Krishna Kumari (actress)

T. Krishna Kumari (6 March 1933 – 24 January 2018) was an Indian actress. She worked predominantly in Telugu films, in addition to Tamil and Kannada films in the 1950s and 1960s.^[2] She was the sister of noted actress Sowkar Janaki.

Krishna Kumari
Born	6 March 1933 (1933-03-06) Naihati, Bengal Province, British India
Died	24 January 2018(2018-01-24) (aged 84)[1] Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1951–1976
Spouse	Ajay Mohan Khaitan ​ ​ (m. 1969; died 2012)​
Relatives	Sowcar Janaki (sister)

She starred in over 150 films in her career,^[3][4] most notably Pichi Pullayya (1953), Bangaru Papa (1955), Vinayaka Chaviti (1957), Pelli Kanuka (1960), Devanthakudu (1960), Bharya Bhartalu (1961), Vagdanam (1961), Kula Gotralu (1962), Chaduvukunna Ammayilu (1963), Bandipotu (1963), Punarjanma (1963 film), Aggi Pidugu (1964), Doctor Chakravarty (1964), Gudi Gantalu (1964), Antastulu (1965), Chikkadu Dorakadu (1967),Tikka Sankarayya (1968), Neramu Siksha (1973).^[4][5]

Early life

Krishna Kumari was born on 6 March 1933 in a Kannada^[6][7]-speaking Madhva Brahmin family^[8] at Naihati, West Bengal to T. Venkoji Rao and Sachi Devi. Her family hails from Udupi, Karnataka but settled in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh for her father's business.^[7] Owing her father's work, Kumari was schooled at Rajahmundry, Madras, Assam and Calcutta. She completed her matriculation is Assam.^[9] Her sister, Sowkar Janaki is also an actress.^[10]

Career

T. Krishna Kumari started her career at the age of 17 with a small role in the Telugu film Pathala Bhairavi (1951). She later played the role of a heroine for the first time in Navvithe Navaratnalu (1951). She featured as leading actress in several Tamil movies, notably Thirumbi Paar (1953), Manithan (1953), Azhagi (1953), Pudhu Yugam (1954), Viduthalai (1954) and Thuli Visham (1954).

Krishna Kumari then began to focus on Telugu cinema, which propelled her to stardom. Her movies Pelli Meeda Pelli (1959), Bharya Bhartalu (1961), Vagdanam (1961), Kulagothralu (1962), Gudi Gantalu (1964) remain some of Telugu cinema's classics.

In the early 1960s, Krishna Kumari entered the Kannada film industry briefly, choosing to return to her preferred Telugu cinema within years. But in the short span of 5–6 years, she gave memorable performances, most of them co-starring Dr. Rajkumar. In fact, her first ever award was for the Rajkumar starrer, Bhaktha Kanakadasa (1960).

In Hindi, she acted in Kabhi Andhera Kabhi Ujala (1958). She was rechristened Rati but again, Hindi cinema held no attraction for Krishna Kumari. Although she had several offers in Hindi cinema, she returned to Madras. Her most successful movies have been with Akkineni Nageswara Rao, N. T. Rama Rao and also several mythological roles with Kantha Rao.^[11][12]

Krishna Kumari acted in 150 Telugu films, and about 30 Tamil and Kannada films. Her repertoire won her fans across Telugu states and the President's Award.^[3] Her co-stars include N.T. Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Krishnam Raju, Dr. Rajkumar, Sivaji Ganesan, Kanta Rao, and Jaggayya.^[13][5]

Personal life and death

In 1969, Krishna Kumari married Ajay Mohan Khaitan, a businessman and journalist who had previously served as Editor of the Indian Express and was the founder of two magazines, Screen and Businessman. Ajay Mohan Khaitan had previously been married to another lady also named Krishna, who was the daughter of Ramnath Goenka, founder and owner of The Indian Express. By his previous marriage, Ajay Mohan Khaitan was the father of two sons, including Vivek, who was adopted by Ramnath Goenka and given the name Viveck Goenka; he is presently running The Indian Express.^[14]

After marriage, Krishna Kumari chose to step away from the arclights and moved to her husband's farmhouse near Bangalore, where she devoted herself to her family and developed her interests in cooking and gardening.^[5] Krishna Kumari and Khaitan had a daughter, Dipika; according to some reports, Dipika was adopted by the couple.^[15] Dipika married Vikram Maiya, the son of the Maiya family which owns the famous MTR restaurant in Bangalore and the MTR brand of ready-to-eat foods.^[16]

