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Santha Kumari
Shanthakumari (1949)
Born	Vellala Subbamma 17 May 1920 Proddatur,Kadapa District,Andhra Pradesh, India
Died	16 January 2006 (aged 85)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1936-1979
Spouse	P. Pullayya

Santha Kumari (bornVellaala Subbamma; 17 May 1920 – 16 January 2006) was an Indian musical artist and actress. She was married to the Telugu film director and producerP. Pullayya.

Vellaala Subbamma was born inProddatur town, (Kadapa District,Andhra Pradesh) to Sreenivasa Rao and Pedda Narasamma. Her father was an actor and her mother was a classical music singer. Santhakumari learned classical music and violin under the guidance of Professor P. Sambamurthy and was a junior toD. K. Pattammal. She joined a drama troupe and was anAIR artiste by the age of sixteen. She came toMadras (now Chennai) to pursue a career in music. She found employment in Vidyodaya School for a remuneration of Rs 2 per month. She sang along with music directorS. Rajeswara Rao for AIR.

P. V. Das, producer and director ofMayabazaar (also known asSasirekhaa Parinayam) was scouting for a young girl to play Sasirekha. He saw Subbamma at a music concert. At the time, she was teaching music at Vidyodaya School, Madras. Das liked her mellifluous voice and innocence, essential qualities to portray Sasirekha's character. Her parents were against her joining films. They wanted to see her as classical singer. Subbamma was adamant and resorted to hunger strike. On the fourth day they relented. Das changed her name as Santhakumari. The film released in 1936.^[1]

In the following year she was a member of the cast ofSarangadhara, a film that was directed byP. Pullayya, whom she met and married in the same year.

The couple used the name of PadmaSree Pictures, named after their daughter Padma, for some of their movies and had success with films such asJayabheri (1959),Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam (1960), andPreminchi Choodu (1965). Santhakumari acted in most of the movies that were made by her husband, includingShavukaru (1950),Ardhangi (1955),Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam (1960),Santhi Nivasam (1960), andRamudu Bheemudu (1964).

In 1947, the couple started the Ragini Pictures banner with Bheemavarapu Narasimha Rao and Bhakta Jana. They made 22 films on both PadmaSree and Ragini banners put together.

She played many lead and supporting roles, with around 250 appearances in total.^{[citation needed]}

For her contributions to Telugu Cinema, Santha Kumari was awarded theRaghupathi Venkaiah Award in 1998.

This is partial filmography of Santha Kumari. Kindly help expanding it.

• Raghupathi Venkaiah Award

• Santha Kumari atIMDb
• Santha Kumari Profile - Telugu Cinema
• M. L. Narasimham (20 October 2000)."Unforgettable screen mother".The Hindu. Archived fromthe original on 21 April 2016.
• Kannil Therivadhu onYouTube - A song scene from Piriyavidai (1975) with Santhakumari acting and singing

• 1920 births
• 2006 deaths
• 20th-century Indian actresses
• Indian women playback singers
• Indian women film producers
• Film producers from Andhra Pradesh
• Telugu playback singers
• People from Kadapa district
• 20th-century Indian singers
• Actresses in Telugu cinema
• Actresses in Tamil cinema
• Indian film actresses
• Singers from Andhra Pradesh
• Actresses from Andhra Pradesh
• 20th-century Indian women singers
• Film musicians from Andhra Pradesh
• Businesspeople from Andhra Pradesh
• Women musicians from Andhra Pradesh

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