1949–1954: Early success in South Indian films When director
M. V. Raman was looking for a new face to cast in
AVM Productions's
Vazhkai (1949), he saw Vyjayanthimala performing Bharata Natyam in Chennai's Gokhale Hall. He tried to convince her grandmother, who was apprehensive about Vyjayanthimala joining films as she felt her grand daughter was too young to act in the films and also it would come in the way of her education and dance. Though the film was not a commercial success, her western-style of dance became popular and was considered one of the major highlights of the film. She learned
Hindi at the Hindi Prachar Sabha to dub her own voice for her character in the film. The film became sixth highest-grossing film of 1951 with a verdict of box office hit. After the success of her debut films in all three languages, Vyjayanthimala again acted in a
multilingual film which was produced by
Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar of
AVM Productions. The second version was in Telugu titled
Sangham (1954) which was released in the same year with
N. T. Rama Rao, Vyjayanthimala, S. Balachandran and Anjali Devi in the lead. The Tamil and the Telugu films were big successes across South India. The film was once again remade in Hindi as
Ladki (1953) starring
Kishore Kumar and
Bharat Bhushan, while Vyjayanthimala, along with Anjali Devi, reprised her role from the original film. Her performance was described by
Upperstall.com as, "Vyjayanthimala's dances are the film's saving grace although it is unintentionally funny now to see how deliberate and obviously tacky the sequences are which lead into her dances... Ladki too makes no real demands on "feminist" tomboy Vyjayanthimala histrionically". The film emerged as the second highest-grossing film of 1953. In 1954, Vyjayanthimala acted in the romance
Nagin (1954) with
Pradeep Kumar. The film got favourable responses from the audience and became the highest-grossing film of 1954 where it was labelled as a
blockbuster at the box-office. Her performance as the
Nagi tribe's chief got Mala favourable reviews from critics, as in 1955, a critic from
Filmfare magazine had said that "Vyjayanthimala in the title role puts over a commendable performance besides looking ravishingly beautiful as the belle of the hills. Her dancing, too, is very graceful, specially in those eye-filling colour sequences and delightful ballets towards the finish", while in
The Hindu review Vijay Lokapally similarly praised her portrayal: "The ethereal Vyjayanthimala, barely 18, illuminates the screen with her stunning beauty, moving around daintily from one song to the other... The close-up shots of Vyjayanthimala highlight her ability to convey so much with so little effort... Nagin was a precursor to her rise in Hindi cinema as an iconic actor, who combined her talents, performing and dancing, to rule the screen on her terms... biggest recall values of Nagin are Vyjayanthimala". Post
Nagin, Vyjayanthimala had established herself as one of the leading actresses in Hindi films because of the film's nationwide success.
Hemant Kumar's music and her dance on the song, "Man Dole, Mera tan dole", rendered by
Lata Mangeshkar was one of the highlights of the film. though the producer's son Srikant Venkatram claimed that the film was released and flopped miserably at box office which made the film obscure.
