K. R. Vijaya

Vijaya was born as Deivanayaki, eldest children to Malayali Parents Ramachandra Nair and Kalyani at Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Her father was in the army and her mother was a housewife. She has a younger brother, Narayanan and four younger sisters, K. R. Vatsala, K. R. Savithri, Sashikala and Radha. She had her primary education at Government Higher Secondary School, Adyar, Chennai. Her father wanted her to become an actress since he was himself acting in M. R. Radha's drama troupe at the time after retiring from army. She made her film debut with Karpagam in 1963. She was the first ever actress to own a private jet.Vijaya's first break itself was as a heroine in her debut film Karpagam (1963). Her notable films include Idhaya Kamalam (1965), Odayil Ninnu (1965), Saraswathi Sabatham (1966), Selvam (1966), Nenjirukkum Varai (1967), Iru Malargal (1967), Namma Veettu Deivam (1970), Dheerga Sumangali (1974), Thangappathakkam (1974), Thirisoolam (1979) and Ithiri Poove Chuvannapoove (1984).

She was called as "Punnagai Arasi" (Queen of the smiles - in Tamil) by her fans at a function held in Trichy. Vijaya was always the first choice of directors to portray the roles of Hindu goddesses due to her looks which was similar to conventional depictions. Apart from her essaying the role of Goddess Shakti in Mel Maruvathoor Arpudhangal (1986), she essayed the Mariamman avatar in the film Mahasakthi Mariamman (1986) and Kandhan Karunai (1967). K R Vijaya reminisces about her first director "who gave her life" K. S. Gopalakrishnan who also directed her in her 100th film Nathayil Muthu (1973). Apart from acting in many films, she has also acted in Raja Rajeswari and Kudumbam, two teleserials.

Vijaya returned to a mythological role in Sri Rama Rajyam (2011). K.R Vijaya also played Kausalya for the first time in Bapu's mythological extravaganza. She has acted in over 500 films.