Latha, also known as M.G.R. Latha or Latha Sethupathi, (born 7 June 1953) is an
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
actress, who played leading roles in South Indian films from 1973 to 1983. She is also known for her roles in various serials in
Tamil language
Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of P ...
.
Early life
Her photogenic looks and dancing skills attracted attention from the
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 ...
film industry. She entered films when she was fifteen and was encouraged by her aunt, actress
Kamala Kotnis
Kamala Kotnis was an Indian actress who played roles in Telugu and Hindi movies during the 1940s. She is also notable for being Dev Anand's first heroine in '' Hum Ek Hai'', released in 1946.
Early life
Kamala Kotnis was born as Kamalabai i ...
.
Her first film was ''
Ulagam Sutrum Valiban
''Ulagam Sutrum Valiban'' () is a 1973 Indian Tamil-language science fiction film directed and co-produced by M. G. Ramachandran. The film stars Ramachandran, Chandrakala, Manjula and Latha. It revolves around a scientist who discovers an ene ...
'' (1973), whose star and producer was
M. G. Ramachandran
Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...
.
She is from the Sethupathy clan, the Royal family of
Ramnad
Ramanathapuram (), also known as Ramnad, is a town and a municipality in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Ramanathapuram district and the second largest town (by population) in ...
, and her father was
Shanmugha Rajeswara Sethupathi
Shanmugha Rajeswara Sethupathi (9 November 1909 – 4 March 1967) or Naganatha Sethupathi was an Indian politician of the Justice Party and later, the Indian National Congress and head of the ''zamindari'' of Ramnad from 1929 to 1967. He was a ...
and her mother is Leelarani, originally from
Kurnool,
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...
, so Latha was fluent in Tamil and Telugu from an early age. The name Latha was given by
MGR himself. Actor
Rajkumar Sethupathy is her brother.
Career
Latha became a very successful actress and has won several awards. She has acted in more than one hundred films, spanning Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. Her first film was ''
Ulagam Sutrum Valiban
''Ulagam Sutrum Valiban'' () is a 1973 Indian Tamil-language science fiction film directed and co-produced by M. G. Ramachandran. The film stars Ramachandran, Chandrakala, Manjula and Latha. It revolves around a scientist who discovers an ene ...
'' (1973), in which she starred alongside
M. G. Ramachandran
Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...
. It was shot exclusively in foreign locations such as Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Japan. The film's success skyrocketed her to the top of the industry and she was felicitated by the press for being the best and most glamorous amongst all the four actresses in the film. She remained
M. G. Ramachandran
Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...
's leading lady for several years in Tamil films. He recommended her to star with
Akkineni Nageswara Rao
Akkineni Nageswara Rao (20 September 1923 – 22 January 2014), widely known as ANR, was an Indian actor and producer, known for his works majorly in Telugu cinema. He starred in many landmark films in his seventy five-year career, and became on ...
for ''
Andala Ramudu'' (1973), thus making her debut in Telugu films. She specialized in playing glamorous roles in
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
Telugu films. She played
Zeenat Aman
Zeenat Khan (born 19 November 1951), better known as Zeenat Aman, is an Indian actress and former fashion model. She first received recognition for her modelling work, and at the age of 19, went on to participate in beauty pageants, winning both ...
's role in two remakes of ''
Yaadon Ki Baaraat
''Yaadon Ki Baaraat'' () is a 1973 Indian Hindi-language masala film, directed by Nasir Hussain and written by Salim–Javed (Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar). It featured an ensemble cast, starring Dharmendra, Vijay Arora, Tariq, Zeenat Aman, Ne ...
'' (1973): the Telugu film ''
Annadammula Anubandham
''Annadammula Anubandham'' () is 1975 Indian Telugu-language action drama film, produced by the makeup artist M. Peethambaram and directed by S. D. Lal. The film stars N. T. Rama Rao, Murali Mohan, Nandamuri Balakrishna Latha, and music compos ...
''(1975) and the
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 ...
film ''Naalai Namathay'' (1975). She played
Jaya Bhaduri
Jaya Bachchan (''née'' Bhaduri; born 9 April 1948) is an Indian actress and politician. She is a member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha from the Samajwadi Party, serving four terms since 2004. Known primarily for her work in Hindi and Bengali ...
's role from ''
Zanjeer (1973 film)
''Zanjeer'' () is a 1973 Indian Hindi-language action crime film directed and produced by Prakash Mehra, written by Salim–Javed and starring Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Pran, Ajit Khan and Bindu.At a time when India was suffering from ...
'' in the Telugu remake ''
Nippulanti Manishi'' (1974) and the Tamil remake ''
Sirithu Vazha Vendum'' (1974). She won a
Filmfare Award
The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...
for her performance in ''Vattathukkul Sadhuram''. The
Kalaimamani
The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the ''Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram'' (literature, music and theatre), a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of ...
award was bestowed upon her by the State Government of Tamil Nadu for her achievements in the film industry. She has also received awards from the Government of Tamil Nadu as well as the Government of Andhra Pradesh for her acting ability. She was also briefly involved in politics, as her father,
Shanmugha Rajeswara Sethupathi
Shanmugha Rajeswara Sethupathi (9 November 1909 – 4 March 1967) or Naganatha Sethupathi was an Indian politician of the Justice Party and later, the Indian National Congress and head of the ''zamindari'' of Ramnad from 1929 to 1967. He was a ...
, the Raja of Ramnad, was once a politician.
She played a vital role in
Rajinikanth's movie ''
Shankar Salim Simon''. This role made her one of the only 2 actresses, along with
Lakshmi
Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with ''Maya'' ("Illusion"). Alo ...
, to be paired with
MGR and
Rajinikanth in the 1970s
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 ...
movies.
After a hiatus of 14 years, she successfully reprised her career by acting in leading roles in many mega-serials in Tamil and Telugu. In 2002, the actress played vicious mothers-in-law in the Telugu television serials ''Eenati Ramayanam'', ''Pavithrabandham'' and ''Matti Manishi''. Most recently, she has gained much notoriety alongside
Raadhika
Raadhika Sarathkumar is an Indian actress, entrepreneur, producer and politician who works predominantly in Tamil cinema along with Telugu cinema as well as a few Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada films. She is the founder and CP of the Radaan Media ...
in the Tamil television serials ''Chitthi'', ''
Kasthuri'', ''
Selvi'' and most famously in ''Arasi''. Her role in ''Arase'' is very popular amongst the demographic of Tamils that religiously follow mega serials, namely housewives and children. Her role is best known for her catchphrases "Pada Pada Padannu Irukkiradhu" and "Idhu Rombo Too Much" and the humorous portrayal of the character. Currently she is acting in the serials ''Roja'' as Canada Kamakshi and ''Sundari Neeyum Sundaran Naanum'' as Vijayalakshmi.
Notable filmography
Television
;Serials
;Shows
Personal life
She is married to Sabapathy, a Singapore businessman in 1983 and has 2 sons Karthik and Sreenivas.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Latha
Indian film actresses
Living people
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners
Filmfare Awards South winners
Actresses in Tamil cinema
Actresses in Telugu cinema
Actresses in Kannada cinema
Actresses in Malayalam cinema
Actresses in Tamil television
Actresses in Telugu television
1953 births