1955–1957: Devdas and breakthrough In 1955, Vyjayanthimala acted in five Hindi films. The first one was director
Abdur Rashid Kardar's
Yasmin alongside actor Suresh, which won the
Filmfare Award for Best Cinematography for Dwarka Divecha. Besides that, she also starred in three other films,
Pehli Jhalak with
Kishore Kumar,
Sitara with
Pradeep Kumar and
Jashan with Karan Dewan. Eventually all her four films released in 1955 failed at the box office. The same year,
Bimal Roy cast her as
Chandramukhi opposite
Dilip Kumar in the critically acclaimed
Devdas, which was the adaptation of the novel with same
title by
Sharat Chandra Chatterji. The industry initially was not in favour of this choice when they heard about Vyjayanthimala being cast in Bimal Roy's film, the response being: "Why don't you take comedian
Kishore Kumar as Devdas?". Initially
Nargis was selected for Chandramukhi's role, but she refused to accept the role. The role was later offered to
Bina Rai and
Suraiya but they too turned it down as they wanted to essay the lead role of Paro, which was earlier offered to
Meena Kumari. Subsequently, the film unit suffered with
financial crisis and at this point Vyjayanthimala offered to do the role of Chandramukhi, where she said to
Bimal Roy, "I am ready if you think I can do it". Subsequently, she won her only
Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress but refused to accept it, stating that her role was a leading one and in equal importance to the role played by
Suchitra Sen and not
supporting. In 2006, a poll conducted by
Rediff ranked her role of Chandramukhi as one of the best
tawaif characters in
Hindi films. Subsequently, the same role was listed in
The Times of India's "10 Celluloid Hookers You Loved" at number six by
Nikhat Kazmi. Though the film was critically successful, it did not garner much support at the box-office and ended up as the tenth highest-grossing film of the year with an average verdict. After being recognised as a capable actress with
Devdas, Vyjayanthimala acted in successful movies in 1956, namely
Taj,
Patrani and
Anjaan: Somewhere in Delhi – all three films with
Pradeep Kumar as the hero and
Kismet Ka Khel with
Sunil Dutt. In the same year, she also acted in
swashbuckler film
Devta, which was a remake of the hugely successful Tamil film
Kanavaney Kankanda Deivam. Surprisingly though, she accepted a supporting role as a
vamp which was originally done by
Lalitha in the Tamil version. However, according to Upperstall.com, her role was very crucial in the film and her portrayal as the Naag Rani accompanied by her dance is the main attraction of the film. Also starring in the movie, reprising their lead roles from the original, were
Gemini Ganesan and
Anjali Devi. Vyjayanthimala then acted with
Kishore Kumar again in the
romantic comedy New Delhi, which became the fifth highest-grossing film of 1956. The film showcases a love that sprouts between a
Punjabi boy, played Kishore Kumar, and a
Tamil girl, played by Vyjayanthimala. Her performance was applauded by fans and critics alike; a review on
Upperstall.com regarding her performance in the film states that: "Vyjayanthimala proves to be the perfect foil for Kishore Kumar...has always had the mandatory dance sequence in practically every film of hers evoking "classical art" associations. She excels in the two main dances in New Delhi – the solo Bharatnatayam Aliruppu number and the Bhangra folk dance in her Punjabi avatar and she is absolutely brilliant in the Bhangra folk dance...in her second avatar. Even Vyjayanthimala played a Punjabi girl and most successfully too". Subsequently, she did a Tamil film called
Marma Veeran, along with Sriram,
Rajasulochana,
M. N. Rajam,
J. P. Chandrababu and
V. Nagayya. The film had some of the
South Indian established actors such as
N. T. Rama Rao,
Sivaji Ganesan and
Gemini Ganesan in a
guest appearance. In 1957, director
B. R. Chopra planned to make
Naya Daur, with
Ashok Kumar in the lead. However, the actor refused to accept this role and it later went to
Dilip Kumar. For the female lead, the first choice of the director was the biggest star-actress of those days,
Madhubala. But, as fate would have it, after 15 days of initial shooting at
Mumbai, the director wanted the unit to travel to
Bhopal for an extended outdoor shooting. However, Ataullah Khan, the father of
Madhubala, objected to this and the role went to Vyjayanthimala. Chopra later sued Madhubala for the cash advance she received from him for the film, saying that she accepted the sum and now had no intention of completing it. Vyjyanthimala had previously acted with Dilip Kumar in
