Mumbai, Aug. 13 -- Vyjayanthimala, the evergreen heroine of Indian cinema and the unique practitioner of Bharatnatyam, is celebrating her birthday today. Vyjayanthimala, who ruled the hearts of the audience for decades with her gentleness, dance-art and unmatched acting, was born in Triplicane, Chennai. Her mother was a well-known actress of Tamil cinema. Vyjayanthimala, who learned Bharatnatyam since childhood, started performing dance on stage at the age of just 13.

After starting her acting career with the Tamil film Vaazhkai in 1949, she entered Bollywood with the Hindi film Bahaar in 1951 and gained popularity with her first film itself. After this, superhit films like Nagin, Larki, Devdas, Madhumati, Sangam and Naya Daur made her o...