She was married to GV Krishna Rao who is my mom's mother's brother. My grandfather used to organize shows in different towns in Andhra and Nirmalamma was an actress in the troupe that used to preform. In the old days before there were movies, this was the major form of entertainment.
My grandfather was married at that time, but he fell in love with Nirmalamma and they got married. I am unsure about his first wife, no one ever talks about her.
GV Krishna Rao was famous in his own right since we has the production manager for all NTR movies. I remember there was a story that the family always tells about me. I went on set to VGP in Chennai and I was with my grandfather on set at an NTR movie. NTR walks in and everybody is standing up and I just sat down. NTR stops and asks someone in the booming NTR voice who I was and they told him that I was from USA and I was GV Krishna Rao grandson and then NTR said OK and kept going.
Those days I had no clue who NTR was nor did I know Telugu. I actually met NTR after he watched Padamati Sandya Ragam. He had watched the movie and really enjoyed it and called Tom and me to his house. He was wearing a Saffron robe at that time and spoke to us about 30 minutes and he was brilliant.
What do I remember about my grandmother. She was a very loving women and really took care of me when I stayed with her. She used to a wonderful cook and in the evenings at her house on Bazulla Road in Chennai all the most famous actors used to stop by just to eat her cooking. She made the best Crab Curry and I have eaten it lots of places, but no one came close to her. Whenever I would come over she would go to the market and get fresh crabs and make it for me.
She loved to play cards and even when we went to sets she would carry a full setup so that she can play cards int he train to a set and at the set.
She was a brilliant actress. She told me that she started off as a street drama actress and then went to radio and then finally to movies. She used to tell me about the brilliant voices that they had in the radio business but never made it to the movies, because they did not look good enough.
She was a Gowda (caste wise) and apparently they are a very low caste in our village area and my grandmother used to treat her very bad. She always talked about his after a few drinks. Yes, she liked to drink. She must have been a very fun girlfriend and wife and I know my grandfather loved her a lot. I remember how well she took care of him. She may have been the big star, but when she got home she changed into housewife mode and was a wonderful wife and mother.
Here are some pictures of my Grandmother:
