Lakshmi(I)
- Actress
- Director
Lakshmi was born on December 13, 1952 in Madras, Tamil Nadu, India to a
show business family. Her father
Y.V. Rao, originally from Nellore,
Andhra Pradesh, was an noted filmmaker and actor whose films dealt with
important social issues. Her mother
Kumari Rukmini was a Tamil actress, whose
mother Nungambakkam Janaki was also
an actress. She was fifteen when she started acting
in films. Her first film was a Tamil film titled "Jeevanamsam" in 1968.
She became a star in South India in the 1970s and acted in all four
South Indian languages in which she is fluent: Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam
and Kannada. Her Malayalam hit
Chattakkari (1974) was remade in
Hindi as Julie (1975) and in Telugu as
"Miss Julie Prema Katha" (1975). "Julie" became a hit, and Lakshmi
received the Filmfare Best Actress Award and the Bengal Film
Journalists' Association Award for "most outstanding work of the year."
After her success in "Julie," however, she didn't star in many Hindi
films and instead concentrated on doing more South Indian films. She
won the National Film Award for Best Actress for the Tamil film
Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal (1975),
becoming one of the first South Indian actresses to win in that
category for a Tamil film. When her career as a leading lady ended in
the 1980s, she started playing supporting roles as mother and later as
grandmother. She played grandmothers to
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Jeans (1998) and
Kareena Kapoor in Hulchul (2004). She has
performed in more than 400 films. She has also been involved in
politics.
Lakshmi took a break from acting to host two talk shows, including the
Tamil talk show "achamillai, achamillai". After the talk shows ended,
she returned to acting in films.
Lakshmi was married three times. Her first marriage was to Baskar,
which was arranged by her parents when she was seventeen. Her only
biological child, Aishwariyaa Bhaskaran, was born in 1971.
Her marriage ended in divorce, and she gained custody of her daughter,
who later became an actress in the 1990s, carrying on the family
tradition. Lakshmi fell in love with her
_Chattakkari (1974)_ leading man Mohan, but that
relationship ended. While she was shooting
En Uyir Kannamma (1988),
she and actor-director
K.S. Sivachandran fell in love and got
married. She adopted a baby girl in 2001. Her daughter
Aishwariyaa Bhaskaran gave birth to a baby girl in the mid
1990s, making Lakshmi a grandmother.
show business family. Her father
Y.V. Rao, originally from Nellore,
Andhra Pradesh, was an noted filmmaker and actor whose films dealt with
important social issues. Her mother
Kumari Rukmini was a Tamil actress, whose
mother Nungambakkam Janaki was also
an actress. She was fifteen when she started acting
in films. Her first film was a Tamil film titled "Jeevanamsam" in 1968.
She became a star in South India in the 1970s and acted in all four
South Indian languages in which she is fluent: Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam
and Kannada. Her Malayalam hit
Chattakkari (1974) was remade in
Hindi as Julie (1975) and in Telugu as
"Miss Julie Prema Katha" (1975). "Julie" became a hit, and Lakshmi
received the Filmfare Best Actress Award and the Bengal Film
Journalists' Association Award for "most outstanding work of the year."
After her success in "Julie," however, she didn't star in many Hindi
films and instead concentrated on doing more South Indian films. She
won the National Film Award for Best Actress for the Tamil film
Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal (1975),
becoming one of the first South Indian actresses to win in that
category for a Tamil film. When her career as a leading lady ended in
the 1980s, she started playing supporting roles as mother and later as
grandmother. She played grandmothers to
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Jeans (1998) and
Kareena Kapoor in Hulchul (2004). She has
performed in more than 400 films. She has also been involved in
politics.
Lakshmi took a break from acting to host two talk shows, including the
Tamil talk show "achamillai, achamillai". After the talk shows ended,
she returned to acting in films.
Lakshmi was married three times. Her first marriage was to Baskar,
which was arranged by her parents when she was seventeen. Her only
biological child, Aishwariyaa Bhaskaran, was born in 1971.
Her marriage ended in divorce, and she gained custody of her daughter,
who later became an actress in the 1990s, carrying on the family
tradition. Lakshmi fell in love with her
_Chattakkari (1974)_ leading man Mohan, but that
relationship ended. While she was shooting
En Uyir Kannamma (1988),
she and actor-director
K.S. Sivachandran fell in love and got
married. She adopted a baby girl in 2001. Her daughter
Aishwariyaa Bhaskaran gave birth to a baby girl in the mid
1990s, making Lakshmi a grandmother.