Sandhya - Actress (Tamil, Kannada, Telugu )
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Sunday 09, Aug 2026, 06:30.
Sandhya
Born N. R. Vedhavalli - 1924
Srirangam, Trichy district, Madras Presidency, British Raj
(present-day Tamil Nadu, India)
Died 1 November 1971 (aged 46–47)
Chennai,Tamil Nadu, India
Other name Veda
Occupation Actress
Years active 1954–1965
Spouse Jayaram: (m. 1935; died 1950)
Children Jayakumar
Jayalalitha Jayaram
Parent(s) N. Rangaswamy Iyengar (father)
Kamalambal (mother)
Relatives Vidyavathi (Sister)
Deepa Jayakumar (Granddaughter)
Introduction: 
Vedhavalli (1924 – 1 November 1971), better known as Sandhya, was a South Indian film actress, who appeared in Tamil, Kannada and Telugu films. She adopted the screen name Sandhya for her acting career and was known for portraying character roles, often as the heroine’s sister or mother. Her younger sister, Vidyavathi, was also an actress. She was the mother of former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J. Jayalalithaa. She acted in Malaikkallan (1954), which starred M. G. Ramachandran and was written by M. Karunanidhi. She also appeared in films and was paired with N. T. Rama Rao in Mayabazar (1957), with Kalyan Kumar and Sivaji Ganesan in a few films like Bale Pandiya (1962).
Early life and family: 
She was born as Vedhavalli into a Tamil Iyengar Brahmin family in Srirangam, Madras Presidency, British India. Her father, Rangaswamy Iyengar, moved to Mysore from Srirangam to work with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. She had one brother and two sisters—Ambujavalli and Padmavalli. Sandhya and her siblings along with their grandparents initially lived in East Chittirai Street in Srirangam. Later, her father Rangaswamy, who was a practicing lawyer based in Karur from the 1910s to the 1930s, purchased a house from a Diwan in the same street and named it "Komala Vilas Vedha Nilayam". She is of the same maternal lineage as former Attorney General of India K. Parasaran. Her maternal family roots trace back to Sakkaravala Nallur, near Devipattinam in Ramanathapuram district. Later at this location, on 4 April 1984, her daughter Jayalalithaa donated ₹1.65 lakh from her personal funds to establish the "Annai Sandhya Memorial Nutritious Meal Centre" in memory of her mother, Sandhya.
Sandhya (right) with her younger sister Vidyavathi (left) in front of a 1952 model Vauxhall Velox, as featured in a magazine, 1954.
Vedhavalli was married as a second wife to Jayaram, son of Narasimhan Rangachari, in 1935, at the age of 11, while she was studying in sixth grade. He was a native of Nangavaram, in the erstwhile united Trichy district (now part of Karur district) and later, a Secretary in Mysore Palace and a lawyer of the Royal family of Mysore. The couple had two children: a son, Jayakumar, and a daughter, Jayalalithaa. Her husband was a lawyer but never worked and squandered most of the family's wealth. Sandhya was trained in various pursuits, including reading, vocal music, veena, violin, swimming, tennis, and cross-country cycling. Following the death of her husband in 1950, the widowed Vedhavalli returned to her father's home in Bangalore in 1950 and began working as a secretary in a company at the age of 26. Vedhavalli learned shorthand and typewriting to take up a clerical position as a stenotypist in the Directorate of Agriculture under Government of Mysore to help support the family in 1950.
Later career: 
Sandhya (right) along with Madras Chief Minister K. Kamaraj, her daughter Jayalalithaa (middle) and dance teacher K. J. Sarasa during an Arangetram
During a visit to Madras, she was accompanied by Jayalalithaa to Shri Shaila Mahathme film set, where she was asked to replace an absent child actress. Sandhya initially refused but later consented, and Jayalalithaa agreed to act on the condition that she would not be compelled again. In 1964, Sandhya accompanied her daughter Jayalalithaa to the 100th-day celebrations of the film Karnan. During this period, filmmaker B. R. Panthulu signed Jayalalithaa to play the female lead in his Kannada film Chinnada Gombe, marking her early entry into cinema. When director Vedantam Raghavayya approached Sandhya to cast her daughter in a Kannada film Nanna Kartavya, she was initially reluctant to let her, then a sixth-grade student, play a young widow at the start of her career. Sandhya eventually agreed on the condition that filming be limited to weekends and school holidays. Jayalalithaa received further opportunities to act in Kannada films, through which she was introduced as a lead actress by director C. V. Sridhar in the film Vennira Aadai, leading Jayalalithaa to forgo her college ambitions after briefly attending Stella Maris College. Subsequently, her role opposite M. G. Ramachandran in Aayirathil Oruvan brought her instant fame. Within a few years, she became one of the leading actresses in South Indian cinema. Thereafter, Sandhya withdrew from acting and largely remained at home, managing her daughter’s film commitments.
In the late 1960s, when her daughter Jayalalithaa was at the peak of her fame, Sandhya developed the ambition of building a grand residence for her daughter’s future and bought a plot on 1 July 1967 at a cost of ₹ 1.32 lakh, measuring around 24,000 sq. feet (10 grounds) with a built-up area of 21,662 sq. feet in Teynampet area of Madras (now Chennai). The design of the house was revised multiple times to suit Jayalalithaa’s preferences before it was finally constructed in its present form. The residence, later known as the Poes Garden house, was thus built with great care and aspiration for her daughter’s future. During the "Engirundho Vandhaal" (1970) film shoot, Sandhya approached her daughter Jayalalithaa to discuss purchasing sarees for relatives in connection with their house’s groundbreaking ceremony. A minor disagreement arose between them, and Jayalalithaa later expressed regret, recalling that she had uttered an inauspicious remark to her mother during the exchange.
