G. Varalakshmi

Garikapati Varalakshmi (27 September 1926 – 26 November 2006) was an Indian actress, stage artist, singer, and director who worked in Telugu and Tamil films. Varalakshmi was born in 1926 in Ongole, Andhra Pradesh, India. Her father was a pehelwan. She started acting on stage in Vijayawada when she was 11 years old. She acted along with stage actors Thungala Chalapathi and Dasari Kotiratnam and became popular for her roles in plays like Sakkubai and Rangoon Rowdy.

Her first two movie roles aged 14 were in Barrister Parvatheesam, produced by Raghupathy Prakash, and Bondam Pelli, produced by H. M. Reddy. These two movies were released together as a two-in-one movie. She then moved to Bombay to sing in the chorus for Naushad in 1942. As her career as a singer was not successful, she returned to Madras in 1946. She married the filmmaker and studio-owner K. S. Prakash Rao. Her husband and she acted in and produced a controversial and popular movie, Drohi in which she played the part of an arrogant daughter.

Drohi was followed by popular movies like Kula Gotralu, Kanna Talli and Pelli Chesi Choodu in which she acted with all the top heroes of Indian films of the 1940s and 1950s in Telugu and Tamil, playing roles ranging from the loving woman and arrogant sister to the mother-in-law. She also directed a social movie, Moogajeevulu. She got involved in politics and supported M.G.R for a short time and was an active member of Andhra Pradesh Praja Natya Mandali. She was the mother of two children, one daughter Kovelamudi Kanaka Durga and a son Kovelamudi Siva Prakash who became a famous cameraman. She is also the step-mother of the famous director Kovelamudi Raghavendra Rao.