Devdas and the duo shared an easy chemistry on-screen. The new film,
Naya Daur, had a theme of "Man vs. machine", and Vyjanthi's portrayal of village belle Rajni received positive reviews from critics. A review from
Rediff says that: "Vyjayanthimala too is not your average petulant "gaon ki gori". She ably projects a hands-on worker who comes up with ideas on how to ford a stream and risks her life to save the bridge... wonderful scene between two stars whose chemistry is undeniable" while reviewer
Taran Adarsh from
Bollywood Hungama mentions that: "Commendable performances come in from Vyjayantimala [natural]...The relationships [Dilip Kumar-Vyjayantimala] are so human and believable". At the end of its theatrical run, the film had collected around , thus becoming the second highest-grossing film of 1957, second only to the critically acclaimed
Mother India, which became the
highest-grossing Hindi language film ever at the time. Following that, Vyjayanthimala almost signed for the lead role in
Filmistan's
Tumsa Nahin Dekha opposite
Dev Anand in 1957, but due to the producer
Sashadhar Mukherjee's promise to actor
Shammi Kapoor, he replaced Dev Anand with
Shammi Kapoor. However, the director
Nasir Hussain was in a quandary as he had already read the script to Dev Anand and Vyjayanthimala, but Mukerji prevailed and he also replaced Vyjayanthimala with
Ameeta, who was the protégée of
Filmistan Studios owner Tolaram Jalan. This film was about a young girl named Pushpa who, on account of being a good dancer and singer, assists puppeteer Shivraj in his puppet show. This film was director
Amiya Chakravarty's last film. He died during the filming of
Kathputli and the remaining project was completed by director
Nitin Bose. She returned to the screen again with
Kishore Kumar in the 1957 partially colour-made film
Aasha which became a hit at the box office. The story revolves around the central character Kishore, played by Kishore Kumar, who, despite being a Zamindar, believes in helping the needy. Vyjayanthimala, as Nirmala, plays the lover of Kishore. The story suddenly goes from being light-hearted and humorous to a court-drama when Kishore is falsely accused of murder. The rest of the movie sees both the protagonists trying to prove Kishore's innocence. The movie is best known for its song "Eena Meena Dekha" sung by
Kishore Kumar and
Asha Bhosle, in two different versions.
1958–1959: Madhumati, Sadhna and continued acclaim The following year proved to be very successful for Vyjayanthimala, since she signed opposite
Dilip Kumar in
Bimal Roy's
Madhumati in the title role. Originally supposed to essay four roles, the director finally scaled it down to three, Madhumati, Madhavi and Radha. The film was launched in front of the
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Theatre in
Czechoslovakia. During the filming in the hills of
Nainital, Vyjayanthimala was required to dance barefoot where she tripped on a stone and fell, hurting herself badly and causing damage to her
fibre tissues in the
sole of her foot. Roy, who was terrified and in a quandary over the incident as the shooting could not be stopped insisted on her wearing
sandals which made it difficult for her during running sequences. Even after the completion of Madhumati, she still encountered the pain from the injury which always reminded her of Madhumati's shooting experience. The film was well received by critics and audience, and it became highest grossing Hindi language film of 1958 and was labelled as a blockbuster at the box office and ended up as the fifth highest-grossing film of the decade with its net adjusted to inflation to about 586.4 million. Her performance as Madhavi, Radha and the ghost Madhumati earned her accolades from critics. Shahid Khan from Planetbollywood.com said: "Vyjayantimala has never been one of my most favourite actresses but this is one of the few performances where I am completely bowled over by her. Her expressions while playing both the main characters are perfect. With Madhumati, she brings the wonder, surprise and innocence needed in the person. With Madhavi, she brings the poise, the curiosity and pity for the grief that Anand is going through", and Karan Bali from Upperstall.com wrote that: "For Vyjayanthimala, the film showcases both her acting as well as dancing abilities and the dizzying success of
Madhumati took Vyjayanthimala to the highest rungs of stardom...to cap off an extremely successful year for her. Both, as an actress of considerable dramatic merit and as a star".
