Padmini was born and raised in Trivandrum (present-day Thiruvananthapuram), in what was then the princely state of Travancore (now the Indian state of Kerala) to a Malayali family. She was the second daughter of Sree Thankappan Pillai and Saraswathi Amma.[1]
In two of her Bollywood films— Mera Naam Joker (1970), also Rishi Kapoor's debut film and Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai (1960), she was paired with Raj Kapoor. She did another film with Raj Kapoor – Aashiq (1962). Her other Bollywood films include Amardeep (1958), Payal (1957), Afsana (1966), Vaasna (1968), Chanda Aur Bijli (1969) and Babubhai Mistry's Mahabharat (1965).[1] Her most famous was Thillana Mohanambal- a Tamil film where she plays a dancer competing against a musician to see, whose skills are better.[4] She also acted in a 1957 Indian-Soviet film Journey Beyond Three Seas (Hindi version: Pardesi) based on the travelogues of Russian traveler Afanasy Nikitin, called A Journey Beyond the Three Seas.
Personal life
In 1961, Padmini married Ramachandran, a US - based physician.[4][1] She immediately retired from films, joined her husband in the United States, and focused on family life.[4] The couple had one son, born in 1963, who now lives in Hillsdale, New Jersey and works for Warner Brothers.[7][5] Sixteen years after her wedding, in 1977, Padmini opened a classical dance school in New Jersey, named the Padmini School of Fine Arts.[5] Today, her school is considered one of the largest Indian classical dance institutions in America.[citation needed]. Actress Sukumari was the maternal first cousin of Padmini and her sisters (the Travancore sisters). Shobana, the famous dancer, is the niece of Padmini. Malayalam actress Ambika Sukumaran is her relative. Actors Vineeth and Krishna are among her relatives. Padmini died of a heart attack at the Chennai Apollo Hospital on 24 September 2006, aged 76. She was hospitalized on the previous day when she suffered a fatal heart attack during a meeting with the then Tamil Nadu CM M. Karunanidhi. Padmini was well known for her professional rivalry with actress Vyjayanthimala, the successful dancer-actress.[8] They performed a dance number in the Tamil film Vanjikottai Valiban; the well-known song was "Kannum Kannum Kalanthu", which was sung by P. Leela and Jikki. In the song, they were pitted against each other. Due to their professional rivalry, the song has a cult following since the film was released.[8]
Padmini (Right) in 2005
Awards
Won
1954 – Film Fans Association Award for Best Actress[9]
1957 – The "Best Classical Dancer Award" from Moscow Youth Festival
^Sulochana Pattabhiraman (4 February 2001). "A role model". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2011.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)