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{{Short description|Indian actress, singer, and film producer}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Dasari Kotiratnam
| image =
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| caption =
| birth_date =
| birth_place = [[Prathipadu, Guntur district|Prathipadu]], [[Guntur district]], [[Madras Presidency]], [[British Raj|British India]] (now [[Andhra Pradesh]], India)
| death_date = 21 December 1972
| death_place = [[Chilakaluripet]]a, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, India
| occupation = {{hlist|Actress|producer}}
| honours =
| other_names =
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}}
'''Dasari Kotiratnam''' was an Indian actress, singer, and film producer.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Vinayaka Rao |date=4 May 2011 |title=తొలి మహిళా నిర్మాత కోటిరత్నం |trans-title=First Female Producer Kotiratnam |url=https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_5i5uBW_3lo/TdPna1F9jDI/AAAAAAAAGtc/zkrBjevdZkY/s1600/producer+kotiratnam.jpeg |website=Navya, [[Andhra Jyothi]] |page=66 |language=te}}</ref> She was the first female producer of [[Telugu cinema]].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Py9LAQAAIAAJ&q=Dasari+Kotiratnam |title=Limca Book of Records |date=2006 |publisher=Bisleri Beverages Limited |isbn=978-81-902837-2-4 |pages=113 |language=en |quote=First woman producer Dasari Kotiratnam produced Anasuya in 1935.}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Ōlgā |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VF7aAAAAMAAJ&q=Dasari+Kotiratnam |title=Womanscape |date=2001 |publisher=Asmita Resource Centre for Women |isbn=978-81-7525-206-6 |pages=1944 |language= |quote=Dasari Kotiratnam was the first actress to set up a theatre group while Venkubai and Kamala of the Surabhi Company were well-known stage artists. Dasari Kotiratnam later became the first woman to produce films.}}</ref><ref>Mareswara Rao, Akkina (1997). ''[http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/25594/7/07_chapter%202.pdf Cultural and Ideological Mediation of Telugu Cinema in Colonial Andhra's Past (1931–1947)]''. [[University of Hyderabad]]. Chapter 2. p. 102. "Dasari Kotiratnam of Sakkubai fame emerged as the first woman producer of Telugu film industry by producing Anasuya in 1935."</ref> She was also the first actress to set up a [[theatre]] group in Andhra.<ref name=":0" /> Her career as a theatre actor spanned over four decades.<ref name=":13">{{Cite web |last=Vinayaka Rao |date=4 May 2011 |title=తొలి మహిళా నిర్మాత కోటిరత్నం |trans-title=First Female Producer Kotiratnam |url=https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NrUKmmYfzP8/TdPnh_3Ib_I/AAAAAAAAGtg/UL7kcsHqTBc/s1600/producer+kotiratnam+1.jpeg |website=Navya, [[Andhra Jyothi]] |page=67 |language=te}}</ref>

She produced her first film, [[Sati Anasuya (1935 film)|''Sati Anasuya'']] (1935) in collaboration with [[Aurora Film Corporation]].<ref name=":13" /> She later acted in films like ''Lanka Dahanam'' (1936), ''Mohini Bhasmasura'' (1938), [[Vara Vikrayam (film)|''Vara Vikrayam'']] (1939), ''Panduranga Vitala'' (1939), ''[[Paduka Pattabhishekam]]'' (1945), ''Varudhini'' (1946), ''[[Gollabhama]]'' (1947).<ref name=":13" />

== Early life ==
Dasari Kotiratnam was born in a [[Kapu (caste)|Kapu]] family<ref name=":5">M. L. Kantha Rao (July 1999), [https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/25437/ ''A Study of the Socio-Political Mobility of the Kapu Caste in Modern Andhra'']. [[University of Hyderabad]]. Chapter 6. pp. 280–281. hdl:10603/25437</ref> in [[Prathipadu, Guntur district|Prathipadu]], [[Guntur district]] of present-day [[Andhra Pradesh]]. She was born in 1898 or 1910.<ref>{{Citation |title=Kiran Prabha Talk Show on Dasari Kotiratnam - దాసరి కోటిరత్నం | date=19 May 2020 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz0oiud6mc0&t=160s |access-date= |language=en}}; Event occurs from 2:40 to 2:50.</ref><ref name=":1" /> Her father was a stage actor and she trained under him. She began acting in [[Play (theatre)|plays]] at the age of nine. She also trained in [[Indian classical music]] under Rajanala Venkatappayya Sastri.<ref name=":1" />

