Glamour & Talent doesn’t go hand in hand except for some rare people like Sarojadevi, Bharathi, JAyalalitha & KAnchana. (jaya is little odd because in glamour the feminine quotient will be less). So there we go. Another request from Chitralaya sriram anna to write about this evergreen beauty Kanchana. Quite understandable his affection for her because she was introduced in Sridhar’s film and Dad Gopu sir’s dialouges and from then on their association continued. So the request was natural and I’m indeed happy to write about Kanchana. Born on 16’th August 1939 at Vijayawada (the place which has given many artists like Ghantasala, P.Suseela & many more) she was working as Air hostess and of course many cine professionals flying would have noticed this beauty. Creators look for sharp features (in today’s world the meaning of features is completely different) while then it was height, sharp nose, photogenic face etc and Kanchana had everything in her but she was not ready for cinema then. Sometimes the statue waits for the creator to find it and that’s exactly what happened in her case. Creator Genius C.V.Sridhar found this charming airhostess and offered her a role in his comic film “Kadhalikka neramillai “ in 1964. Thus she landed ground into the tinsel world. People might think Kanchana’s debut was Kadhalikka neramillai but that’s not true. She appeared as Devi Kaali or durga in a telugu film which was released before. She started her innings with a great movie directed by the great Sridhar. Along with her there were other new comers too , charming ravichandran, bubbly Rajasree . I wrote at length in kothai notes about the moving completing 50 yrs. The movie opens up with Kanchana & Muthuraman singing the evergreen duet “Enna Paarvai undhan paarvai “ . Movie became a huge hit and all the new comers became stars overnight. First film for her was just a casual rich girl who is in love and she did justice to what was given to her. Slowly many films came her way in tamil & telugu. She started to pair with top heroes at that time mostly in telugu first (with ANR in Aathma gowravam, PReminchi choodu(kadhalikka neramillai in telugu) etc) , but it was the role of Uthara she played in Veera abhimanyu that got noticed by many. She was natural as uthara both in acting and dance sequences and charmed her way in the screen with AVMrajan in tamil, Shoban babu in Telugu. (how can we forget Paarthen sirithen pakkam vara thudithen song) Next she acted as the elder daughter of NAdigar thilagam in Motor sundaram pillai. That’s the first in Shivaji film probably stepping stone for her to act as his pair in the coming days. Though it was a small role still it was noticeable. She paired with Sivakumar in this movie. But when the same movie was made in Telugu she was offered Manimala’s role & she did it finely.She voiced for the evergreen telugu song MAnase andala brundavanam (maname muruganin mayilvaganam in telugu) sung by P.Susheela. Kanchana was fluent in Tamil and Telugu. During this time she started in Malayalam films as well. Next to KRVijaya Kanchana was the other heroine who did movies in all the 4 languages (Tamil, Telugu,Kananda & Malayalam) and few hindi movies too. She also had a chance to act with MAkkal thilagam in Parakkum Paavai where she portrayed once sided love. She continued glamour roles in movies like Marakka mudiyuma etc. She also played as a bold and caring sister in Kodi Malar. Kodi malar gave her additional scope to better as an actress. The movie deals with a dumb woman and kanchana her sister join hands with her lover to bring justice to her sister. Definitely improvement from being a glamour girl to a performer. That too equation with veteran actresss M.V.Rajamma 1967 is a special year for Kanchana. Yes there were many super hit movies this year. The main film was AVM’s thriller Adhey Kangal/Avey Kallu. Adhe kangal – Kanchana had Glamour role and paired up with Ravichandran/Krishna but this film gave her scope to prove a variety of dances including folk, western and many more (whatever was famous then like rock & roll, twist etc). Oh oh Ethanai azhagu 20 vayathinile shot in Mysore brindavan gardens is a visual treat to watch even now. Adhey kangal was a top grosser and KAnchana became a sought after heroine. 1967 also saw her feature in K.BAlachander’s comic family drama “Bhama Vijayam”. She was one of the 3 daughter-in-laws who ruin their lives due to their interest in their actress neighbor Bhama. Amidst a big star cast Kanchana was noticeable with her glasses and the scene where in she considers the thief to be her husband the conversation which follows is hilarious. She also put up quite a show in the song “Ninaithal sirippu varum “ During the same year she also entered Hindi films with the movie FArz. It was in 1967 she also paired up with legendary N.T.R as well and of course in 1967 she got the elevation of one sided lover for Nadigar thilagam in Thangai. So 1967 was definitely a better year for Kanchana. She was constantly doing films in tamil & telugu During this time she also acted in notable Malayalam films like Priyathama, Azhagulla saleena, Kodungallooramma,Thirichadi & many more She also acted with Makkal thilagam in Parakkum paavai & NAan yen pirandhen. 