'''Kanchanmala (1923-81)''' Telugu actress born in coastal AP. Stage star in Telugu; then entered cinema at [[Sagar]] Studio, Bombay, with a minor role in Veer Abhimanyu. After her 2nd film, at Calcutta’s [[Aurora Film Corp|Aurora]], [[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahindra_Choudhury|Ahindra Choudhury]]’s Vipranarayana, broke through in [[H.M. Reddy]]’s [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grihalakshmi|Grihalakshmi]], where her sexually charged performance as the dancer Madhuri next to [[Kannamba]]’s role as the suffering wife solicited a kind of male voyeurism later exploited in [[Vauhini]]’s 40s socials. Played the victimised wife in [[B.N. Reddi]]’s nationalist [[Vande Mataram]]; also appeared in reformist socials by e.g. [[Gudavalli Ramabrahmam|Ramabrahmam]] ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malapilla|Malapilla]], Illalu) and sang duets with composer Ogirala in [[Y.V. Rao]]’s Malli Pelli. Played the major role of the wicked stepmother in Gemini’s [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balangamma|Balangamma]], after which a legal dispute with the studio boss [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.S._Vasan|S.S. Vasan]] effectively put her career in limbo for almost a decade. Her acting style was later extended by stars like Kamala Kotnis and [[Bhanumati]]. ''' FILMOGRAPHY:''' 1935: Shri Krishna Tulabharam; 1936: Veer Abhimanyu; 1937: Vipranarayana; 1938: Grihalakshmi; Malapilla; 1939: Vande Mataram; Malli Pelli; 1940: Mahiravana; Illalu; 1942: Balanagamma; 1963: Nartanasala. [[Actor]]