Telugu star Mahesh Babu and politician Talasani Srinivas Yadav unveiled the statue of late actor-filmmaker Vijaya Nirmala on her 74th birth anniversary on Thursday. Nirmala was the stepmother of Mahesh Babu.
Nirmala breathed her last in June, 2019 at Continental Hospital in Hyderabad, where she had been undergoing treatment. The veteran actress had starred in over 200 films, besides directing 44 in over three decades.
The actress, who made her debut as a child actor at the age of five, rose to fame when she starred opposite Prem Nazir in the 1964 Malayalam film Bhargavi Nilayam. She again acted opposite Prem Nazir in Udhyogastha in 1967. She made her debut in the Telugu film industry with the film Panduranga Mahatyam at the age of eleven.
The veteran star got her first role as a leading lady in Tollywood in the movie Rangula Ratnam, in which she acted alongside Vanisri and Anjali Devi.
She entered the Guinness Book of Records in 2002 for directing the most number of films as female director. In 2008, the Andhra Pradesh government honoured her with Raghupathi Venkaiah award for her contribution to Telugu film industry.
Nirmala and Telugu actor Savitri are the only female directors to have directed legendary actor Sivaji Ganesan.
The veteran actress first married Krishna Murthy and they had a son, Naresh. After parting ways with Murthy, she tied the knot with actor Krishna, who already had five children from his earlier marriage, including Mahesh Babu.
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Source: News18