Background
She was born in Tenali, Andhra Pradesh.
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Kanchanamala Chittajallu
Edit ProfileCareer
She started her film career in Srikrishna Tulabharam, in a minor role as Mitravinda in 1935. The film was based on a play by Telugu cinema"s first lyricist Chandala Kesava Dasu. Relangi Venkataramaiah played a bit role in the movie.
She captured the audience with her beauty and played lead roles in films such as Veerabhimanyu,Gruhalakshmi and Malapilla.
During his stint as a production director with Vel Pictures, Ramabrahmam felt that she was not fit for acting and rejected her. As she rose in her career, he realised he was wrong and signed her for the harijan village girl Sampalatha in Malapilla, based on Gudipaati Venkata Chalam"s unpublished novelette.
Sceptics commented that she was a misfit for such a complex character. But she rendered a scintillating performance in the first half as an illiterate downtrodden village belle and as the literate modern city woman in the later portions.
Her next role was as Uthara in Veerabhimanyu (1936) produced by Sagar Movietone in Bombay.
Kodavatiganti Kutumba Rao debuted as a screenwriter with this film. Mehaboob Khan and popular hero of the time Motilal also told her to learn Hindi so that they could make her a big star in Hindi cinema. Kanchanamal, still a teenager, spurned their offers.
Her third starring role, Vipra Narayana catapulted her to stardom.
In Vandemataram, Chittoor Subrahmanya Pillai"s Madhuranagarilo challanamma bodhu was used as a duet rendered by Nagaiah and Kanchanamala. Under the production of Gemini Movies, Kanchanamala signed a contract for the role of Nagamma in the movie Bala nagamma which included clause to work only under Gemini movies.
During the filming of the movie, she had differences with the director and producer "South.S.Vasan" which led to legal entanglement. She later moved into her sister"s place in her hometown Tenali.
Kanchanamala"s photograph from the Malapilla film"s promotional calendar adorned many homes and she generated such a "craze" among the cinema patrons.
