India’s only actress, who did 130 films with same hero, gave 50 hits, name in Guinness World Record for…, her name is…

It’s been over 60 years and this actress still remains incomparable. She worked in over 500 films in various South Indian languages and became one of the highest-paid actresses of her time. Moreover, she created a milestone by becoming the only South actress to write and direct a film.

We are talking about none other than Sheela Celine, popularly known as Sheela. Born in a Malayali family, her early name was Celine. Since her father’s profession was in railways, she had spent her entire childhood moving on to different places and then finally settling down in Chennai.

Sheela was introduced to the film industry at the age of 17 by MGR in the Tamil film Paasam (1962). Her co-star M. G. Ramachandran used to called her ‘Devi’, thus she renamed her name to ‘Sheela Devi’, and continued to work with similar name in Tamil films. Later, she reverted to her original name, Sheela.

The next two decades she worked in over 475 films in various languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. Some of her most popular projects are Chemmeen, Kallichellamma, Velutha Kathreena Akale, Oru Penninte Kadha, Sarsaiya, Yakshaganam, Kutti Kuppayam, Sthanarthy Saramma, Kadathunattu Makkan, Kannapan Unni, Jwala, Vazhve Mayam etc.

One of the most significant aspects of her career was her iconic pairing with Malayalam superstar Prem Nazir. Sheela debuted in 1962 and worked opposite him the same year. Indian cinema’s most prolific on-screen couple, they starred in whopping 130 films together and nearly half of them were hits. Prem Nazir and Sheela hold the Guinness World Record for acting in maximum number of films together.

In 1970s and 1980s, Sheela ventured into direction as well as screenplay for two films Shikharangal and Yakshaganom. Her other projects include Vishnu Vijayam, Eeta and Ninaivukale Neengividu. In 1983, she announced her retirement from films and settled at Ootacamund, Tamil Nadu. After a long sabbatical, she made a comeback in films with Sathyan Anthikkad’s Manassinakkare (2003). She also acted in Tamil film Chandramukhi, the same year.

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