Illness, death, and aftermath:
My Mother Was Everything to Me
“When we sigh about our troubles, It doubles everyday. When we laugh about our troubles, It is bubble blown away. Let these words of love soothe your woeful eyelid, But not your aching heart. Mummy rests in peace to see her darling kid, To rise to sky in maternal art.”
“Among the condolence letters I received after my mother’s death, this gave me the greatest comfort.”
— Jayalalithaa, Ananda Vikatan, Sunday, 19 December 1971.
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Sandhya did not live to witness the housewarming ceremony of the home she had envisioned, which remained a significant personal loss in Jayalalithaa’s life. By mid-1971, the construction of the house had been completed. On 31 October 1971, Sandhya suddenly fell ill after vomiting blood and was admitted to K.J. Hospital in Poonamallee. Jayalalithaa was at the shooting spot in Bandipur National Park for Dhikku Theriyadha Kaattil (1972 film). She died the following day, on 1 November 1971 at the age of 47, despite medical treatment. As per her will, she bequeathed to Jayalalithaa her share in the properties of "Natayakala Niketan", along with a land and building in Poes Garden, Chennai, a house in Hyderabad, and agricultural lands measuring about 10.2 acres in Ranga Reddy district, including a grape garden, farmhouse, and servants’ quarters purchased in 1968. The will also included an additional 3.5 acres of land in Basheerabad village, Andhra Pradesh.
The housewarming ceremony of the Poes Garden residence was held on 15 May 1972. Sandhya, who had envisioned celebrating the occasion with her daughter, had passed away by then and was present only in a photograph displayed in the house. Jayalalithaa named the residence “Veda Nilayam,” after her mother’s given name, Vedhavalli. The event was attended by several prominent figures of Tamil Nadu, except M. G. Ramachandran, who had attended the groundbreaking ceremony, as he was busy with the scheduled shooting in Kashmir for Ulagam Sutrum Valiban film. Cho Ramaswamy, a close family friend and one of Jayalalithaa’s companions from her younger years, was also not present in the ceremony. Sandhya had traditionally conducted family functions in his presence, and Jayalalithaa reportedly expected him to attend the occasion. Despite being in the city, Cho did not attend the ceremony. When asked about his absence, he later wrote a detailed letter explaining that he felt slighted for not being personally invited, expressing regret for the misunderstanding. After her sudden demise, Sandhya's mother Kamalambal lived along with Jayalalithaa at 'Veda Nilayam' as a support and died in 1973.
Filmography:
Year Title Role Language Notes Ref.
1954 Karkottai Tamil Debut on-screen appearance
Malaikkallan Chinni Tamil
Natashekhara Kannada
Vipra Narayana Madhuravani Telugu
Ratha Paasam Tamil Acted along with sister Vidyavathi
1955 Sodari Kannada
Manoradham Tamil Dubbed version of Natashekhara
1956 Tenali Raman Tirumalambal Tamil
Tenali Ramakrishna Tirumala Devi Telugu
1957 Samaya Sanjeevi Tamil
Mayabazar Rukmini Tamil
Premada Putri Kannada
Preme Daivam Telugu
1958 Sampoorna Ramayanam Mandodari Tamil
Pillai Kaniyamudhu Gunavathi Tamil
Chenchu Lakshmi Queen of the Chenchus Tamil and Telugu
1959 Krishna Leelalu Rohini Telugu
Minnal Veeran Tamil
Manimekalai Madhavi Tamil
Maragatham Karpagavalli Tamil
#Jagajyothi Basveshwara Queen Kannada*
#Mahishasura Mardini Goddess Chamundeswari/Tripura Sundari Kannada First major Pan-India film*
1960 Baghdad Thirudan Gulshad Tamil
Padikkadha Medhai Thyagu's wife Tamil
#Ranadheera Kanteerava Queen Lakshammanni Kannada*
Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam Goddess Saraswati Telugu
Vimala Rajyalakshmi Devi Telugu
Nitya Kalyanam Paccha Thoranam Sushila Telugu
1961 Bharya Bhartalu Kanakam Telugu
Nagarjuna Parvati Telugu
#Shri Shaila Mahathme Queen Sathyavati Kannada Acted along with Jayalalithaa*
Thayilla Pillai Sushila Tamil
Vijayanagarada Veeraputhra Queen Telugu
1962 Sarada Sarada's mother Tamil
Swarna Gowri Goddess Parvati Telugu
Bale Pandiya Kanagam Tamil
Kathiruntha Kangal Thilagam Tamil
Kula Gotralu Anasuya Telugu
Deivathin Deivam Kanmani's mother Tamil
1963 Iruvar Ullam Nagammal Tamil
Aasai Alaigal Bhakyavathi Tamil
Kulamagal Radhai Vanaja Tamil
#Gowri Dhakshayini Kannada*
Punarjanma Janaki Telugu
Nartanasala Sudeshna Telugu
1964 Karnan Veni Tamil
Chinnada Gombe Rani's mother Kannada Acted along with Jayalalithaa
Mane Aliya Meenakshi's mother Kannada Acted along with Jayalalithaa
Manchi Manishi Baby's mother Telugu
1965 Poojaikku Vandha Malar Ravi and Chitra's mother Tamil
Santhi Santhanam's mother Tamil
In popular culture:
Family
In the 2019 web series Queen, Tulasi Shivamani and Sonia Agarwal portrayed Ranganayaki, the fictional adaptation of Sandhya. In the Tamil film Thalaivii (2021), Sandhya was portrayed by Bhagyashree.
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