C. T. Rajakantham

C. T. Rajakantham Biography

C. T. Rajakantham was a noted character artist associated with Tamil cinema in the 1940s to 1960s. She was a stage actress too. Rajakantham was known for her comedy scenes, and she along with her husband Kali N. Rathnam formed a successful comedy pair on Tamil screen in the early 1940s. Kali passed away in the year 1950. C. T. Rajakantham was associated with television during her last years and was seen in the television series - Marmadesam, Vidathu Karuppu etc in the late 1990s. She passed away in Chennai in 1999. Rajakantham was also known as a singer.

She was born in Coimbatore in 1912. Since young she was associated with plays. Her entry to films was just co-incidence. Once a drama troupe headed by S. R. Janaki happened to stay at a home rented by Rajakantham’s father. Janaki watched Rajakantham performing and got impressed by her acting skills. Kali N. Rathnam was also among the troupe members who were impressed by the histrionic skills of C. T. Rajakantham. Thus she gave her a space in her drama troupe which eventually led her to get the first break to films.

Rajakantham started off with minor roles and later established as a leading comedienne of Tamil cinema. She got paired with the talented Kali N. Rathnam and they together formed an amazing comic pair onscreen. In fact 1941 movie Sabapathy marked her film debut where she was paired with Kali for the first time. Gradually love developed between the two and they got married. The couple had one daughter - Rajalakshmi who later married the popular playback singer Tiruchi Loganathan.

Madurai Veeran’ (1939), ‘Bharthruhari’ (1944), ‘Pizhaikkum Vazhi’ (1948), ‘ Kumari’ (1952) and ‘Pennarasi’ (1955) are some of the memorable roles of Rajakantham. ‘Sampoorna Ramayana’ (1956) – was another memorable role of her career, in which she gained popularity as an actress rather than a comedian. After a break in the industry, she later got associated with television.‘ Marmadesham’, which was aired by Sun TV & Raj TV was one of her memorable television roles.

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Updated: January 31, 2016