Irving Thalberg as a Chinese peasant, she was required to act totally subservient to her husband, being perpetually huddled in submission, and barely spoke a word of dialogue during the entire film. Rainer recalls that Mayer did not approve of the film being produced or her part in it: "He was horrified at Irving Thalberg's insistence for me to play O-lan, the poor uncomely little Chinese peasant." However, she again won the Oscar for Best Actress, becoming the first actress to win two consecutive Oscars, a feat not matched until Katharine Hepburn's two Oscar wins thirty years later. Besides bringing a distinctive
Kalpana (Kannada actress) many of which featured her alongside actor Rajkumar. She worked in few Tamil, Tulu, Malayalam and Telugu films as well. Many of her successful films were female-centric that gave ample scope for her performance. One of her best-known roles was that of 'Kaveri' in the multi-award-winning film "Sharapanjara" released in 1971, a performance that won her Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress for that year. Her portrayal of a highly spirited and complex woman who fights her mental trauma won her the largest fan following ever for a Kannada actress. Her association with the veteran film maker Puttanna Kanagal