My Compelling Story

Does Vyjayanthimala smoke?: No.Does Vyjayanthimala drink alcohol?: No.Vyjayanthimalas mother Vasundhara Devi was a leading Tamil Actress.Vyjayanthimala used to call her mother by her name and her mother was only sixteen years older than her.Vyjayanthimala was raised primarily by her maternal grandmother, Yadugiri Devi.When Vyjayanthimala was seven years old, she was chosen to perform a classical Indian dance for Pope Pius XII while her mother was an audience in 1940 at Vatican City.While Guru Vazhuvoor Ramiah Pillai taught her Bharata Natyam, she has been trained in Carnatic music by Manakkal Sivaraja Iyer.Y. G. Parthasarathy was her maternal uncle, who was Tamil playwright and film actor.Director M. V. Raman saw her dance and wanted her to act in his film. He tried to convince her grandmother, who did not want her to act in films. Her grandmother was very worried about her dance and study.In 1954, Vyjayanthimala acted in Nagin movie with Pradeep Kumar. The movie became the highest-grossing movie of 1954.