2 movies with makkal thilagam but prominent roles.(thanks vijayakrishnan for pointing out the miss) 1969 is another noticeable year in Kanchana’s career. The main film of Kanchana in 1969 was “shanti nilayam” where in she elevated from heroine to artist. Yes this is her best character portrayed in tamil film. She was attractive with Gemini, compassionate with both the kids and Pandari bhai and showed every kind of emotion in this movie. Shanti nilayam was inspired from Sound of music. Originally kannada folks got inspired from Sound of music and made Bedi bandhavalu in 1968 with Kalyan kumar & Chandrakala in lead. Tamil version was a year later. KAnchana was absolutely brilliant as Malathi in Shanti nilayam. Her acting, Marcus bartley’s photography and MSV’s scintillating music made this movie a grand success. Yet another notable film in 1969 was the telugu film Natakala Rayudu where in veteran actor NAgabushanam played the lead role and Kanchana played the female lead. This film was based on the hindi movie Albela . Kanchana plays the drama company owner who identifies Nagabushanam’s talent and makes him an actor. The movie was appreciated well and Kanchana’s role was also noticeable. When Thulabaram was made in tamil she got Sheela’s role- friend of the female lead sharada. Kanchana did justice to whatever the character asked for. She paired up with muthuraman 1970 marked the year when her mentor Sridhar paired her with NAdigar thilagam in the magnum opus “Sivandha mann” . Excellent songs and her “pattathu rani “ dance number is remembered even now. Kanchana was brilliant as Chitralekha. This was the first movie to shoot outside india. Inspite of the film’s failure it’s remembered for NAdigar thilagam’s acting, foreign locations and Kanchana’s pattathu rani dance as well. 1971 saw 2 brilliant characters from KAnchana. One was the telugu movie Kalyana mandapam. I would rate this as her career best. When Puttanna kanagal’s Gejje pooje was remade in telugu as Kalyana mandapam KAnchana was selected to play the role originally played brilliantly by minugu thare kalpana. Kanchana portrayed the role of a devdasi girl and she matched kalpana’s performance and got many accolades as well. In the same year she played a soft wife who cares for her friend and at the same time need to take care of family’s name in Avalukkenru oru manam. Kanchana played female lead Bharathi’s friend . Even though bharathi’s role is the powerful one Kanchana scored with softer role as well , playing Gemini’s wife , at the same time a very caring friend who tries hard to bring her friend to right track. Mangayaril maharani picturised on Kanchana & Gemini is even memorable now. 1971 also had the comic entertainer “Utharavindri Ulle va” directed by N.C.chakravarthy. Kanchana played the girl who escapes from villain group and seeks shelter at a bachelor’s house where in all the bachelors fall for her.. nice comedy movie and kanchana played her role well in the movie From then on she was seen doing second heroine role or character role mostly In telugu. Her dance sequences in Nageswararao’s bhakta tukaram are mind blowing but the career of the heroine suddenly vanished and she was reduced to do character roles. Times were changing and slowly she faded away. She was seen again with Nadigar thilagam in Avan oru sarithiram (Vanakkam pala murai sonnen)but not as his pair. She did elderly characters (mother roles) in sigappu rojakkal,pagadai pannirendu, babruvahana in kannada (she had a powerful role than sarojadevi in this movie) and many more and she slowly quit acting. During that time she also dealt with personal issues she went and settled with her sister in Bangalore. Unlike Kumudham reported she wasn’t living in any temple or any such sort. She was living with her sister and turned her life into spiritual world. After years of fight she got back all her assets and donated 5crore worth property to Thirupathi Devasthanam, a generous act indeed. Am happy that she is actively seen at many events in Chennai. I was surprised when actor ARS during UAA 60 years ,mentioned that Kanchana has acted in stage plays as well. Kanchana was awarded MGR award by the govt of tamilnadu in 2005. In a career span of 10 years she saw the peak for atleast 5-6 years did variety of roles and still her name is remembered by film lovers. That is Kanchana for us. I pray the almighty for her long and healthy life. Thanks @chitralaya sriram anna for asking me to write about this charming beauty. -Rajesh Lavanya
No comments:
Post a Comment