Madhumati came to be known as the first film which dealt with the theme of
reincarnation and had a
gothic noir feel to it. The film later inspired films such as
Milan (1967),
The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975),
Mehbooba (1976),
Kudrat (1980),
Karz (1980),
Karan Arjun (1995) and particularly
Om Shanti Om (2007) which had also lifted the film's climax which led to
Rinki Bhattacharya, the late Roy's daughter accusing the film of plagiarism and threatening legal action against its producers. The same month she had another release,
B. R. Chopra's
Sadhna alongside
Sunil Dutt. Vyjayanthimala was the second choice for the role of Champabai, the prostitute, after actress
Nimmi who hesitated to play the role of a prostitute, which arguably led to her career decline. The
Filmfare award-winning story by
Mukhram Sharma revolves around Rajini, enacted by Vyjayanthimala, a prostitute's love affair with a professor, played by
Sunil Dutt. Chopra, who previously directed Vyjayanthimala in
Naya Daur, had adapted the theme on the rehabilitation of prostitutes which was then a controversial topic in India. Along with the film, her performance received universal acclaim, as told by Vijay Lokapally from
The Hindu: "Among the great movies made on the subject of helpless women versus society, Sadhna holds its own for its realistic portrayal and treatment of a subject, so aesthetically documented by Chopra and Vyjayanthimala" and praised the latter "gorgeous when she entertains the clients at her kotha...stunningly restrained when she assumes the character of a prospective wife". Similarly,
Rediff's critic
Dinesh Raheja has commented that: "But finally, the show belongs to Vyjayanthimala. Fetchingly frivolous in the first half, she is suitably serious in the second. She makes her need for acceptance palpable; her eyes emit twin lasers of anger and condemnation at those that exploit women".
Sadhna also performed well at the box office where it became fifth highest-grossing film of 1958 with trade pundits declaring the film a box office hit. Subsequently, Vyjayanthimala received two nominations for the
Filmfare Award for Best Actress for
Madhumati and
Sadhna, winning her first trophy for the latter, after having refused to accept the
Best Supporting Actress trophy for
Devdas (1955) earlier. Her next release was
Amar Deep, where she was paired against Dev Anand for the first time. A production of
Sivaji Ganesan's
Sivaji Productions, the film was a remake of 1956 Tamil film
Amara Deepam, which had Ganesan himself in the lead. Along with
Padmini, who reprised her role from the original, Vyjayanthimala plays the role of Aruna which was originally performed by actress
Savitri in Tamil. Her other releases of 1958
Sitaroan Ke Aage and
Piya Milan became average successes. In 2011, in conjunction with actor Dev Anand's death, Vyjayanthimala recollected her memories during the filming in
Madras, where she remembers the actor calling her "Papa", the Tamil termed that was used by her family and friends, and he would search for her throughout the sets while yelling "where is Papa, where is my heroine". According to Subhash Chheda, when
Amar Deep was released, the long-awaited airing of Vyjayanthimala and Dev Anand was compared to the
Madhubala and Dev Anand pair, where the public gave the verdict that: "If Madhubala brooks no equality, Vyjayanthimala admits no superiority". One of the first screen adaptations of
Kalki Krishnamurthy's
Ponniyin Selvan, the film had a huge
ensemble cast consisting of
Savitri,
Gemini Ganesan,
Padmini,
Saroja Devi, M. N. Rajam and
Nagesh along with Ramachandran and Vyjayanthimala. In the film, she was given the role of
Kundavai, the elder sister of
Raja Raja Chola I, played by Ganesan and the wife of
Vallavaraiyan Vandiyadevan, played by Ramachandran. The film is still remembered for the dance of Vyjayanthimala and Padmini in the song "
Kannum Kannum Kalanthu" which was choreographed by Hiralal, and was well received by critics and audience alike, wherein the popularity of the song surpassed the popularity garnered by the film. The song is still regarded as one of the best dance sequences in
Indian cinema.
