Krishna unveils Vijayanirmala's bronze statue

On the occasion of the 74th birth anniversary of the noted director and actress, the late Vijayanirmala, her bronze statue was unveiled by her husband, superstar Krishna at his residence in Nanakramguda in Hyderabad on Thursday.

Speaking on the occasion, Krishna sharing his experiences about Vijayanirmala, said that she wanted to start directing films after acting in five or six films but he told her to wait till he completed 100 films.

She made low budget films like 'Kavitha' and 'Meena' and established herself as a successful director and went on to direct 46 movies, thus entering into the Guinness Book of World Records.

Speaking on the occasion, rebel star Krishnam Raju described Vijayanirmala as a versatile director and actress who scaled great heights in the Telugu film industry.

He said that it was extremely painful and unbelievable that she was no longer alive and it would be difficult to fill the void created by her. Present day actresses should take inspiration from her, he added.

Mahesh Babu said that Vijayanirmala was a great dynamic personality in the Telugu film industry. She said after watching each of his films, she used to congratulate him for his acting prowess.

But, now, he was saddened to note that she was no longer with them to congratulate him or give her assessment on his performance in his recently released film, 'Sarileru Neekevvaru' and the loss was painful.

Son of Vijayanirmala and actor Naresh, who got golden feet, made for his mother said that Krishna and Vijayanirmala were his role models.

He said that an award would be given away every year from now on his mother's name. Naresh said that he would strive for the welfare of all the movie artistes.

Later, Krishnam Raju and Mahesh Babu handed over the 'Vijayanirmala Stree Shakti Puraskar' to director Nandini Reddy. Minister for Cinematography Talasani Srinivas Yadav was also present on the occasion.