Marilyn Monroe of Malayalam; Vijayasree's death remains a mystery even after 50 years

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Just 21 years old at the time of death. Five years of active presence in Malayalam cinema. The heroine in the hit films of Superstar Prem Nazir during this period. Despite all this, actress Vijayasree's sudden demise remains an unanswered question even today.

Suicide? Murder? Vijayasree's death, which remains a mystery even today, happened in 1974. "She was an innocent woman. We were very close to each other. We used to go to temples in Madras in the car driven by Vijayasree. It's still hard to believe that she would kill herself," said famous actress Sreelatha Namboothiri who has acted with Vijayasree. Sreelatha Namboothiri was speaking on Kaumudi TV's Straight Line interview program.

"At the time of Vijayasree's death, I and Jayabharathi were shooting for a film in Bangalore. I heard that someone in her house gave her a cup of tea and she died as soon as she drank it. Before that, there was a phone call from someone. The incident happened after she attended the phone call and spoke. I heard that the post-mortem was done and not done. There were accusations that someone had settled the case. Vijayasree was a woman with a passion for living. Good behaviour. She was close to a Tamil director's brother. She had once told me with despair that her mother would not allow her to marry him. There was a lot of gossip about Vijayasree in the newspapers and magazines. She used to answer in Malayalam mixed with Tamil when the reporters asked questions. The news getting published would not be what she said. She was a good actress. Beautiful. She acted as the heroine of many Prem Nazir films. - Sreelatha said.

Vijayasree was known as Marilyn Monroe of Malayalam. She died when he was acting in two films Youvanam and Vandikkari. As it was not completed, it was released as a film titled Youvanam-Vandikkari. It was also a huge hit. Police ruled Vijayasree's death as suicide. There was no major investigation. Vijayasree became the first martyr of exploitation in the film industry.