Vanjikottai Valiban was followed by its Hindi version titled
Raj Tilak. Screenplay of the film was by
Ramanand Sagar. The film was directed by S. S. Vasan with Gemini Ganesan, Padmini, Vyjayanthimala in the lead. The film was hit at the box office, still it was unable to achieve the same box office success made by the Tamil version. Besides them, Vyjayanthimala's real-life mother
Vasunthara Devi also acted in a small role where she played the role of mother to her own daughter who
died in vain. Upon release
Paigham became second highest-grossing film of 1959 with the verdict of a box office hit. The same year she did a Tamil film
Athisaya Penn, where she co-starred with Telugu actor
Akkineni Nageswara Rao for the first time.
Athisaya Penn was a remake of
Aasha, which again was directed by M. V. Raman. She acted opposite Pradeep Kumar in the romantic film
Jawani Ki Hawa in 1959.
1960–1964: Return to South Indian cinema and fluctuations In 1960, Vyjayanthimala mostly concentrated on Tamil films to keep in touch with the industry. She starred opposite
Sivaji Ganesan for the second time after the latter's cameo appearance in
Marma Veeran (1956). Along with Vyjayanthimala, all the female cast including
B. Saroja Devi,
Pandari Bai and
Vasunthara Devi reprised their roles from the original with
S. V. Ranga Rao in Motilal's role and
K. A. Thangavelu in
Raaj Kumar's character. The film was followed by
Raja Bakthi, again with Sivaji Ganesan.
Raja Bakthi had huge
ensemble cast featuring
P. Bhanumathi,
Padmini,
T. S. Balaiah and
E. V. Saroja. Her subsequent release was
D. Yoganand's
magnum opus Parthiban Kanavu. Co-starring
Gemini Ganesan for the third time and
B. Saroja Devi for the second time, the film was based on
Kalki Krishnamurthy's 1942 novel with the
same name. Upon release the film met with positive response from the critics and was awarded the
National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil at the
8th National Film Awards. However, the film did not fare well at the box office, but Vyjayanthimala's performance was appreciated by critics. She also acted opposite
M. G. Ramachandran for the first time in
Baghdad Thirudan. Meanwhile, she did a Hindi film titled
College Girl opposite
Shammi Kapoor, which fared average at the box office and was declared as the eighteenth highest-grossing film of the year. Following successful re-entry in Tamil cinema, Vyjayanthimala then signed
Dilip Kumar's home production film
Gunga Jumna. Having been inspired by the 1934
Manhattan Melodrama, the film was one of the first Hindi films to deal with the theme based on two brothers on opposite sides of law. Directed by
Nitin Bose, she co-starred with Kumar for the fifth time after
Devdas,
Naya Daur,
Madhumati and
Paigham. In this
dacoit drama, she enacted the role of Dhanno, a
washerwoman who falls for childhood friend Gunga, played by Kumar and eventually killed during a gun fight. To prepare herself for that role, Vyjayanthimala had to learn the
Bhojpuri, a Hindi language
dialect spoken by people in
East India region. She was assisted by Kumar, who chose the shade of
saree that Vyjayanthimala would wear in every scene. Upon release, the film opened to widespread critical acclaim from the critics. Her performance earned her rave reviews. Dinesh Raheja from
Rediff said that: "Gunga Jumna deployed several crowd-pleasing elements...most of all, an enchanting relationship between Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala... Their characterisation ran so deep, which helped Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala give magnetic performances. Dilip is of course a thespian, but Vyjayanthimala is a revelation"; while K. K. Rai from
Stardust applauded her performance by adding "Vyjayanthimala played the village woman with such simplicity and grace; you’d forget she was one of the most glamorous stars of her time. She also spoke the Bhojpuri dialect like a native". Critics praised Vyjayanthimala for her ability to master the Bhojpuri dialect despite her South Indian upbringing. Subsequently, the film enjoyed huge success at the box office across India. At the end of its theatrical run, the film grossed around with a net gross of and a verdict of a blockbuster. The film was the Highest-grossing film of 1961, and was the third highest grossing Hindi film of the decade behind
Mughal-e-Azam and
Sangam, another Kumar and Vyjayanthimala starrer respectively. The film was ranked second by Boxofficeindia.co.in behind
Mughal-e-Azam in their list of "Top 50 Film of Last 50 Years", which features all-time highest grossing Hindi films by using the relative price of gold in different years to arrive at a hypothetical current value of box office collections of past films for its adjustment to inflation rate. . For her performance, Vyjayanthimala won her third and final
Filmfare Award for Best Actress trophy at the
9th Filmfare Awards. In addition to that, she also won her first ever
Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards in the Best Actress category. In the same year, she starred in
C. V. Sridhar's
Nazrana. In this remake of the highly successful 1959 Tamil film
Kalyana Parisu, again directed by Sridhar, she acted alongside
Raj Kapoor for the first time. She played the role of Vasanthi, wherein she replaced actress
B. Saroja Devi who did not reprise her role from
Kadhal Parisu and its Telugu remake
Pelli Kanuka. The triangular love story received an average run at cinemas and ended up as the twelfth highest-grossing film of that year. The film and the soundtrack were widely appreciated by the audience, where it was a huge success. The film was followed by
J. Om Prakash's
Aas Ka Panchhi with
Rajendra Kumar. For her portrayal, Vyjayanthimala got some negative feedback from the critics;
The Hindu review said that: "Even the otherwise powerhouse of talent, Vyjayantimala, with many a sterling performance under her belt, barely passes muster, despite the usual dance and song sequence to showcase her formidable prowess as an accomplished dancer thrown in". Despite some mixed reviews, the film was labelled as a hit at the box office and was declared the fourth highest-grossing film of 1961 where it had a
silver jubilee run at the theatres. Her career then struggled again with some box office duds in the following year. In 1962, she co-starred with
Manoj Kumar in
Dr. Vidya, which performed average at the box office. In 1963, she co-starred with
Sivaji Ganesan in the
Historical fiction Chittoor Rani Padmini. Written by
C. V. Sridhar and directed by
Chitrapu Narayana Rao, the film proved to be a box office failure, however, her performance was critically acclaimed. The same year
Bimal Roy who earlier worked with her in
Devdas and
Madhumati offered her the lead role in
Bandini opposite
Ashok Kumar and
Dharmendra. However, Vyjayanthimala could not accept the role due to her busy schedule. Boxofficeindia.com ranked Vyjayanthimala at the top spot in their list of "Top Three Successful Box Office Actress" of 1962 and 1963 respectively, despite her box office failures. Following Kumar and
Dev Anand's refusal to be a part of the film, Kapoor then signed
Rajendra Kumar and himself as the male leads.
Sangam was the first Indian film shot in Europe and outside of Asia. It was the
longest running film in India when it was released at 238 minutes. The film also created a record by being the first film to have two intervals during theatrical screenings. With cinematography by Radhu Kamarkar, the European filming locations include
Venice, Paris, Switzerland and London, while the Indian locations include
Ooty and
Kashmir Valley. Upon release, the film was received widespread critical acclaim and was considered as Hindi cinema's greatest
love triangle. Vyjayanthimala's performance too received high praise from critics. Dinesh Raheja of
Rediff said that: "to put it simply, radiant...the maturity with which she tackles her character, the insouciance as well as the agony" and called it "one of commercial cinema's most unforgettable performances". Similarly, the film was commercially successful throughout India and other countries as well. On its overall theatrical run, Boxofficeindia.com reported that the film had grossed 8,00,00,000 and netted around with its adjusted to inflation net gross about . Subsequently, the film was labelled as a blockbuster, where it was ranked as highest-grossing film of 1964 and the second highest-grossing film of the decade. The film was ranked at fourth by Boxofficeindia.co.in in their list of "Top 50 Film of Last 50 Years" which feature all-time highest grossing Hindi film with its adjusted to inflation gross about . For her role of Radha, a woman in a dilemma about her feelings for her husband and her former lover, Vyjayanthimala was awarded with the
Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She then co-starred with
Dilip Kumar for the sixth time in
Ram Mukherjee's
Leader. The film was a comeback film for Kumar, whose last film was
Gunga Jumna, also co-starred Vyjayanthimala. Like most of Vyjayanthimala and Kumar's films, their on-screen chemistry received praise from critics, where Deepak Mahan from
The Hindu said: "What made the film even more enjoyable was the equally spirited response of doe-eyed Vyjayantimala, oozing oodles of impish charm in every frame. The pair carried the film on their shoulders, giving abundant joy and mirth to audiences with their outstanding histrionics. Their interactions make the film worth going miles to watch and it is certain that without their resolute shoulders". However, the film
Leader did not fare well at the box office, where it was labelled as below average. The film was followed by
Gemini Film's
Zindagi, directed by
Ramanand Sagar. A female-centric film, it features Vyjayanthimala alongside
Rajendra Kumar,
Raaj Kumar and
Prithviraj Kapoor.
