K. L. V. Vasantha
{{Short description|Indian actress, singer and dancer}}
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{{infobox person
| name = K. L. V. Vasantha
| image = Vasantha1945.png
| alt = A young Indian woman wearing jewelry on her head, ears, and neck, and a dark sari
| caption = Vasantha, from a 1945 newspaper advertisement for Subadra
| birth_date = 1923
| birth_place = Kundrathur, Ramanathapuram district, Tamil Nadu
| death_date = 2008
| death_place = Chennai, Tamil Nadu
| citizenship = Indian
| occupation = Actress, singer, dancer
| spouse = K. K. Vasu
T. R. Sundaram
}}
Kundrathur L. V. Vasantha (1923–2008) was an Indian actress, singer and dancer who worked mainly in Tamil language films.{{cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/remembering-vasantha/article1433352.ece |title=Remembering Vasantha |work=The Hindu |date=29 February 2008 |access-date=14 November 2016 |last=Guy |first=Randor |author-link=Randor Guy}}
Biography
Vasantha was born in 1923 in Kundrathur, then based in Ramanathapuram district. As a young girl, she was actively involved in singing and dancing. According to actress S. D. Subbulakshmi, Vasantha played in a minor, uncredited role in Pavalakkodi (1934). After becoming a teenager, she appeared in B. N. Rao's Rambaiyin Kaathal (1939), a box-office success that catapulted Vasantha into stardom. Rao later cast her in Bhooloka Ramba (1940), also a hit.
When Gemini Studios opened in 1941, Vasantha portrayed the lead female character in its debut production Madanakamarajan, financed by Gemini founder S. S. Vasan. The success of this film further enhanced Vasantha's reputation. When Vasan planned Chandralekha in 1943, he announced that Vasantha would star as the lead female, but she was eventually replaced by T. R. Rajakumari. Vasantha shifted to Salem where she joined T. R. Sundaram's Modern Theatres, and played the female lead in many of Sundaram's films such as Rajarajeswari (1944), Burma Rani (1945) and Sulochana (1947).
Vasantha was already an accomplished dancer and singer, so she did both in most of her films. Her dance-drama sequence in Madanakamarajan became notable. In 1946, she played the lead roles in two Modern Theatres films: the Wahab Kashmiri-directed Chitra which was not successful, and Subhadhra. After acting in a few more films, she returned to Chennai (then known as Madras) and lived there till her death in 2008.
Personal life
Vasantha was separately married to producer K. K. Vasu,{{Cite web |last=Sri Kantha |first=Sachi |author-link=Sachi Sri Kantha |date=25 April 2017 |title=MGR Remembered – Part 38 {{!}} Testimony of producer K.N. Vasu |url=https://sangam.org/mgr-remembered-part-38/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211023151123/https://sangam.org/mgr-remembered-part-38/ |archive-date=23 October 2021 |access-date=17 November 2022 |website=Ilankai Tamil Sangam}} and Sundaram.{{Cite web |title=... And thus he made Chandralekha sixty years ago |url=http://madrasmusings.com/Vol%2018%20No%2017/and_thus_he_made_chandralekha_sixty_years_ago.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524070957/http://madrasmusings.com/Vol%2018%20No%2017/and_thus_he_made_chandralekha_sixty_years_ago.html |archive-date=24 May 2013 |access-date=14 November 2016 |website=Madras Musings}}
Partial filmography
References
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Category:Indian film actresses
Category:Indian female dancers
Category:Actresses in Tamil cinema
Category:Indian women playback singers
Category:Tamil playback singers
Category:People from Ramanathapuram district
Category:Singers from Tamil Nadu
Category:Dancers from Tamil Nadu
Category:20th-century Indian singers
Category:20th-century Indian dancers
Category:20th-century Indian actresses