Showing all artists born at Trivandrum

Udaya Chandrika, better known by her screen name Radha is an Indian actress popular in the 80s and early 90s. She has acted in numerous movies with top actors of the South Indian cinema such as Sivaji Ganesan, Chiranjeevi, Rajinikanth, Mohanlal, Kamal Haasan, Venkatesh, Prabhu, Vijayakanth, Karthik Muthuraman, Karthik, Krishna and Sathyaraj . She has acted in over 200 movies in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi.

Radha hails from Kallara in Thiruvananthapuram District in Kerala. Radha Nair and her husband R.S Nair, son Vignesh Nair, daughters Thulasi Nair and daughter Karthika Nair have settled in Mumbai. For the past 20 years they have owned a chain of restaurants in Mumbai and two hotels called UDS in Kovalam at Kerala, which have won the best coastal beach resort award, they also own a restaurant in the UK named "Rock and Role Kitchen"(RRK). Her sister Ambika is also an actress. Her daughter Karthika Nair started her career as an actress with the Telugu film Josh and went on to do Makaramanju and Ko.

Radha was spotted by director Bharathiraja and was cast as a teenager in Alaigal Oivathillai in 1981 opposite then newcomer Karthik.

Radha started her career with Bharathiraja's 'Alaigal Ooivathilai'. Gopurangal Saivathillai proved her acting talents. She played a powerful role as a second wife of Mohan and matched the national award winner Suhasini (who played the first wife) in this movie. Radha played a small role in Tik Tik Tik, a Kamal Haasan starrer. Tik Tik Tik played a significant role in her career. She then starred in a number of Kamal Hassan movies like Oru Kaithiyin Diary, Thoongathey Thambi Thoongathey, Kathal Parisu and Jappanil Kalyanaraman. Her close friend and mentor, actress Suhasini Maniratnam helped her in improving her make-up and took special care by voluntarily opting to hairdress Radha whenever they acted together.

Her major break came from her mentor Bharathiraja. Radha was cast a movie opposite Sivaji Ganesan. Muthal Mariyathai released in the year 1985. After Muthal Mariyathai, she got a number of challenging roles including in movies like Nyaya Tharasu.

Her sister Ambika is also a very popular actress. They acted together in films like Enkeyo Ketta Kural, Kadhal Parisu, Anna Nagar Mudhal Theru, Idhaya Kovil and Vellai Roja.

The two sisters were at the zenith of their beauty and fame when they acted in Kadhal Parisu. They put up electrifying performances that easily overshadowed even Kamal Hasan, the senior actor paired opposite to them. Ambika and Radha managed their careers very carefully, seldom directly competing in the same turf. They both used the Tamil movie industry to launch their careers, but spent only a minority of time in Tamil once their success & fame spread across the South. Ambika acted in more Kannada and Malayalam movies, quickly getting to the top-2 spots in both markets. Ambika and Radha were both very selective about taking up roles in Tamil movies once they became successful, rejecting many offers and only pairing with the top actors and directors of the time. It was very rare to see both the sisters in the same movie after their early years in Tamil. So it was indeed a dream come true for fans when Kadhal Parisu hit the screens, especially since both sisters played the roles of very glamorous and highly desirable women in the movie.

Telugu cinema

She acted in her first Telugu film with Sobhan Babu in Mr.Vijay. Her notable films in Telugu include Yamudiki Mogudu and State Rowdy, Raamudu Bheemudu, Agni Parvatam. She has acted in around 16 films with Chiranjeevi. 3 films with Balakrishna and worked with all major heroes like NTR, ANR, Krishna, Shoban Babu and many more. Her Glamour roles wre brought out by K. Raghavendra Rao and A. Kodandarami Reddy

Kannada cinema

Radha has also done quite a number of Kannada films. She acted with veteran Vishnuvardhan and actress Lakshmi in Soubhagya Lakshmi, a remake of the Hindi film Maang Bharo Sajana. This film in turn is a remake of a Telugu movie. She has also done films with Ravichandran. In 1991, she did a Kannada movie Ranachandi with co-actors Sharat Babu, Ramesh Bhat, Mukhyamantri Chandru and Sudhir. In the film, she played a cop with Sharat Babu as her husband and Mukhyamantri Chandru as the villain. She had many stunts and fight sequences in the film. It was a big hit in Kannada & is still remembered by Kannada movie goers.

