Rajasree

Rajasree (Rajasree Thota Panchajanyam, Kusuma Kumari), also known as Rajasri or Rajashri, is an Indian actress active from 1956 to 1979. She is particularly famous for her portrayal as a princess in several folklore Telugu movies opposite N. T. Rama Rao and Tadepalli Lakshmi Kanta Rao and for acting alongside Ravichandran in the Tamil comedy films Neeyum Naanum, Kadhalikka Neram Illai and Delhi Mappilai. Notable among Rajasris roles in non-folklore social films in Tamil are as Nimmi in the Tamil hit comedy film Kaadhalikka Neramillai, remade as Preminchi Choodu in Telugu, as movie star Bhama in Tamil film Bama Vijayam. She was credited as Gracy in the Malayalam movies she starred in her career since her debut film Bharya (1962), directed by Kunchako. Rajasree went on to do 200 films spread across the languages – Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam (as Gracy) and Hindi from beginning of 1956 to 1979.

==Film industry== Rajsree first appeared as a child artiste in the Tamil film Naga Devadhai in 1956. She worked as child artiste in films like Bhaktha Ambarisha (1959) and Mangalyam (1960) in Telugu, Aasha Sundari (1960) in Kannada, Petraval Kanda Peruvazhvu (1960) and Baktha Sabari (1960) in Tamil. She debuted as a young heroin in Telugu film Nitya Kalyanam Paccha Thoranam in 1960 opposite another debutante hero Ramakrishna. She acted as the supporting young heroine with the Malayalam film Bharya (1962). Her character was named Gracy. With the success of her debut Malayalam film, Rajsree was always credited throughout her Malayalam film career as Gracy. Some of her famous Malayalam movies include Kadalamma (1963), Rebecca (1963), Pazhassi Raja (1964) and Shakuntala (1965). However, she was cast only as supporting and second lead actress in Tamil films like Sengamala Theevu (1962), Nichaya Thaamboolam (1962), Thendral Veesum (1962), Kalai Arasi (1963), Yarukku Sondham (1963) and Kattu Maina (1963) in the period 1962 to 1963. Her portrayal as the courtesean Madhavi in the film Poompuhar brought her new recognition as supporting actress in 1964. It was the film Kadhalikka Neram Illai in 1964, which made her a household name as the main lead heroine. She started receiving more Tamil films from 1964 onward.