Travancore sisters

They were actresses and dancers who performed in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Kannada films.

[3] They were nieces of the famous beauty Narayani Pillai Kunjamma, who spurned the king of Travancore in favour of marrying the aristocratic landowner Kesava Pillai of Kandamath and through her they were related to the actress Sukumari's mother Sathyabhama Amma and the Travancore Royal Family through their cousin Ambika.

[5] Uday Shankar called the sisters to Chennai (then Madras) to act in a film based on dance which he was planning to make.

The matriarchal head of the family was Karthyayini Amma, wife of Panankavil Krishna Pillai of Cherthala alias 'Penang Padmanabha Pillai'or P K Pillai, who had six sons of whom Satyapalan Nair was a leading producer of many early Malayalam films.

Another son, Raveendran Nair's daughter Latika Suresh, is a leading producer of Malayalam TV programs.