Zindagi became a success at the box office, where it celebrated a silver jubilee theatrical run and was the fourth highest-grossing film of that year with a verdict of "hit". Soon she signed for
Anjali Pictures'
Phoolon Ki Sej, with
Ashok Kumar and
Manoj Kumar, and this became her third consecutive hit of the year. Her last release in 1964 was
Ishaara, in which she co-starred with actor
Joy Mukherjee for the first time, and her performance ensured that the film was a box office success.
1965–1970: Later successes and retirement In 1965, Vyjayanthimala starred in two commercial disappointments;
Naya Kanoon, with
Ashok Kumar and
Bharat Bhushan and
Nam Iruvar with
T. R. Mahalingam, but both the films are considered masterpieces by critics.
Naam Iruvar became her last Tamil film. In 1966, Vyjayanthimala starred in
Do Dilon Ki Dastaan, which failed at the box office. After some box office flops, Vyjayanthimala soon signed alongside
Rajendra Kumar in the
swashbuckler ruritanian romance Suraj. Directed by
T. Prakash Rao, the film had
Mumtaz,
Bharathi Vishnuvardhan and
Neetu Singh.
Suraj was huge box office success and was one of the popular
costume dramas in Hindi cinema.
Suraj was the last successful film of Rajendra Kumar and
Shankar Jaikishan, who introduced singer
Sharda through this film. According to Boxofficeindia.com, the film grossed around 50,000,000 with net gross of 25,000,000 and becomes second highest-grossing film of 1966 with a verdict of "super hit" at the box office. The film was also the thirteenth highest-grossing film of the decade, with its adjusted to inflation net gross about . Following
Suraj, Vyjayanthimala starred in the
historical film Amrapali. Based on life of the
Nagarvadhu (royal
courtesan) of
Vaishali Amrapali, she played the title role along with
Sunil Dutt, who enacted the role of King
Ajatashatru. Upon release, the film opened to widespread critical acclaim and was
India's official submission for
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the
39th Academy Awards but failed at the box-office, which left Vyjayanthimala heartbroken, where she decided to quit the industry, though director
Baldev Raj Chopra felt that she could have easily continued for another decade in lead roles. The
crime thriller reunited Vyjayanthimala with her co-star
Dev Anand after
Amar Deep (1958).
