Padmini

Padmini in Sanskrit means "She who sits on the lotus", so literally it refers to Hindu Goddess Lakshmi. It may also refer to:

Padmini (actress)

Padmini (12 June 1932 - 24 September 2006) was an Indian actress and trained Bharathanatyam dancer, who acted in over 250 Indian films. She acted in the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi language films. Padmini, with her elder sister Lalitha and her younger sister Ragini, were called the "Travancore sisters".

Padmini was born and raised in Thiruvananthapuram in what was then the princely state of Travancore (now the Indian state of Kerala). She was the second daughter of SreeThankappan Pillai and Saraswathi Amma both comes from noble Nair families. Her sisters, Lalitha and Ragini, were also well known film actresses. Together, the three were known as the Travancore sisters. Padmini and her sisters learnt bharathanatyam from Thiruvidaimarudur Mahalingam Pillai. The trio were the disciples of Indian dancer Guru Gopinath. They learnt Kathakali and Kerala Natanam styles of dancing from him. N.S. Krishnan noticed her talents while she was presenting Parijatha Pushpapaharanam in Thiruvananthapuram. After that performance, he said that in the future she would become an actress. She was thus cast as heroine in his own production Manamagal. The Travancore Sisters grew up in a joint family tharavadu 'Malaya Cottage' in Poojappura, Trivandrum. The matriarchial head of the family was Karthiyayini Amma whose husband was PK Pillai (Palakunnathu Krishna Pillai of Cherthala) alias 'Penang Padmanabha Pillai'. PK Pillai had six sons of whom Satyapalan Nair (Baby) was a leading producer of many early Malayalam films. Another son, Raveendran Nair's daughter Latika Suresh, is a leading producer of Malayalam TV programs. They performed at the 1955 Filmfare Awards.

Aurat

Aurat meaning "woman" in Urdu and Hindi.

Fiction

Aurat (1967 film)

Aurat is a 1967 Hindi movie produced and directed by S. S. Balan and S. S. Vasan. The film stars Padmini, Pran, Rajesh Khanna, Feroz Khan, Kanhaiyalal, David, O. P. Ralhan, Nazima, Lalita Pawar and Leela Chitnis. The films music is by Ravi.The film is totally revolving around character of Parvati's life played by Padmini. The film deals with how Parvati (played by Padmini), who is in true love with character played by Feroz Khan, is forced by circumstances to marry Manoharilal (played by Pran) against wishes of her brother (played by Rajesh Khanna) and later is tested by life to show whether after marriage to Manoharilal, she is truly affectionate to Manoharilal or is she having affair with the her ex-boyfriend.

This movie is the remake of 1966 Tamil movie Chitthi (meaning 'step-mother') played by Padmini in the lead role and R. Muthuraman as her younger brother. It is one of the first significant on screen roles for Rajesh Khanna, then a new comer to screen.

Plot

Parvathi (Padmini) is an elder daughter of eight children family who is the primary bread earner of her house. Her aim is bring up her family position and marry off all her sisters which include a dumb girl. So she spents her whole life and struggles hard to educate her brother Suresh (Rajesh Khanna) and make him doctor so that he can lend her helping hand. Though she works hard she smiles at times when she meets a man (Feroz Khan) whom she has a liking but her circumstances prevent her moving further.

Aurat (1953 film)

Aurat (Woman) is a 1953 Hindi movie produced by Munshiram Verma and directed by B Verma. The film stars Premnath and his wife Bina Rai. The film's music is by Shankar Jaikishan. The film is a re-working of the Biblical tale of Samson and Delilah. Premnath and Bina Rai fell in love during filming and later got married. The film was not successful.

Plot

Adil (Premnath) is a dashing, brave young man, full of hope and mindful of the rights of all people, especially the downtrodden. It is this last attribute that ends up putting him in the bad books of the Emperor (Ulhas). The Emperor orders his arrest. But before the soldiers can arrest Adil, he single-handedly rescues the Emperor's bethrothed from a lion. This earns him the gratitude of beautiful Queen-to-be, Juhi (Purnima). The Emperor, pleased with Adil, gives him an important assignment in his army, and promises that Adil's fellow-villagers will not face oppression, taxes or forced labour from his army. Ruhi (Bina Rai) loves Adil, but Adil is unaware of this. Juhi is impressed by Adil and this impression turns to love, and she tells Adil about this. Adil does not think it appropriate for a bethrothed to be his lover and wife, and spurns her. Angered Juhi starts to plot against Adil, by getting the emperor to collect taxes and forced labour from Adil's village. This angers Adil, who goes to confront the emperor and the queen-to-be. Angered, the Emperor dismisses Adil, and orders his arrest. Adil flees to the hills. Numerous attempts by the emperor's armies to apprehend Adil are in vain. Finally, Juhi tells the emperor that she will bring in Adil without spilling a drop of blood. Will Ruhi succeed where so many have failed?