Malayalam cinema

Radha acted only in a few Malayalam films, the most notable being K. G. George's state award winning film Irakal (1986). Her performance as Nirmala in this film is widely regarded as one of the best in her career. She produced the Malayalam film Ayitham (1987) in which she enacted the lead role. She also played significant roles in Sathyan Anthikad's Revathikkoru Pavakkutty (1986) and P. G. Viswambaran's Innathe Programme (1991).

Shaji Kailas is a Malayalam film director. He is known for his hard-hitting action films.

Shaji Kailas's debut as a director was in 1989 with News, starring Suresh Gopi in the lead role. Scripted by Jagadish, this investigative thriller was an average grosser. But, with this film, Shaji succeeded in gaining attention of film viewers. But his second release Sunday 7 PM, came out in 1990 was a big flop. Later in the same year, he directed Dr. Pasupathy, a political satire, with Innocent in a leading role. Dr. Pashupathi, written by Renji Panicker, ended up as one of the biggest grosser of the year. This film also marked the beginning of Shaji Kailas- Renji Panicker combo, which later went into making of several super hits. But, the success of Dr. Pashupathy was followed by two huge flops Souhrudam, starring Mukesh and Saikumar in the leading roles and Kilukkampetti, with Jayaram as hero. Shaji Kailas then switched to action films.

Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chitra or K. S. Chithra is an Indian playback singer. Born on July 27, 1963, in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, into a family of musicians, Chithra’s talent was recognized and nurtured from an early age by her father, the late Krishnan Nair. He was also her first guru (teacher). Her elder sister K. S. Beena is also a singer who has performed in many films as a playback singer.Chithra received her extensive training in Carnatic music from Dr. K. Omanakutty, and got a Masters in Music from the University of Kerala. She was selected for the National Talent Search Scholarship from the Central Government from 1978–1984. She is married to Vijayashankar, an engineer and businessman and settled in Chennai.Popularly and fondly referred to as Chinna Kuyil of South India, Chitra sings Indian classical, devotional, and popular music.She has lent her voice to Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Oriya, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Badaga and Punjabi films. She is a recipient of six National Film Awards (the most by any female singer), five Filmfare Awards South and more than thirty different state film awards. She is the only singer to have won all the 4 South Indian state awards till date. Their only daughter Nandana died aged 8, in a pool accident in April 2011 at Dubai.

Chitra was introduced to Malayalam playback by M. G. Radhakrishnan in 1979 and went on to become a regular singer for many Malayalam musicians, including Raveendran. Attahasam, Snehapurvam Meera and Njaan Ekananu were the first few films which she recorded her songs. She also performed live concerts with K. J. Yesudas in India and abroad and that was a turning point in her career. Veteran music directors such as Raveendran, Shyam, Jerry Amaldev, Mohan Sithara, Kannoor Rajan and Johnson also helped her move up in her career ladder. She made her debut in the Tamil film industry through the song "Poojaikketha Poovithu" from the film Neethana Antha Kuyil, which was composed by Ilaiyaraaja. She was given the title Chinnakuyil after singing the song "Chinna Kuyil Paadum" from the 1985 released film Poove Poochudava. Director Fazil cast her for this song after Ilaiyaraaja got impressed with her song sung in original version in Malayalam for the film Nokkethadhoorathu Kannum Nattu in 1984 directed by himself.

