Late actress Padmini was one of the icons in the Tamil film industry. She left an indelible mark on the audience’s hearts with her acting in the films Thillana Mohanambal, Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai, etc. She made her debut with Marthandavarman and went on to act in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada films. After enjoying a prolific acting career comprising more than 250 films, Padmini married Ramachandran, a US-based physician. She retired from films, joined her husband in the United States, and focused on family life. The couple had one son, Premanand, born in 1963, who lived in Hillsdale, New Jersey, and worked for Warner Brothers. Some of Premanand’s childhood photos have resurfaced recently.
Premanand also has a son named Naveen. Unlike her mother, Premanand didn’t actively pursue a career in films. He only acted in the 1986 film Udayam Padinjaru, directed by Madhu, but couldn’t match his mother’s popularity. Besides acting, he also dabbled in journalism. Premanand worked as a journalist and photographer for the renowned English magazine Times. As of now, there is not much information related to the life of Premanand.
Besides acting, Padmini was also proficient in all the dance forms, i.e.- Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Bharatanatyam, and Mohiniyattam. In 1977 she started the Padmini School of Fine Arts, which is now considered one of the oldest and largest Indian dancing schools in the United States of America. Padmini was introduced to the film world by the legendary dancer Uday Shankar, who saw her dance when she was 14. She spoke six languages and dubbed for all her characters. Padmini’s dancing skills were so admired that the late Shivaji Ganesan, an icon of the Tamil screen, was once moved to comment ‘I know only one dancer, it was Padmini.’ Padmini and Shivaji Ganesan formed one of the much-loved pairs in Tamil cinema and acted in over 59 films. She also shared the screen space with other leading stalwarts of that time like MG Ramachandran and Gemini Ganesan.
In her last years, Padmini had relocated to Chennai, Tamil Nadu. She died on September 24, 2006, at 74, due to a heart attack.
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