18 minutes agoAuthor: Ifat Qureshi
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Actress Vijayashree is said to be the most beautiful actress of Malayalam cinema. According to Malayali film historians, Vijayashree was so beautiful that fans used to come to theaters to watch her, not just movies. She was compared to Hollywood pin-up girls Rita Hayworth. Also, even today, 50 years after her death, she is called the Marilyn Monroe of Malayalam cinema.
Vijayashree, who was surrounded by glitter and crowd of fans, became a heroine at the age of just 13 years. Within a few years, she was paired with the superstar of that era, Prem Nazir, which left a deep impression in the minds of people. Every top filmmaker associated with Malayalam cinema of the 60-70s admitted that he had never seen a beauty like Vijayashree anywhere; And then one day this beauty became the reason for their destruction.
Vijayashree had a wardrobe malfunction during the shooting of the 1973 film Ponnapuram Kotta. Vijayashree could not bear the shock when the filmmakers deceived her and included her objectionable scene in the film. At the age of just 21, Vijayashree, who was at the peak of her career, ended her life. Even after 50 years of her death, no actress could take her place in Malayalam cinema.
Today in Unsunni Dastan, read the shocking story of Malayalam cinema's Marilyn Monroe-
On 8 January 1953, Vijayashree was born in Poojappura village, Thiruvananthapuram. Vijayashree, the eldest of two brothers, was very beautiful since childhood. Due to this beauty, at the age of just 13, she was given a small role in the 1966 Tamil film Chitti. In the very first film, Vijayashree got a chance to work with top artists like Gemini Ganesan and Padmini. The film was a huge hit and Vijayashree, who appeared in a minor role, attracted people's attention even in less screen time. Thanks to this, he got half a dozen films in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada languages.
Due to his first film, he was cast in the Malayalam film Poojapushpam. This film, directed by Thikkurishi Sukumaran Nair, was released in the year 1969. She was given a side role in the film, while the lead roles were starring Prem Nazir and Sheela.
Director Thikkurishi liked Vijayashree's acting in her first Malayalam film so much that he gave her 3 films simultaneously.
Got recognition in the 70s, many films were released simultaneously
Vijayashree's films released in the 70s like Lanka Dahanam (1971), Taxi Car (1972), Aromalunni (1972), Postman Kannanila (1972), Angathattu (1973) continued to be hits. This gave him a lot of popularity in the South Film Industry. Most of these films were done by Vijayashree with superstar Prem Nazir. Even today, the pair of Prem Nazir and Vijayashree is considered to be the most iconic pair of Malayalam cinema.
Malayalam photographer had said on the pairing of Vijayashree and Prem Nazir, 'The pair of these two was the most successful pairing of Malayalam cinema. I remember that none of the films they did together flopped.
Marilyn Monroe of Malayalam cinema was called Vijayashree
Director Bharatan had said to his associate Jayaraj about Vijayashree's beauty, Vijayashree is the most beautiful woman I have ever met.
Whereas filmmaker Jayaraj had said, She is the Marilyn Monroe of Malayalam cinema. No woman has as many fans as Vijayashree. In a short period of time, she has given as many hits as no other actress. No actress had made such an impact in Malayalam cinema so quickly. People used to come to theaters just to see him.
Actor Kaduvakulam Antony had said about Vijayashree's beauty, If Jayan was the most beautiful among male actors, till date there has been no actress in Malayalam cinema whose beauty can be compared to Vijayashree. Her beauty was God's art.
Became a sex symbol by playing bold roles, gave many hits in the race to change her image
Even though Vijayashree was an example of beauty in Malayalam cinema for her fans, there was a section which was a fan of her boldness. Vijayashree was also seen as a sex symbol and item girl in Malayalam cinema. However, she was unhappy with her image. This was the reason why he had signed films like Jeevikkan Marannupoya Stree, Yaovanam, Adyathe Katha to change his image in the 70s.
Open clothes on the set, cameraman shot the scene
Vijayashree was seen with Prem Nazir in the film Ponnaporam Kotta, released in 1973. In one of the songs of this film, Villiyoor Kavere, Vijayashree was shown bathing in a waterfall. Vijayashree was wrapped in a transparent white cloth during the shooting of the song.
As soon as the shooting of the scene started, the cloth wrapped around her slipped due to the strong flow of water and there was a wardrobe malfunction. Vijayashree got embarrassed in front of the entire unit on the set, but she continued shooting while maintaining her clothes. The cameraman, showing shamelessness, did not switch off the camera and captured this incident that happened to him on reel. Vijayashree was quite frightened after this accident. She was already struggling to get rid of her bold image, then she started getting worried about taking off her clothes in front of the entire unit.
The film Ponnaporam Kotta was released on 30 March 1973.
Wrong reel of wardrobe malfunction kept in the film
When Vijayashree reached the screening with her entire unit, the scene was embarrassing. To attract the audience, the makers of the film had included the scene of Vijayashree taking off her clothes in the film. Vijayashree was stunned to see that scene, because she was sure that the cameraman must have deleted that clip during the shooting itself. Vijayashree was hurt by the fact that her nude scene was included in the film without her permission.
Vijayashree requested the filmmakers, the clip was not removed
After the release of the film, Vijayashree requested the makers of the film to remove that one scene from the film, but it did not happen. Thanks to that one scene, crowds started flocking to watch the film and it earned huge money at the box office.
Suicide a year after the film's release, death still under question
Vijayashree committed suicide on 17 March 1974, exactly a year after the release of the film Ponnaporam Kotta. Vijayashree came into limelight by committing suicide at the age of just 21. He had many big films in that period. No suicide note was found near his dead body, nor was there any concrete reason for his death. However, according to the report of Malayalam news website Malayali Samayan.com, the cameraman of the film Ponnaporam Kotta was blackmailing Vijayashree through her objectionable scenes.
Film historians believe that Vijayashree had committed suicide after being upset by the objectionable scenes of the film Ponnakoram Kotta.
Friend claims she had a relationship with a man before her death
After Vijayashree's death, her friend Srilatha Namboothiri had mentioned in an interview about a person with whom she was in a relationship. She had told that she often spent time with that person. Vijayashree also wanted to marry that person. That person had also come to meet Vijayashree during the shooting of a film in Madras, at that time Srilatha had also met him. However, he did not have any concrete information about that person.
Vijayashree's story shown in the film
Jayaraj, who gave the status of Marilyn Monroe to Vijayashree, made her a film heroine in the year 2011. The story of this film was exactly similar to Vijayashree's story, although the climax was made different from the original story. The actress of the film was Sharda, who looked a lot like Vijayashree. The film's lead actor Jayaram was shown like Prem Nazir.
Next Saturday, May 11, read the story of South Star Pushpavalli. Pushpavalli is the mother of Hindi cinema's best actress Rekha. She was in a relationship with Gemini Ganesan, with whom she had two daughters, Rekha and Radha. Within a few years, Gemini rejected her and refused to give her the status of his wife. Pushpavalli struggled to get her daughter a place in cinema.
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