Biography

Aunt of actress Latha and actor Raj Kumar.

Her sister Leela's daughter, actress Latha, credited her for encouraging her to join films.

During the shoot of her debut movie Jeevana Jyoti (1940)(as friend of the heroine C. Krishnaveni), she fell in love with and married Panduranga Kotnis, brother of cinematographer D.S. Kotnis.

She was Dev Anand's first heroine in the film Hum Ek Hain (1946).

Born to a Telugu Relli (fruit vendor) and a Tommy European soldier, she was adopted by a Zamindar (aristocrat) who named her Kamalabai.