Jewel Thief also had
Ashok Kumar as the main antagonist with four more female leads
Tanuja,
Helen,
Anju Mahendru and
Faryal. For the first time she worked under Dev Anand's production house,
Navketan Films after being rejected by
Tad Danielewski for the lead role in the 1965 Hindi film
Guide. The success of
Jewel Thief made Vyjayanthimala and Dev Anand a hit pair. Subsequently, Vyjayanthimala's dance number "Hothon Pe Aisi Baat Main" sung by
Lata Mangeshkar became a huge hit and was considered one of the best dance numbers in Indian cinema, while being influential for the rises of other dance numbers such as "
Chamma Chamma" from
China Gate and "
Sheila Ki Jawani" from
Tees Maar Khan respectively. The same year she did the
magnum opus Chhoti Si Mulaqat, produced by the legendary Bengali actor and matinee idol
Mahanayak Uttam Kumar. A remake of the 1954 Bengali film
Agni Pariksha, which had Uttam Kumar, who reprises his role in the Hindi version and
Suchitra Sen in the lead. Unlike the original version,
Chhoti Si Mulaqat failed at the box offie and was declared a box office disaster. Her last release in the year was
Hatey Bazarey, with
Ashok Kumar. Inspired by
Banaphool's novel with the same title, the film was directed by acclaimed director
Tapan Sinha, where Vyjayanthimala made her Bengali cinema debut through the film. She played the role of a widowed young woman – Chhipli – who falls for a civil surgeon Doctor Anandi Mukheerjee. Upon release the film received unanimously positive reviews, where it was awarded the
Best Feature Film Award at the
15th National Film Awards, while Vyjayanthimala's performance was also appreciated by critics alike. A review from
Upperstall had mentioned that: "Vyjayantimala, in her debut in Bengali films is extremely convincing as the independent and vivacious tribal widow". Similarly, her singing in the song "Shyam Tor Tore Tamal Tolay Boshe Thaki" along with singer
Hemanta Mukherjee received praise, where it was described as a "pleasant surprise" in the same review. Reportedly she did not exchange a word with Kumar while filming, since their relationship broke up. For Vyjayanthimala's enactment of a courtesan, Laila-e-Aasma, she received positive feedback from the critics. Anuj Kumar from
The Hindu said that: "Vyjayanthimala is graceful as ever. In a film dominated by men, Rawail made sure she had a substantial role. Her dances and Naushad's lilting tunes come as a welcome break to the sinewy tone imparted by Abrar Alvi and Gulzar's dialogues". The role fetched her the Best Hindi Actress Award at 25th Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards.
Sunghursh was followed by
Saathi, directed by
C. V. Sridhar. A remake of the highly acclaimed Tamil film of 1961,
Palum Pazhamum, the film had
Rajendra Kumar and
Simi Garewal replacing
Sivaji Ganesan and
Sowcar Janaki respectively from the Tamil version with Vyjyanthimala enacting the role originally portrayed by
B. Saroja Devi. The same year she co-starred with
Dev Anand for the third and last time in
T. Prakash Rao's
Duniya.
Duniya,
Saathi and
Sunghursh were named as tenth, eleventh and twelfth highest-grossing film of 1968 respectively, with the first two labelled as average while the latter only managed to do above average business at the box office. On the other hand,
Duniya is considered a hit film by some critics and often included in the hit film list of Dev Anand. However, in 1975, Vyjayanthimala was almost signed in
Gulzar's
Aandhi with
Sanjeev Kumar but she backed out from the project as the role resembled
Indira Gandhi's personal life. Perhaps the most famous role that Vyjayanthimala ever turned down was the 1975 crime-drama film
Deewaar. Inspired by the 1961 film
Gunga Jumna, a Vyjayanthimala starrer, the film was directed by
Yash Chopra and stars
Amitabh Bachchan and
Shashi Kapoor. She turned down the role of a mother for the lead actors, which later went to
Nirupa Roy, who attained popularity through the success of the film and was later cast in similar roles. Following that, she refused the multi-starrer 1981 blockbuster film
Kranti, opposite
Dilip Kumar, with
Manoj Kumar,
Shashi Kapoor,
Hema Malini,
Shatrughan Sinha,
Parveen Babi and
Sarika as the
ensemble cast, which was directed and produced by Manoj Kumar himself. Following many films refused by Vyjayanthimala, Dinesh Raheja from
Rediff commented that "good money and pivotal roles notwithstanding...did not seem alluring enough". All her films released from 1969;
Pyar Hi Pyar,
Prince and
Ganwaar, became huge box office successes.
Ganwaar was her last Hindi film. == Political career ==