K.L.V. Vasantha was one of the leading actresses of early Tamil cinema. She started her career at an early age and has never looked back. She made her acting debut in 1938 with Sri Kanda Leela, a Premier Cinetone, Coimbatore production, directed by H.S. Mehta. It was written by L. Nanjappa Chettiar, one of the directors of the production company and studio.
But she came into the limelight after appearing in the 1939 superhit movie Rambayin Kaathal, where she played the main lead. The film was directed by noted filmmaker B.N. Rao. From viewers to critics, everyone loved her character and compared her to the celestial beauty of Lord Indra’s court, Rambha, who would have looked like Vasantha!
Vasantha was cast in Bhuloka Rambha after Rambayin Kaathal’s popularity. A complex folktale, it tells the story of a prince (Shanmugham) who falls in love with Bhuloka Rambha (Vasantha), their covert marriage, the child they have, which is subsequently sacrificed, and their eventual salvation via divine grace. His friend (Mahalingam) travels with him; they meet birds that talk and predict their future. The movie was also directed by Rao and backed by M. Somasundaram (Jupiter Somu) and M.D. Viswanathan under the banner of Salem Shanmugha Films and Vijaya Maruthi Pictures at Central Studios, Coimbatore.
During the making of the film, the producers ran into financial problems, and work was halted for some time. At this time, S.S. Vasan, the later-day Indian film tycoon, had just started his Gemini Pictures Circuit (GPC) as a distributor and was searching for films to distribute. So he decided to call Rao in Coimbatore and asked him whether he could finish the project in time for Diwali if he funded the project. He also told him that he was thinking of acquiring a studio in Madras and told Rao that he would be the director of his first production.
Vasan, who never went back on his word, engaged Rao for the first Gemini Studios production, Madanakamarajan (1941), which somewhat interestingly had much in common with Bhuloka Rambha (both were written by writer and playwright B.S. Ramaiah).
Bhuloka Rambha turned out to be a huge success, and Vasantha became a huge star overnight. The movie was released on December 14, 1940, and has recently completed 83 years.
However, besides being cast as the heroine in Madanakamarajan, Vasan cast her as Chandralekha in his Mammoth movie. Vasantha reportedly chose not to participate for a variety of reasons, and T. R. Rajakumari joined the project to make cinematic history.
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