Krishna Kumari, the superstar who was ahead of her time

Wednesday began on a sad note for Telugu film fraternity which woke up to the news of yesteryear superstar, Krishna Kumari’s death. The veteran actor breathed her last at her Bengaluru residence on Wednesday at 8 am. It is learnt that she had been ailing for some time.

Krishna Kumari

, who happens to be the younger sister of Sowkar Janaki is survived by her daughter Deepika, son-in-law and grandson.

A veteran of over 200 filmsBorn on March 6, 1933, the three-time National Award winning actress made her debut with the film

Navvithe Navaratnalu

in 1951. The films Palle Paduchu and Bangaru Papa (1954), Bharya Bhartalu (1961), Vagdanam (1961), Kulagothralu (1962), Bandipotu (1963), Gudi Gantalu (1964), Doctor Chakravarthy (1964) and Sri Krishna Tulabharam (1966) are considered as
classics in the annals of Telugu cinema. At the peak of her career, from the 1950s to the 1970s, Krishna Kumari worked with several icons such as NT Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Kantha Rao and Jagayya in Telugu and with Sivaji Ganesan and Rajkumar in Tamil and Kannada. In an illustrious career spanning more than three decades, she acted in more than 200 films, including 30 films in Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada.

A path breaker who was ahead of her timesIn a day and age when heroines stuck strictly to conventional attire and roles, Krishna Kumari created a sensation of sorts when she donned a bikini for a scene in the film Lakshadhikari (1963). However, the censor Board chopped off that particular scene. In that sense, she was far ahead of her times. Even when she was ruling the roost as a star heroine, she acted opposite Krishnam Raju in his debut film

Chilaka Gorinka

.

She was one of the few actresses who lived life on her terms: JayasudhaReminiscing about her association with Krishna Kumari, actress Jayasudha said, “I first met her on the sets of the film Jyothi directed by

K Raghavendra Rao

. She played the role of Gummadigaru’s wife in the film. I did only about two films with her. But I met her subsequently at a lot of events. She was very sweet lady, highly disciplined and soft spoken. Many people in the initial days of my career said that my behaviour and personality was like that of Krishna Kumari. I think she was one of the few actresses who lived life on her terms.”

Inputs: Sunayana.Suresh@timesgroup.com