ABOUT SHARADA

Sharada BornSaraswati Devi 12 June 1945 (age 69) Tenali , Andhra Pradesh, India OccupationActress Years active1959–present Political partyTelugu Desam Party Spouse(s)Chalam  (divorced) Parent(s)Venkateswar Rao Satyavathi Devi AwardsNational Film Award for Best Actress *Sharada* (born 12 June 1945) is a three-time National Award  winning Indian actress and Indian Parliament member. She originally hails from Andhra Pradesh . She has achieved success through Malayalam movies . Initially she did many supporting roles inTelugu films  and later on moved toMalayalam film  industry and gained success there. She is also known as*Urvasi Sharada* because earlier theNational Film Award for Best Actress was officially designated the "Urvasi Award". Sharada has been selected for the prestigious NTR National Award instituted by the Andhra Pradesh state government for the year 2010. Early lifeEdit Sharada was born Saraswati Devi inTenali , Guntur , Andhra Pradesh, India. Her parents Venkateswar Rao and Satyavathi Devi belonged to a family of agriculturalists. She has a brother, named Mohan Rao. Sharada was sent to Madras  in her childhood to live with her grandmother Kanakamma. Sharada describes her grandmother as a "strict disciplinarian" who in the later days"wouldn’t even let the heroes touch her"and allowed "rehearsals only on Sundays".[1]  Sharada started to learn dance when she was six. She used to perform during Dasara  and other temple festivals. It was because of her mother's desire that she learned dance. Her mother wanted her to become a"big star in cine field". Though Sharada's father was not too interested in the idea, he didn't stop her.[1] Sharada married Chalam , a famous Telugu hero, producer and comedian. He was her co-star in her debut film"Tandrulu Kodukulu". They divorced later on.Early careerEdit When she grew up, she started acting in theatre, under the supervision of her grandmother. In Indian theatre  andcinema , the female lead stars used to leave the field as soon as they are married. So, most of the female lead stars were very young compared to the male leads. Sharada remembers in one of the plays she acted as the wife of a person 30 years older than she was when she was just 13.[1]  Her debut in films was with a minor role in theTelugu film  "Kanyasulkam ". However, she returned to theatre after it and did a major role in the Telugu  version of"Rakta Kanneeru ", a Tamil  drama. The play went to get staged over 100 times in Tamil Nadu .[1] Film career In 1959, she began her career as Sharada. The change in name was attributed to the presence of a few other actors in the industry with the name Saraswati.[1]  She came under contract to L.V. Prasad , a Telugu producer. Though she didn't get to act in any of his films, she got her formal training in acting under him, including the Navarasa  lessons. She largely attributes her performances and growth in the field to this training.[1] Her first break came with the Akkineni Nageswara Rao  starrer "Iddaru Mitrulu", which was a major hit. Noted for the role in the film, she got chances fromTamil  and Malayalam films  as well. The year 1965 changed her career as Sharada carved her niche for herself in the Malayalam film industry with her performances in "Shakuntala ,Murappennu ," Udhyogastha  "by P. Venu ,Kattu Thulasi " and "Inapravukal ". After that, she focused in Malayalam films, acting only a few roles in other languages. Recognition came in 1967 in the form of a national honorary award for her performances in various films of 1966 including "Iruttinte Athmavu ".[1] The award was the predecessor to theNational Film Award for Best Actress , which was instituted in 1968. In 1969, she won her first National Film Award for Best Actress for her performance in"Thulabharam ". She went on to win the award 2 more times, for "Swayamvaram "(1972, Malayalam) and "Nimajjanam "(1978, Telugu). She also won the Kerala State Film Awards  for Best Actress one time. Later she saw success in Telugu films in protagonist roles. She was so popular that she did lead roles in films starring most of the successful heroes of Telugu film industry. Post 1993, she became choosy and did only a few films. Her major films off late were"Mazhathullikkilukkam " (2002, Malayalam), "Rappakal " (2005, Malayalam), "Nayika " (2011, Malayalam) and "Stalin " (2006, Telugu). She owns a chocolate factory named"Lotus Chocolates". She was elected as Member of Parliament on Telugu Desam Party  ticket from her native town of Tenali .AwardsEdit National Film AwardsYearCategoryFilmDirectorLanguage 1968Best Actress "Thulabharam "[2] A. Vincent Malayalam 1972Best Actress"Swayamvaram "[3] Adoor Gopalakrishnan Malayalam 1977Best Actress"Nimajjanam "Narayana B.S.Telugu Kerala State Film Awards * 1979 – Best Actress ("Thriveni" and"Thara")NTR National Award * NTR National Award  – 2010 * Sathyan memorial award - 2013Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards * 1970 – BFJA Award  for Best Actress (Hindi) – Samaj Ko Badal Dalo [4] Filmfare Awards South * 1997 – Lifetime Achievement Award – South