Actress-director Vijaya Nirmala passes away

HYDERABAD: Veteran actress and director Vijaya Nirmala passed away on Wednesday night after suffering a massive heart attack on Wednesday night in Hyderabad.
The 73-year-old was unwell for sometime. She was admitted to a hospital in Hyderabad.
Vijaya Nirmala hold a Guinness record for having directed 44 films. She achieved this distinction in 2002. She acted in as many as 200 films in Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil languages.
Vijaya Nirmala married actor Krishna and directed his films too.
Vijaya Nirmala was introduced to the silver screen at the age of seven in 1950 through the film ‘Mrithyu Rekha’ in Tamil. Her first film in Telugu ‘Panduranga Mahathyam’ at the age of 12 got her a lot of appreciation. She played the role of a prince in the film. She appeared in the lead role in 'Rangularaatnam’.
Vijaya Nirmala married actor Krishna and directed his films too. Her first film as director was ‘Meena’ in 1971. Her role in 'Alluri Sitaramaraju' essayed with Krishna in the lead got the pair its encomiums.
As an actress, her films include ‘Pandanti Kapuram’, ‘Mosagallaku Mosagadu’, ‘Marina Manishi’, ‘Kurukshetram’ and ‘Thathamanavadu’.
Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao condoled the death of Vijaya Nirmala. In a statement, he expressed condolences to the bereaved family and said her services to the Telugu film industry would be remembered.