Miss Kumari – Malayalam film actress of ‘Neelakuyil’ fame

Thresiamma Thomas, known by her screen name Miss Kumari was a popular south Indian actress of classic era, who predominantly worked in Malayalam cinema. Nalla Thanka released in 1950 and Neela Kuyil released in 1954 are her major works in Malayalam cinema. In a career spanning to about 2 decades, she acted in around 50 movies of which 37 were released in Malayalam. She passed away in 1969 aged only 37, 8 days after her birthday. By that time she was retired from acting following her marriage.

Miss Kumari was born on 1 June 1932 in Bharananganam village of Kottayam District, Kerala. Her debut film Vellinakshatram in 1949 was a commercial failure. She first shot a song sequence – ‘Thrikodi Thrikodi’ for the movie. The following year she played lead role in Nalla Thanka, which catapulted her fame. It was followed by the landmark movie Neela Kuyil, where she played a betrayed lover. Yachakan, Athmasanti, Chechi, Harischandra, Bhakta Kuchela, Mudiyanaya Putran and Navalokam are a few more noted works. She later married F.A.C.T engineer, Hormis Thaliath and had three children. Her marriage was a failure and her death is still an unsolved mystery even after 50 years. It’s said that she was forced to stop acting and was confined to the four walls of her house during her last years.

Miss Kumari – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. Her debut film Vellinakshatram was the fifth talkie made in Malayalam.

2. Her popular Malayalam film Nalla Thanka was a remake of the Tamil film Nalla Thangal released in 1935.

3. Year 2019 marked her 50^th death anniversary.

4. Nalla Thanka released in 1950 was the first film made at Udaya Studio by Kunchacko and K. V. Koshy.

5. She was the first heroine of Merryland studios when she played female lead in Athma Sakhi in 1952.

6. The iconic song, Ellarum Chollanu of Neela Kuyil was sync-lipped by Kumari.

7. She was a recipient of Madras State award for best actress in 1956.

8. After her marriage in 1963, she appeared in two Malayalam movies – Arakkillam and Suseela, her last release.

9. It is believed that she lived isolated during her last days, and her death was unnatural.

10. For further investigation her dead body was taken out from the burial after one year. While taking photographs the forensic team noticed that her body was not decomposed yet. Dr. B. Umadathan who was present at the site along with forensic surgeon Dr. Kanthaswamy later explained the reason behind it in his famous investigation book – Oru Police Surgeonte Ormakuruppakal. But it’s still an unsolved puzzle if the actress was murdered or not.