Padmini was a visual treat and a connosseur’s delight on the silver screen, a damsel who was admired and acclaimed not only for her classic beauty but also for her memorable histronics. She was hailed as the queen of south indian cinema in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
Born in Travencore, Kerala, on 12th June 1932, she was the middle sister. Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini became popular dancers in different genres like Kathakali, Bharatnatyam and folk dance and came to be called the Travencore Sisters. The trio were the disciples of Indian dancer Guru Gopinath. They learnt Kathakali and Kerala Natanam styles of dancing from him.The trio were the disciples of Indian dancer Guru Gopinath. They learnt Kathakali and Kerala Natanam styles of dancing from him. While her sisters concentrated only on Malayalam films, Padmini was more active in Tamil. But she remembered one Malayalam film Adhyapika (Teacher) in which she played the teacher. The movie was completed in just 13 days in Trivandrum and got a National Award for that film." …show more content…
We used to act in films, and dance on stage. We formed a troupe called Dancers of India."
Dance was their passion, not films. What they performed in films -- the snake charmers, Krishna Leela, the story of Radha-Krishna, etc -- were picked up from stage. And, they would travel all around the world with their troupe. In one of their famous dance dramas, Ramayana , Padmini played Sita and her younger sister Ragini, Rama. The eldest Lalitha was Ravana and Sukumari and Ambika danced as Hanuman and Bharatan respectively. "Being the tallest, Ragini always performed the male characters. And, as I was the shortest, I was the female lead all the time."
"I used to play characters who were crying most of the time. Ragini was good at comedy roles and Lalitha in vampish
Born in Travencore, Kerala, on 12th June 1932, she was the middle sister. Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini became popular dancers in different genres like Kathakali, Bharatnatyam and folk dance and came to be called the Travencore Sisters. The trio were the disciples of Indian dancer Guru Gopinath. They learnt Kathakali and Kerala Natanam styles of dancing from him.The trio were the disciples of Indian dancer Guru Gopinath. They learnt Kathakali and Kerala Natanam styles of dancing from him. While her sisters concentrated only on Malayalam films, Padmini was more active in Tamil. But she remembered one Malayalam film Adhyapika (Teacher) in which she played the teacher. The movie was completed in just 13 days in Trivandrum and got a National Award for that film." …show more content…
We used to act in films, and dance on stage. We formed a troupe called Dancers of India."
Dance was their passion, not films. What they performed in films -- the snake charmers, Krishna Leela, the story of Radha-Krishna, etc -- were picked up from stage. And, they would travel all around the world with their troupe. In one of their famous dance dramas, Ramayana , Padmini played Sita and her younger sister Ragini, Rama. The eldest Lalitha was Ravana and Sukumari and Ambika danced as Hanuman and Bharatan respectively. "Being the tallest, Ragini always performed the male characters. And, as I was the shortest, I was the female lead all the time."
"I used to play characters who were crying most of the time. Ragini was good at comedy roles and Lalitha in vampish