Kamala Kumari was an actress and Bharatanatayam dancer who worked in over 100 Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi films in her three-decade-long career. She started as a child prodigy in the Tamil film ‘Valibhar Sangham’ in 1938 and thereafter marked her Hindi debut in Sohrab Modi’s ‘Jailor’ in 1938. She was trained in Kathak by Lacchu Maharaj and in Hindustani classical music by Shankar Rao Vyas. She was later trained in Bharatanatyam by Kattumannarkoil Muthukumara Pillai and Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai. Her notable Hindi films were ‘Kismet’ (1943), ‘Ram Rajya’ (1943), ‘Meera’ (1947), ‘Devta’ (1956), ‘Chori Chori’ (1956), ‘Kathputli’ (1957), ‘Yahudi’ (1958), ‘Naya Sansar’ (1959), ‘Saugandh’ (1961), ‘Jwala’ (1971), etc. She passed away on 24 November 2025 in California, USA at the age of 91.