Cinemaazi remembers Vijaya Nirmala on her birth anniversary
20 Feb 1946
A Guinness Book of World Records record-holder as female director with maximum number of films to her credit, today marks the birth anniversary of actress and filmmaker, Vijaya Nirmala. She was born Nidudavolu Nirmala this day in 1946 and went on to direct 44 films. Entering films as a child artiste at age seven in the Tamil film Machcha Rekhai (1950), she debuted as a lead in the Telugu film Panduranga Mahatmyam (1957). She went on to act in more than 200 films, mainly in Telugu, and to a lesser degree in the Malayalam and Tamil industries. Among her films are Bhargavi Nilayam (1964), Rangula Ratnam (1966), Saakshi (1967), Udhyogastha (1967), Vichithra Dampathyam (1971), Pandati Kapuram (1972), Alluri Seetharama Raju (1974), and Sumangali Kolam (1984). She debuted as director with the film Kavitha (1973), later making films such as Meena (1973), Hema Hemeelu (1979), Bhogi Mantalu (1981), Surya Chandra (1985), Collector Vijaya (1988), Prajala Manishi (1990), Yes Nenante Nene (1994), Puttinti Gowravam, and Neramu Siksha (2009). Launching her production house Vijaya Krishan Movies, she produced 15 films, also managing Padmalaya Studios. Vijaya Nirmala passed away on 27 June, 2019.
