K.B.Sundarambal

[Oldposts]

KBS was born in 1907 in a place called "paaNdi kodumudi", a place near
Karur. Her family was extremely poor. Looking at her exceptional talent
for singing (even at an age of 5), the Karur DSP, Mr RS Krishnaswamy
got her into a drama troupe at an early age. KBS became a very famous
drama actress at a very young age. At the same period, SG Kittappa was
considered as the best drama actor. They got a chance to act together
in stage, in Sri Lanka, in the 1920's. Right from that first meeting,
it was instant love between them. They got married and became an inseparable
acting pair. aanaal, vidhi yaarai vittadhu? SGK died in 1933. KBS was
completely shattered by this, took to the traditional widow costume,
and vowed not to act with any hero after that. She also started concentrating
only on devotional themes after that. The famous freedom fighter,
Sathyamurthy convinced her to come back to acting. She acted as
'Nandhanar' in 1935. She was paid a staggering 1 lakh for acting in
this movie (equivalent to several crores of today, as Shankar pointed out).
KBS was well known for singing in high pitches. She acted as
'Manimekalai' in 1940, as `Avvaiyaar` (Gemini productions) in 1953,
as kaundhi adigaL in 'Poompuhar' in 1964, as Avvaiyaar in 'Thiruvilaiyadal'
in 1965, as an old lady in 'Mahakavi Kalidas' in 1966, as Avvaiyaar
in 'Kandhan Karunai' in 1967, in 'Uyir Mel Asai' in 1967, in 'Thunaivan'
in 1969, in 'Karaikkaal Ammaiyaar' in 1973, and, finally, in 'Thirumalai
Dheivam' in 1973. These were the only 11 movies in which KBS acted. KBS
passed away in September 1980.

A List of Movie Songs by KBS:

Nandhanar:
1. vazhi maRaiththirukkudhE
2. piththam theLiya marundhondrirukkudhu

Manimekalai:
1. manam kalanguvadhEn
2. maasindri
3. paavi En piRandhEn

Avvaiyaar:
1. ayyanE anbarkku meyyanE
2. poRumai ennum nagai aNindhu
3. koodi nadandhukoLLa vENdum
4. veNNilaavE veNNilaavE
5. kanni thamizh naattil (PunnaagavarALi, kAnadA)
6. aalai palaavaakkalaamO (Kalyani)
7. vElanE senthamizh viththagaa (Shanmugapriya)

Poompuhar:
1. vaazhkkai enum Odam
2. thappiththu vandhaanammaa

Thiruvilayadal:
1. njaanap pazhaththaip pizhindhu (Kambodhi, Saveri, Mohanam, Kanada)
2. pazham neeyappaa (Shanmugapriya)
3. ondraanavan

Mahakavi Kalidas:
1. kaalaththil azhiyaadha
2. sendru vaa maganE

Kandhan Karunai:
1. ariyadhu periyadhu

Uyir Mel Asai:
1. kELu paappaa, kELvigaL aayiram kELu paappaa

Thunaivan:
1. pazhani malai meedhinilE

Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar:
1. Odungaal Odi
2. kEtta varam

Thirumalai Dheivam:
1. Ezhumalai irukka
2. naaLellaam