Rajathi, better known by her

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Indraja, is an Indian actress known for her work in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

films. She has also appeared in a few

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

and

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

films, in addition to television shows.

Early life

Indraja was born as Rajathi in a

Telugu Brahmin Telugu Brahmins are Brahmin communities native to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. History Origin theories According to the ''Aitareya Brahmana'' of the Rigveda, the Andhras left north India from the banks of the River Yamuna a ...

family in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. She is the eldest of three sisters and comes from a

Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the Dravidian languages, South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, an ...

family. During school days, she won prizes in singing and drama competitions. A trained classical singer and dancer, she learned

Kuchipudi Kuchipudi () ( Telugu: ) is one of the eight major Indian classical dances. It originates from a village named Kuchipudi in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Kuchipudi is a dance-drama performance, with its roots in the ancient Hindu Sa ...

dance form Madhavapeddi Murthy. She was preparing to be a journalist.

Career

Indraja was cast as a child actress in Rajinikanth-starrer Uzhaippali movie. With Jantar Mantar, her first movie as a grown-up, she adopted the name of her character in that movie, 'Indraja' as her stage name. Later, S. V. Krishna Reddy's ''Yamaleela'' catapulted her to instant stardom. The film ran for over a year. She acted in ''Thadayam'' and ''

Rajavin Parvaiyile ''Rajavin Parvaiyile'' () is a 1995 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film, directed by Janaki Soundar, starring Vijay and Indraja in lead roles. The film, which featured music composed by Ilaiyaraaja. The film revolves around Gowri, a ric ...

'' but she was not able to make much headway in Tamil movies, as both movies failed to make an impact at the box office. She played the female lead roles in a number of successful

Malayalam film Malayalam cinema is an Indian cinema, Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, ...

s, such as the 1999 action drama '' Ustaad'' alongside

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeare ...

, crime thriller ''

F.I.R F.I.R. () is a Taiwanese pop rock band formed in 2004. The band consists of Lydia (lead vocals), Ian Chen (keyboards), and Real Huang (guitar, vocals). Producer Ian Chen formed his own band then recruited the other two members to form F.I.R. The ...

'' alongside

Suresh Gopi Suresh Gopi (born 26 June 1958) is an Indian actor, politician, playback singer and television presenter. He works predominantly in Malayalam cinema and has also appeared in some Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bollywood films. Suresh made his acti ...

, 2002 comedy-drama ''

Chronic Bachelor ''Chronic Bachelor'' is a 2003 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy drama film, written and directed by Siddique. It is about the life of Sathyaprathapan, a bachelor. It features Mammootty, Mukesh, Rambha, Indraja, Bhavana, Innocent an ...

'' alongside

Mammootty Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (; born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. He has also appeared in Tamil l ...

, 2004 comedy drama ''

Mayilattam Mayilattam ( Tamil: மயிலாட்டம்) is an artistic and religious form of dance performed in the Hindu temples of Tamil Nadu in reverence to Lord Subrahmanya. Mayilattam performers wear costumes from head to toe like peacock wi ...

'' opposite

Jayaram Jayaram Subramaniam, (born 10 December 1965) known mononymously as Jayaram, is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Malayalam,Tamil films, along with a few Telugu films. He is also a chenda percussionist, mimicry artist, and occasiona ...

, and 2005 action drama ''

Ben Johnson Ben, Benjamin or Benny Johnson may refer to: In sports Association football * Ben Johnson (footballer, born 2000), English footballer * Ben Johnson (soccer) (born 1977), American soccer player Other codes of football *Ben Johnson (Australian foot ...

'' alongside

Kalabhavan Mani Kunnisseri Veettil Raman Mani (1 January 1971 – 6 March 2016), better known by his stage name Kalabhavan Mani, was an Indian actor and singer. Mani started his career as a mimicry artist with the Kalabhavan comedy troupe. He had starred in ov ...

are some of her most notable Malayalam films. After a hiatus post her marriage, she has returned to movies with some notable roles in several Telugu movies.

Personal life

Indraja is married to actor and businessman Mohammed Absar. The couple has a daughter named Sara.

Filmography

Films

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Indraja Living people 20th-century Indian actresses Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Malayalam cinema Telugu actresses Actresses in Tamil cinema Indian film actresses Actresses in Kannada cinema 21st-century Indian actresses Indian television actresses Actresses in Telugu television Actresses in Tamil television Actresses from Chennai 1978 births