http://www.hindu.com/fr/2007/09/07/stor ... 140300.htm
Ageless charm somehow seems inadeuqte to translate how my mother describes her - 'iLamai kunrA azhagu'!
I first saw Vyjayantimala on screen when I watched vanjikOTTai vAliban many years ago on an old B&W TV - a Friday broadcast from Madras Doordarshan as it was called then. That she charmed me would be an understatement - 'kaNNAl valaivIshi munnAl naDandAlE pinnAle ODi vara vEnDAmA' had me agreeing wholeheartedly with the sentiment as long as the rOjA malar in question was vyjayantimAlA! And by the time of the contest in the song 'kaNNum kaNNum kalandu' I was enslaved (dually so!). I think I have seen almost every movie of hers in Hindi (and madhumati remains a favorite to this day) - I did miss some of her kannaDA movies like 'cittUr rANi padmini'. One of my favorites remains vAzhkai, and the 'da-da-dA' song from there. And of course, the evergreen 'nandagOpAlan ODu nAn'...
I have one regret that I have not seen her dance live. I have seen exerpts from a recital of hers in London a few years ago, and was stunned by her ability to captivate even at that age!
A dancer to the very core, she seems to be navigating life in general, movie-stardom, and a forray into politics with the graceful lines of the original vazhuvUr style she first learnt!