Travancore sisters

The Travancore sisters refers to the trio of Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini. They were actresses and dancers who performed in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Kannada films.^[1][2]

The Travancore sisters grew up in a joint Nair family tharavadu Malaya Cottage in Poojappura, Travancore.^[3] They were nieces of the famous beauty Narayani Pillai Kunjamma, who spurned the king of Travancore in favour of marrying the aristocratic landowner Kesava Pillai of Kandamath and through her they were related to the actress Sukumari's mother Sathyabhama Amma and the Travancore Royal Family through their cousin Ambika.^[4] They learned dancing under the noted Indian dancer Guru Gopinath and guru T. K. Mahalingam Pillai.^[5] Uday Shankar called the sisters to Chennai (then Madras) to act in a film based on dance which he was planning to make.

The matriarchal head of the family was Karthyayini Amma, wife of Palakunnathu Krishna Pillai of Cherthala alias 'Penang Padmanabha Pillai'or P K Pillai, who had six sons of whom Satyapalan Nair was a leading producer of many early Malayalam films. Another son, Raveendran Nair's daughter Latika Suresh, is a leading producer of Malayalam TV programs. They performed at the 1955 Filmfare Awards.^[6]

Ragini died from cancer in 1976, Lalitha in 1982, and Padmini died in 2006. Few documents relating to them have survived, except for dozens of films and articles in Indian newspapers.