Vijaya Nirmala

Vijaya Nirmala (born Nidudavolu Nirmala; 20 February 1946 – 27 June 2019) was an Indian film actress, producer and director known for her works predominantly in Telugu cinema. She directed 44 films in Telugu. In 2002, she entered the Guinness Book of Records as the female director of the most films. In 2008, she received the Raghupathi Venkaiah Award for her contributions to Telugu cinema. She, and fellow Telugu actress Savitri, are the only female directors to have directed Tamil actor Sivaji Ganesan.
Personal life.
Vijaya Nirmala was born in Madras Presidency into a film producing Nidudavolu Telugu Brahmin family. Her father was a film producer. Her paternal uncle is scholar and literary historian, Nidudavolu Venkatarao. Actress Jayasudha is Venkatrao's grand daughter while singer Raavu Balasaraswathi is her paternal aunt's daughter. Her son Naresh from her first marriage to Krishna Murthy, is an actor. After divorcing her first husband, she married actor Krishna.
Death.
Vijaya Nirmala died on 27 June 2019, at the age of 73, in Hyderabad at Continental hospital, Gachibowli of a heart attack.
Career.
Vijaya Nirmala entered cinema at the age of seven as a child artist with a Tamil movie Machcha Rekhai (1950). At age eleven she debuted in Telugu films with the movie "Panduranga Mahatmyam" (1957). In 1964, she starred opposite Prem Nazir and rose to stardom with the Malayalam "Bhargavi Nilayam". Also, in 1967, she starred again opposite Prem Nazir in "Udhyogastha", by P. Venu. She debuted in the Telugu industry in the film "Rangula Ratnam".
Her first film in Tamil was "Engaveettu Penn", which was followed by "Panama Paasama", "En Annan", "Gnanaoli" and "Uyira Maanama". She met her second husband Krishna on the sets of "Saakshi" (1967), her second film in Telugu, and they starred together in 47 films. It was "Saakshi" that kindled her interest in direction. She has acted in over 200 films with 25 each in Malayalam and Tamil, and the remaining in Telugu.
Her small screen debut came with Balaji Telefilms' "Pelli Kanuka". Soon after, she launched her own banner Vijaya Krishna Movies and produced 15 films. She made her directorial debut with a Malayalam film on a budget of 3 lakhs. She made her directorial debut in Telugu with "Meena" and directed 40 films in Telugu and one film each in Malayalam (directorial debut film) and Tamil ("Kungumachimizh"). The actress-director was based in Hyderabad and managed Padmalaya Studios and Padmalaya Telefilms Ltd.