she was introduced to playwright and filmmaker B. R. Panthulu, through actor Narasimharaju. Panthulu cast her in his 1963 Kannada film Saaku Magalu. Career In the romantic drama Saaku Magalu (1963), Kalpana played Uma, the foster sister of Raghuram, played by Rajkumar. She appeared in antagonistic characters in Kavaleradu Kulavondu (1965) and Bala Nagamma (1966). In Naandi (1964), she played the first wife of Rajkumar's character. The two would go on to become a frequent collaborators starring together in a total 19 Kannada films. Panthulu then made Chinnada Gombe (1964) with her. With opportunities in Kannada films drying up in the mid-1960s, Kalpana went on to appear in a handful Tamil and Malayalam-language films. However, it was the 1967 released Belli Moda, directed by Puttanna Kanagal that brought her to the forefront. This portrayal of hers was instantly accepted and she soon was catapulted to the top among the actresses of the 1960s. She dominated the Kannada film industry during the late 1960s and 1970s and was critically acclaimed for some of her author-backed roles in movies like Sharapanjara, Gejje Pooje, Belli Moda, Eradu Kanasu, Kappu Bilupu, Bayalu Daari, Gandhada Gudi and Bangarada Hoovu. She worked with almost all the leading actors and directors of her time. Her most frequent co-stars were Rajkumar, Gangadhar and Udaya Kumar. P. Susheela and S. Janaki were the regular voices behind her songs in the films. She gave stiff competition to her contemporaries such as Jayanthi, Bharathi and Chandrakala among others. Initially she was the most favoured actress of ace director Kanagal. Their association produced some of the finest movies in the history of Kannada cinema. Many of their films had strong, hard-hitting messages which were treasured in the cinema history. Kanagal groomed Kalpana to a great extent and though they were romantically linked by the media, industry folks are unanimous that their relationship was that of Guru-Shishya. However, they fell apart when Kanagal refused to offer her a pivotal role in Nagarahaavu. Kanagal went on to groom Aarathi while Kalpana featured in some average films later on. Her efforts to resurrect her career failed. Even though her later movies with Rajkumar (Bidugade, Gandhada Gudi, Daari Tappida Maga and Eradu Kanasu), and Anant Nag (Bayalu Daari) were hits, they failed to resurrect her career. By 1977 she had no movies in hand. She then started focusing on drama companies in Uttara Karnataka and mainly