Vyjayanthimala Bali was born on August 13, 1936, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Her Mother Tongue is Tamil.She did her schooling at Sacred Heart Church Park Convent, Chennai. She trained in Bharatnatyam, a South Indian genre of classical dancing.She is a major Indian actress of the 1950s and '60s, who won a large number of awards for her acting and classical dancing achievements. Following her cinema career, she entered Indian politics, and became a Member of Parliament.
At age 15, she got a break in an AVM (production house) Tamil movie, Vazhkai, which was produced by M. V. Raman, a family friend. The movie was a success, and was remade in Hindi as Bahaar (1951). She acted in a few more Tamil movies before moving on to a highly successful career in Hindi movies. Her dance competition with Padmini in the Tamil film, Vanjikottai Vaaliban, received much acclaim.
Vyjayanthimala got her initial Hindi movie roles in Ladki and Nagin (1954). Hemant Kumar's music and her dance accompanying the song, Man Dole, Mera tan dole, in Nagin made the movie an enormous success, and the movie's success helped Vyjayanthimala break out of B grade movies. Bimal Roy cast her as Chandramukhi opposite Dilip Kumar in the critically acclaimed Devdas. She subsequently starred in four successful films opposite Dilip Kumar: Madhumati, Ganga Jamuna, Leader, and Naya Daur. The first two of those four roles earned her Filmfare Best Actress Awards. She also received a Filmfare nomination as Best Actress for portraying in Sadhana a tawaif (a courtesan) who eventually got rehabilitated in the society. She costarred with Raj Kapoor in Sangam which earned her the Filmfare Best Actress Award. (She denied rumors of an affair with Raj Kapoor during the production of Sangam, saying that it was a publicity stunt by Kapoor to boost his image.
Vyjayanthimala starred in the 1966 historical epic, Amrapali, which was based on the life of the legendary Buddhist courtesan Amrapali. The movie was not a commercial success, and the commercial failure much disappointed her as she considered it the magnum opus of her career. Later, she said that she would like to see a remake of that movie, with Madhuri Dixit playing her role.
She costarred with Dev Anand in Jewel Thief, with Rajendra Kumar in Suraj, with Shammi Kapoor in Prince, and with Kishore Kumar in his inane yet zany comedies,including the blockbuster New Delhi.
Vyjayanthimala's Tamil movies included Vanjikottai Valiban, Irumbuthirai, Then Nilavu, Vaazhkai, Penn, Parthiban Kanavu (old), and Baghdad Thirudan.
Vyjayanthimala fell in love with Raj Kapoor's personal physician, Dr. Chamanlal Bali, who was then married, (and had three children). Dr. Bali divorced his wife to marry her, saying that there was already a void in his life when they met. After marriage, she terminated her acting career and moved to Chennai. She has a son, Suchindra, by Dr. Bali. After the death of her husband, she entered politics and got elected as a member of Lok Sabha (lower house). Later, she got nominated as a member of Rajya Sabha (the upper house). In 2007, she published her autobiography, titled Bonding, with Jyoti Sabarwal as the co-writer.
In 1956, she got Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award, for a role in Devdas. Vyjayanthimala did not accept the award, her contention being that her role in that movie was that of the main actress rather than a supporting actress. (That was the first time a person had declined to receive a Filmfare Award.) In 1958 she got Filmfare Best Actress Award, for a role in Madhumati.In 1961 she got Filmfare Best Actress Award, for a role in Ganga Jamuna. In 1964 she got Filmfare Best Actress Award, for a role in Sangam.In 1995 she got Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award.In 2005 she got Lifetime Achievement Award at the Bollywood Movie Awards.