== Career ==
Kotiratnam played various male characters, along with female characters in theatre.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Krishnamurthi |first=N. Putali |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DJyGAAAAIAAJ&q=Dasari+Kotiratnam |title=The Changing Condition of Women in Andhra: From the Middle of the 19th Century to the Middle of the 20th Century |date=1980 |publisher= |pages=274 |language=en}}</ref> After her mother died, she left Prathipadu and settled in Nakkabokkalapadu, her grandfather's village. There she founded a drama company.<ref name=":1" /> She was the first actress to set up a theatre company in Andhra.<ref name=":0" /> After five years she shifted to [[Guntur]] and continued running the drama company there. They practiced many plays and performed them in various towns and villages. She employed many artists on a payroll. She entered the film industry based on her reputation in theatre.<ref name=":1" />

In 1935 Kotiratnam went to [[Calcutta]] along with her theatre troupe artists like B. V. Ramanandam and Tungala Chalapathi Rao. All of them acted in the film ''Sathi Sakkubai'' (1935) produced by Bharatalakshmi Films and directed by Charuchandra Roy. Kotiratnam played the [[Title character|title role]] of Sakkubai, while Tungala Chalapathi Rao played [[Krishna|Lord Krishna]]. She was also the first woman to play a title role in Telugu films.<ref name=":13" />

In collaboration with [[Aurora Film Corporation]], Kotiratnam produced [[Sati Anasuya#Sati Anasuya (1935 film)|''Sati Anasuya'']] under the direction of Ahin Chowdary. She also played the title role in the film.<ref name=":13" /> It was released on 4 October 1935.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sati Anasuya (1935) |url=https://www.cinemaazi.com/film/sati-anasuya |access-date=20 June 2023 |website=Cinemaazi}}</ref> Thus she became the first female producer of [[Telugu film industry]]. She later acted in films like ''Lanka Dahanam'' (1936), ''Mohini Bhasmasura'' (1938), [[Vara Vikrayam (film)|''Vara Vikrayam'']] (1939), ''Panduranga Vitala'' (1939), ''[[Paduka Pattabhishekam]]'' (1945), ''Varudhini'' (1946), ''[[Gollabhama]]'' (1947).<ref name=":13" />

== Death ==
In 1958, she fell ill and her voice was damaged. Her acting chances reduced as a result. In 1960, she was felicitated by Andhra Nataka Parishat in [[Tanuku]].<ref name=":13" /> Kotiratnam died on 21 December 1972 in [[Chilakaluripet]]a.<ref>{{Citation |title=Kiran Prabha Talk Show on Dasari Kotiratnam - దాసరి కోటిరత్నం | date=19 May 2020 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz0oiud6mc0&t=1020s |access-date= |language=en}}; Event occurs from 17:00 to 17:10.</ref>

== Filmography ==
[[File:Book cover of Sati Anasuya, 1935 film (page 1 crop).jpg|thumb|220x220px|''Sati Anasuya'' (1935) book cover]]

*''Sathi Sakkubai'' (1935)<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Dasari Kotiratnam |url=https://indiancine.ma/grid/year/name=Dasari_Kotiratnam |access-date=2023-06-20 |website=Indiancine.ma}}</ref>
* [[Sati Anasuya#Sati Anasuya (1935 film)|''Sati Anasuya'']] (1935)<ref name=":1" />
* ''Lanka Dahanam'' (1936)<ref name=":13" />
* ''Mohini Bhasmasura'' (1938)<ref name=":2" />
* [[Vara Vikrayam (film)|''Vara Vikrayam'']] (1939)<ref name=":2" />
* ''Panduranga Vitala'' (1939)<ref name=":2" />
* ''[[Paduka Pattabhishekam]]'' (1945)<ref name=":13" />
* ''Varudhini'' (1946)<ref name=":13" />
* ''[[Gollabhama]]'' (1947)<ref name=":13" />
* ''Radhika'' (1947)
* ''Chandravanka'' (1951)<ref name=":13" />
* ''Agni Pariksha'' (1951)<ref name=":2" />
* ''Bangaru Bhoomi'' (1954)<ref name=":13" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|0467707}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kotiratnam, Dasari}}
[[Category:1972 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian film actresses]]
[[Category:Indian women film producers]]
[[Category:Film producers from Andhra Pradesh]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian actresses]]
[[Category:Telugu actresses]]
[[Category:Telugu film producers]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Andhra Pradesh]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian businesswomen]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian businesspeople]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women singers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women artists]]

Dasari Kotiratnam - Revision history

Souravroyjournalist at 17:19, 17 December 2025