Prominent Telugu filmmaker, veteran actor, Vijaya Nirmala, has bid us farewell. In the wee hours of Thursday, the 73-year-old passed away at Continental Hospital, Gachibowli.
The only woman in the world to have directed over 40 films, Nirmala was awarded Raghupathi Venkaiah Award in 2008 for her contribution to the Telugu film industry. It is the highest award given to people for lifetime achievement in Telugu cinema.
In 2002, she held the Guinness World Record for the most number of films directed by a woman.
She ventured into the industry as a child artist in Tamil movie Matsyarekhai (1950) and then debuted in Telugu film at the young age of 11. The film went on to run for a hundred days in Vijayawada and Guntur.
In 1964, she played the lead role in one of the biggest hits in Malayalam film industry, 'Bhargavi Nilayam' opposite Prem Nazir. Following this, she acted in a number of Tamil and Telugu films - Enga Veettu Penn (1965), Rangula Ratnam (1966), Saakshi (1967), Alluri Seetarama Raju (1974) and Sri Sri (2016), to name a few.
She later launched her own production house under the name 'Vijaya Krishna Movies' which went on to make 15 films.
Actor Manchu Manoj, BJP chief K Laxman and many prominent individuals tweeted their condolences for the legendary filmmaker.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao condoled the death of Vijaya Nirmala. "The Chief Minister conveyed his condolences to the members of the bereaved family. He remembered her services in the Telugu cine field," an official release said.
Nirmala, whose acting credits run up to 200 films and director credits up to 44 movies, is survived by her husband, veteran actor Krishna and son Vijaya Krishna Naresh.
(With inputs from PTI)