam
Lata
Kammo
1959 Maragatham/Alamu
Vellayamma
N/A
N/A
1958 N/A
N/A
Seetha
Princess Padma
Amudhavalli
N/A
N/A
Roopa
1957 N/A
Court Dancer Lakshmi
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
1956 N/A
Roopa
Velliaiyamma
N/A
1955 Sulochana
1954 N/A
Sumathi
Padmini
1953 N/A
1952 Jeeva
Malini
N/A
Special appearance
1950 N/A
N/A
Madanika
N/A
N/A
1949 Dancer
Dancer
Dancer
1948 N/A
1933 Parukutty
Year Character Movie/Tv

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