K. R. Chellam

Kambayanatham Rangaswami Kanakavalli is mostly known by her screen name K. R. Chellam. Born in 1918, she was one of the early actresses of Tamil cinema. Chellam entered the films in the mid-1930s and was active till about 1960s. Some of her noted films were Madras Mail (1936), Balayogini (1937), Vanaraja Karzan (1938), Adhrishtam (1939) and Pattaliyin Vetri (1960). This interview was conducted by Randor Guy on May 25th, 1989 at K. R. Chellam’s residence in Langford Avenue, Raja Annamalaipuram, Madras while she was in her 70s. Madabhushi Rangadorai, fondly known as Randor Guy is a well-known author, columnist and film historian, and also a lawyer by profession. He has written books like “Memories of Madras: Its Movies, Musicians & Men of Letters”, “A History of Tamil Cinema”, “Starlight, Starbright: The Early Tamil Cinema”. Guy has also written fiction novels like “Chaya” and “Kasi”. Language: Tamil, Duration: 2 Hr and 40 Min Note: We would encourage you to use this information for Educational and Research purposes and would appreciate if NFAI is credited for the same.