Nandini Bhaktavatsala – National award winning actress of ‘Kaadu’ fame

Nandini Bhaktavatsala is a film actress who has worked in both Bollywood and south Indian movies, and she is a National award winner too. She won the National Film Award for Best Actress in 1973 for the Kannada film Kaadu directed by Girish Karnad. Despite winning National award she didn’t concentrate on her filmy career, got married to famous Kannada film producer, Bhaktavatsala and settled with her family life. She played parallel lead in 1965 Bollywood horror film, Poonam Ki Raat where she shared screen space with Manoj Kumar. The film marked her acting debut.

Nandini Bhaktavatsala is of Kerala origin born in Malabar region, Thalassery. Her real name is Prema. Her family shifted to Bangalore during her younger days when her father worked as a college professor in the city. Nandini also completed her higher education from the same city. She played the memorable and pivot role of Nandini in the suspense horror flick, Poonam Ki Raat. Though her role was noticed, where she played D. K. Sapru’s daughter, she never appeared in Bollywood later. In the 1970s she played lead role in the Kannada film Kaadu which earned her National award. The film was based on a novel of the same name by Srikrishna Alanahalli. She currently serves as the vice president of International Music and Arts Society, Bangalore since 2016.

Nandini Bhaktavatsala – Some interesting facts

1. Her real name is Prema, and she took the screen name ‘Nandini’ with the release of her debut flick, where she played the character – Nandini.

2. Nandini has appeared in just two movies throughout her lifetime – Poonam Ki Raat (Hindi – 1965) and Kaadu (Kannada – 1973) and she won National award for her second screen appearance after which she retired from films.

3. Less known actress Kumud Chhugani also made screen debut aside her in Poonam Ki Raat, and interestingly both actresses couldn’t make it big in film industry.

4. She shared screen space with Amrish Puri for her National award winning role in Kannada film Kaadu.

5. Nandini has acted in only two movies, as her Wikipedia page suggests.

6. She is married to Moola Bhaktavatsala and has three children.