Remembering Padmini (Kammo of Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai)

Padmini was born on 12 June 1932 and raised in Thiruvananthapuram in what was then the princely state of Travancore (now the Indian state of Kerala). She was the second daughter of SreeThankappan Pillai and Saraswathi Amma both come from noble Nair families. Her sisters, Lalitha and Ragini, were also well known film actresses. Together, the three were known as the Travancore sisters. Padmini and her sisters learnt bharathanatyam from Thiruvidaimarudur Mahalingam Pillai. The trio was the disciples of Indian dancer Guru Gopinath. They learnt Kathakali and Kerala Natanam styles of dancing from him.

N.S. Krishnan noticed her talents while she was presenting Parijatha Pushpapaharanam in Thiruvananthapuram. After that performance, he said that in the future she would become an actress. She was thus cast as heroine in his own production Manamagal.

At the age of 14, Padmini was cast as the dancer in the Hindi film Kalpana (1948), launching her career. She acted in over 250 Indian films for nearly 30 years. Padmini was a leading actress and highest paid actress of 50s, 60s and 70s.She is also known as one of the charming beauty queen of 50s and 60s.She also received government awards.

Padmini starred with several of the most well-known actors in Indian film, including Sivaji Ganesan, M. G. Ramachandran, N. T. Rama Rao, Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Sathyan, Prem Nazir, Rajkumar, Gemini Ganesan and S. S. Rajendran. She appeared with Sivaji Ganesan in 59 films.

She acted mostly in Tamil films. Ezhai Padum Padu released in 1950 was her first film in Tamil.Her association with Sivaji Ganesan started with Panam in 1952. Some of her noted Tamil films include Thanga Padhumai, Anbu, Kaattu Roja, Thillana Mohanambal, Vietnam Veedu, Edhir Paradhathu, Mangayar Thilakam and Poove Poochudava. Some of her popular Malayalam films include Prasanna, Snehaseema, Vivaahitha, Adhyaapika, Kumara Sambhavam, Nokkethadhoorathu Kannum Nattu, Vasthuhara and Dolar.

In two of her popular Bollywood films — Mera Naam Joker and Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai — she was paired with Raj Kapoor. She did another film with Raj Kapoor AashiQ (1962). Her other Bollywood films include Payal (1957), Afsana (1966), Vaasna (1968), Chanda Aur Bijli (1969) and Babubhai Mistry's Mahabharat (1965). In Mera Naam Joker she played very bold role of a girl who used to dress like a boy till accidentally her real sex is noticed by the hero of the film Raj Kapoor. The film had hot scenes involving Padmini.

After her marriage to Ramachandran, a U.S.-based physician in 1961, she retired temporarily from films and focused on family life and refining her classical dance. She settled in the United States and in 1977 opened her classical dance school in New Jersey, the Padmini School of Fine Arts.
Padmini died of a heart attack at the Chennai Apollo Hospital on 24 September 2006. She was hospitalized on the previous day when she suffered the fatal heart attack during a meeting with the then Tamil Nadu CM M. Karunanidhi.