By the mid-eighties, she became the most sought after female singer in Malayalam and Tamil. She recorded many hit songs for the most famous composers in Malayalam and numerous songs for Ilaiyaraaja in Tamil. She has been acredited as the only female singer to have sung the maximum number of songs for the Academy Award winning composer A. R. Rahman for his Tamil film songs. She also sang for veteran composers such as G. Devarajan, M. S. Viswanathan, K. V. Mahadevan, Ouseppachan, Deva, Vidyasagar, Bharadhwaj, Chakravarthy, M. Jayachandran, M.G.Sreekumar, M. M. Keeravani, Hamsalekha, Sharreth, Raj-Koti, Rajan-Nagendra, S. A. Rajkumar, Mani Sharma, Harris Jayaraj, Devisri Prasad and many other south Indian music directors.

She has recorded many memorable Hindi songs for various music directors in Bollywood, namely A. R. Rahman, Anand-Milind, Anu Malik, Rajesh Roshan, Viju Shah, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Naushad, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Jatin-Lalit and many others. She also recorded the Hindi versions of her own Tamil songs sung for A. R. Rahman.

Apart from playback singing, she also appeared among the panel of judges in the singing reality Television shows at Kerala (Idea Star Singer) and Tamil Nadu (Airtel Super Singer Junior).

Ambika is an Indian film actress. She works in Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada films. She has an elder sister, Amba, and a younger sister Ambalika. Her another sister Radha was also an actress. Both of them acted in a number of south Indian films in 80s and they have a movie studio called "ARS Studios".

Ambika started her career as a child artist and later on acted in more than 200 South Indian films. Her career as a heroine started with the Malayalam movie Seetha, which only released really late in her career. But with films like Neelathaamara and Lejjavathi, she became a busy actress in a couple of years not only in Malayalam, but also in Tamil and Kannada.

She has acted with heroes in all languages which includes Jayan, Mammooty, Mohanlal, Prem Nazir, Sukumaran, M. G. Soman in Malayalam; Rajnikanth, Kamal Haasan, Sivaji Ganesan, Prabhu, Vijayakanth, Mohan, Karthik Muthuraman, Sivakumar, Bhagyaraj, Sathyaraj in Tamil; NTR, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Muralimohan, Mohan Babu, Krishna, Krishnamraju in Telugu; Rajkumar, Vishnuvardhan, Ambarish, Srinath, Anant Nag, Shankar Nag, Ravichandran, Prabhakar in Kannada. Her pairing with Ambarish was famous in Kannada.

K. Bhagyaraj introduced Ambika in his movie Andha 7 Natkal. She acted with Rajinikanth in many movies and has appeared in glamorous roles in movies such as Padikkadhavan, Maaveeran, Kaakki Sattai, Vikram and Kadhal Parisu. Most of her films have been with actors such as Rajinikanth, Kamal Hassan, Mohanlal, Rajkumar, Mammootty, Ambarish and Vijayakanth.

She had a very successful career in Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam movies throughout the 1980s. In Tamil and Malayalam, she took on a few bold roles that showcased her versatility and talent. In Kannada, however, she appeared in many roles and songs that were characteristic by being erotic yet understated.

In Tamil, Ambika shot to fame with the movie Kakki Sattai. In the zenith of her career she was paired in the same movie with her sister Radha in Kadhal Parisu, where both actresses demonstrated their acting prowess by taking on roles of two young, beautiful sisters, who had strong, yet conflicting personalities.

After returning to India later and started acting again in films like Periyamanushan with Sathyaraj in a glamorous role, Maa Naanaki Pelli in Telugu and with Krishnam raju and Simmadamari in Kannada. She acted as heroine in Vikaraman’s project Mariyathai, in which Vijayakanth acted in father and son roles along with Meena and Meera Jasmin. She acted in Malayalam films like Angel John with Mohanlal, Thanthonni, Sathgamaya and is currently more active doing TV serials.

