Padmini Was born on June 12, 1932 in Trivandrum, British India and passed away on September 24, 2006. She was the second daughter of Thankappan Pillai and Saraswathi Amma. All the children became film actresses and were known as the Travancore Sisters. The Travancore Sisters learnt different dancing styles such as Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, and Kerala Natanam. They grew up in a joint family Malaya Cottage in Poojappura, Trivandrum. Padmini had completed over 250 films in multiple languages like Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu, and Russian. Padmini was one of the highest paid actresses in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. She also had a dance performance at the 1955 Filmfare Awards with her sisters. When Padmini was fourteen years old, she played the role of a dancer in the Hindi film, “Kalpana”, which launched her career. She has worked with many famous actors; especially with Sivaji Ganesan where they did 59 films. In 1950 she debut in her first Tamil film, “Ezhai Padum Padu”. Most of Padmini’s films were in Tamil. Her greatest film was a Tamil film called, “Thillana Mohanambal” where she played a dancer competing against a musician to see who can outperform the other. She is also one of the few that completed a Indian-Soviet film, “Journey Beyond Three Seas” which was about the travelogues of a Russian traveler, Afanasy Nikitin. Some of her other popular works were “Mera Naam Joker” and “Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai” which she worked with actor, Raj Kapoor. Her famous awards were one Filmfare Award nomination for Best Actress for the film “Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai”, one Filmfare Award win for Best Supporting Actress in the film, “Kaajal”, and one honorary award from Filmfare for the Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1961, Padmini retired from films and relocated to the United States to focus on her family with her husband Ramachandran, a physician based in the United States. Padmini and Ramachandran have one son named Prem. In 1977, she opened the classical dance school, Padmini School of Fine Arts in New Jersey. In the present, her school is considered to be one of the biggest Indian classical dance institutions in America. Padmini is an inspiration as she had a great career as an actress and dancer at a young age. She had the opportunity to work with her sisters and they were able to support each other. I admire her devotion to the family as she could easily continue to do well as an actress but she chose her son and husband over her career. Even after retirement, she started a new career as an Indian Classical dance instructor in her own dance studio which is now one of the biggest institution for Indian Classical dance.

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