Ajay Mohan Khaitan died in 2012 aged 85. Krishna Kumari continued to live at her farmhouse in Bangalore with her daughter, son-in-law and grandson. Krishna Kumari died on 24 January 2018, in Bangalore from bone marrow cancer.^[17]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role(s)	Language(s)	Notes	Ref.
1951	Navvithe Navaratnalu	Meena	Telugu		[18]
	Pathala Bhairavi	Gandharva Kanya			[19]
1952	Priyuralu
1953	Thirumbi Paar		Tamil		[20]
	Azhagi
	Manithan				[21]
	Pichi Pullayya	Kantham	Telugu		[22]
1954	Bangaru Papa	Papa
	Pudhu Yugam		Tamil
	Viduthalai
	Thuli Visham
	Karkottai
	Jaladurga		Kannada
1956	Ilavelpu		Telugu
1957	Vinayaka Chaviti	Rukmini
	Veera Kankanam	Rajini
	Vaddante Pelli	Vidyavathi
1958	Raja Nandini
1959	Sathi Sukanya	Sukanya
1960	Deepavali	Rukmini Devi
	Pelli Kanuka	Geeta
	Abhimanam	Kamala
	Bhatha Sabari
	Nithya Kalyanam Pacha Thoranam	Chand
	Bhakta Kanakadasa		Kannada
	Umma		Malayalam
	Aasha Sundari	Hema	Kannada
	Dashavathara
	Santhi Nivasam	Raagini	Telugu
1961	Bharya Bhartalu	Sharada			[23]
	Vagdanam	Vijaya
	Sampoorna Ramayana	Mandodari	Hindi
	Shri Shaila Mahathme		Kannada
1962	Swarna Gowri
	Kula Gothralu	Saroja	Telugu		[24]
	Mahathma Kabir		Kannada
	Thendral Veesum		Tamil	Simultaneously shot & produced in Telugu and Tamil
	Aasa Jeevulu		Telugu
1963	Chaduvukunna Ammayilu	Vasantha
	Lakshadhikari	Padma
	Punarjanma	Radha
	Sri Tirupatamma Katha	Tirupatamma
	Irugu Porugu	Chitra / Jikki
	Aapta Mitrulu	Vimala
	Chandrakumara		Kannada
	Bandipotu	Mandaramala	Telugu
1964	Doctor Chakravarthy	Dr. Sridevi	Telugu
	Gudi Gantalu	Kasthuri
	Marmayogi	Prabhavathi
	Peetala Meeda Pelli
	Aggi Pidugu	Malathi
	Sri Satyanarayana Mahathyam	Ratnavalli
	Sabhash Suri	Jalaja
	Kalavari Kodalu	Latha
1965	Antastulu	Mala
	Sri Simhachala Kshetra Mahima	Apsarasa Sirisha
	Uyyala Jampala
	Sathi Savithri	Savithri	Kannada
1966	Sri Krishna Tulabharam	Jambavathi	Telugu
	Chilaka Gorinka	K. Usha Devi
	Paduka Pattabhishekam[25]	Seetha
	Zamindar	Saroja
1967	Chikkadu Dorakadu	Padmavathi Devi
	Iddaru Monagallu
	Sri Krishnavataram	Lakshana
	Ummadi Kutumbam	Sarada
	Pedda Akkayya
	Vasantha Sena	Vasantha Sena
	Punyavathi	Santhi
	Bhuvana Sundari Katha	Bhuvana Sundari
	Rahasyam	Rajyalakshmi
1968	Vara Katnam	Sujatha
	Uyira Maanama	Russian woman	Tamil
	Tikka Sankarayya	Suseela	Telugu
	Nindu Samsaram	Jyothi
	Pedarasi Peddamma Katha	Nagakanya
1971	Sampoorna Ramayanam	Mandodari
	Varalakshmi Vratam
1972	Manavudu Danavudu
	Bharya Biddalu	Suseela
1973	Neramu Siksha
1974	Devadasu
	Uttama Illalu[26]	Gowri
1975	Yashoda Krishna	Devaki
	Gunavanthudu
	Zamindarugari Ammayi[27]	Lakshmi
1976	Padi Pantalu[28]	Kamala
	Jyothi	Vishali
	Alludochadu[29]	Manikyamma mother of Saroja (Jayasudha)
	Secretary	Dr. Vijayalakshmi
1978	Patnavasam[30]	Parvathi
1980	Bebbuli[31]	Yashoda
1982	Bangaru Bhoomi[32]	Ravi's step mother
1986	Veer Eklavya		Hindi		[33]
2003	Fools		Telugu	Special appearance	[34]

In popular culture

• Krishna Kumari was portrayed by actress Pranitha Subhash in the 2019 biographical film NTR: Kathanayakudu, based on the real life and acting career of N. T. Rama Rao.^[35]