Ragini (1937–1976) was a South Indian danseuse and actress. She was the youngest of the famed Travancore Sisters: Lalitha, Padmini, and Ragini.  With sister Padmini, she started her acting career in the mid-1950s and has acted in movies of different Indian languages including Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu. The era of dance in Hindi cinema is considered to have begun with the entrance of Ragini and other South Indian actresses.  Ragini died of breast cancer in 1976.She had acted in many dramas also.

Family

She was married to Madhavan Thampi. The couple had two daughtes, Lakshmi and Priya.  Actress Sukumari was the trio's maternal first cousin. Malayalam actors Shobana, Ambika Sukumaran, Vineeth and Krishna are her relatives. Her husband left her for U.S.A. in 1972, but returned after his wife became ill from cancer.

Padmini (12 June 1932 – 24 September 2006) was an Indian actress and trained Bharathanatyam dancer who acted in over 250 Indian films.  She acted in the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi language films. Padmini, with her elder sister Lalitha and her younger sister Ragini, were called the "Travancore sisters".

Padmini was born 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 comes 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 Vazhuvoor B. Ramaiah Pillai. The trio were 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 will become an actress. She was thus cast as heroine in his own production Manamagal.

The Travancore Sisters grew up in a joint family tharavadu 'Malaya Cottage' in Poojappura, Trivandrum.  The matriarchial head of the family was Karthiyayini Amma whose husband was PK Pillai (Palakunnathu Krishna Pillai of Cherthala) alias 'Penang Padmanabha Pillai'. PK Pillai had six sons of whom Satyapalan Nair (Baby) was a leading producer of many early Malayalam films. Another son, Raveendran Nair's daughter Latika Suresh, is a leading producer of Malayalam TV programs. They performed at the 1955 Filmfare Awards.

At the age of 14, Padmini was cast as the dancer in the Hindi film Kalpana (1948), launching her career.  She acted in films for nearly 30 years.

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, 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, kattu 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.

Her most famous was Thillana Mohanambal, a Tamil film, where she plays a dancer competing against a musician to see whose skills are better.  She also acted in a Indian-Soviet film Journey Beyond Three Seas (Hindi version: Pardesi) based on the travelogues of Russian traveler Afanasy Nikitin (called A Journey Beyond the Three Seas, which is now considered a Russian literary monument), in which she plays the role of Lakshmi, a royal dancer.

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.  Today, her school is considered as one of the largest Indian classical dance institutions in America.

Actress Sukumari is the trio's maternal first cousin. Shobana, the famous dancer, is the niece of Padmini. Actors Vineeth and Krishna are relatives.Padmini died of a heart attack at the Chennai Apollo Hospital on 24 September 2006. She is survived by a son, who is settled in the United States.

Padmini was well known for her professional rivalry with actress Vyjayanthimala, the successful dancer-actress.  They performed a dance number in the Tamil film Vanjikottai Valiban; the well known song was "Kannum Kannum Kalanthu" which was sung by P. Leela and Jikki. In the song they were pitted against each other. Due to their professional rivalry the song has a cult following since the film was released; the popularity of the song surpasses the popularity of the film.

Karthika was an actress in Malayalam cinema from 1985 to 1989. Karthika's debut movie was Manicheppu Thurannappol.

She was known for her ability to portray simple and bold characters. She was an unconventional beauty who wore minimal makeup and different hairstyles in all her movies.

Karthika was introduced into movies by the Malayalam director Balachandra Menon. She came to the Malayalam movie industry as a junior artist, She was one of the group dancers of the movie Oru painkilikadha. Then she was noted by that movie director Balachandra Menon and he casted her in his next film " Manicheppu Thurannappol" as heroine. She was most frequently paired with Mohan Lal. She also appeared in the popular Tamil movie Nayagan as the daughter of Velu Naykar, played by Kamal Haasan.

She left filmdom for marriage while at peak of her career. She now prefers to stay out of the limelight and is leading a quiet family life in the Maldives. Her husband is a medical doctor and her father is a retired military officer.