Throwback Thursday – K.B. Sundarambal The embodiment of Avaiyaar

If one happens to hear the name K.B. Sundrambal it is her baritone voice that comes to memory first and she will remain in history for bringing to life the immortal Avvaiyaar on screen a number of times.  Born in Erode in 1908 legend has it that Sundarmbal belonged to an impoverished family and as a little girl she used to help her family by singing and collecting money on trains.

Making her stage debut at the age of 19 with the help of a cop Krishnaswamy Iyer and a municipal chairman F. Natesa Iyer, Sundarambal found instance success due to her singing acting talents in plays like ‘Valli Thirumanam’ and ‘Harichandra’.  She also married stage actor S.G. Kittappa but was widowed at a young age.

K.B. Sundarambal after begining her film career as a playback singer later played acted in films like ‘Manimekhalai’, ‘Auvaiyar’, ‘Thiruvilayadal’, ‘Karaikal Ammaiyar’ and ‘Kandan Karunai’.  She is best remembered as the embodiment of Avaiyaar the greatest Tamil poetess ever.

Sundarambal is a great inspiration for anyone as mentioned earlier she was born in poverty but through her sheer talents rose to stardom and made history by becoming the first actor to get one lakh rupees salary in India  and the first woman legislator to the Tamil Nadu Assembly.  We salute the memory of the immortal legend by remembering her for our Throwback Thursday Special.