Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 27 (IANS): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday condoled the death of veteran Telugu actor-filmmaker G. Vijaya Nirmala, who passed away in Hyderabad earlier in the day, aged 75.

Vijaya Nirmala started her career as a child actor. At the age of five, she made her acting debut in 1950 Tamil film 'Machcha Rekkai' and four years later she forayed into Telugu cinema with the film 'Panduranga Mahatyam'.

It was through the 1964 Malayalam film 'Bhargavi Nilayam', that she rose to stardom and got noticed. She went on to work with Prem Nazir again in 'Udhyogastha'.

The Kerala Chief Minister in his condolence message said none can ever forget her character 'Bhargavikutty' in the film 'Bhargavi Nilayama' and also Malayalees will always remember her as the first woman director in Malayalam cinema when she directed 'Kavitha'.

Vijay Nirmala, who directed 44 films, made her directorial debut with 1971 Telugu film 'Meena', which was based on the eponymous popular novel written by 'Eddanapudi Sulochana Rani'.

As a filmmaker, she directed major stars like Sivaji Ganesan and Rajinikanth. She directed the latter in the Telugu remake of 'Amar Akbar Anthony', which also starred her husband Krishna.