Malashri Lal

Malashri (born 10 August 1973) is an Indian actress. She has predominantly worked in Kannada films and was the topmost heroine in the 1990s. She has also worked in Telugu and Tamil cinema. Malashri was popular for playing diverse roles in women-centric movies many of which were highly successful at the box-office. She was popularly called Kanasina Rani ("Dream Girl") in the media.

Malashri made her debut as a heroine with the Kannada film ''Nanjundi Kalyana'' (1989). Her portrayal of a haughty, shrewish woman won her accolades and heralded her as a top actress of Kannada Cinema. She established herself as the topmost heroine in Kannada cinema with films like ''Gajapathi Garvabhanga'' (1989), ''Policena Hendthi'' (1990), '' Kitturina Huli'' (1990), ''Rani Maharani'' (1990), ''Hrudaya Haadithu'' (1991), for which she won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress, ''Ramachaari'' (1991), ''Belli Kalungura'' (1992), ''Solillada Saradara'' (1993) and ''Gadibidi Aliya'' (1995).

In 2015 she won her first Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress for her action-oriented role in ''Ganga.''
In 1992, 19 movies starring her were released. With that, she broke the 24-year-old record of highest releases in Kannada in lead role in a single year surpassing Rajkumar who had 16 releases in 1968.

Career

Child artiste

Malashri began her career as a child artiste and appeared in 35 films in Tamil and Telugu and she played the role of a boy in 26 of them. In a talk show, ''Majaa Talkies'', she said that as a child, she was a fan of actor Amitabh Bachchan and would dress up like him, which prompted directors to cast her as a boy, in 1979 films like ''Imayam'' and ''Neela Malargal''.

Lead roles

Writer and lyricist Chi. Udaya Shankar introduced Malashri to the Rajkumar family when they were on the look out for a fresh face opposite their son Raghavendra Rajkumar who was gearing to make his debut. Parvathamma Rajkumar decided to cast her in ''Nanjundi Kalyana'' (1989) and rechristened her from Durga to Malashri. Malashri went on to act in two other films with Vajreshwari Combines, ''Gajapathi Garvabhanga'' opposite Raghavendra again, and ''Mruthyunjaya'' with Shiva Rajkumar.

In 1990 Malashri took on the famous double role in ''Rani Maharani'' (immortalized by Sridevi in '' Chaalbaaz'') and won a huge fan following with her powerhouse performance. Her next film ''Hrudaya Haadithu'' where she played a young woman inflicted with a heart problem won her acclaim from the masses and critics alike as well as the Filmfare Best actress award for 1991. As she churned out hit after hit even the stalwart V. Ravichandran, who till then believed only in importing heroines from other states, cashed in on her popularity by casting her in ''Ramachaari'' (a remake of Tamil Hit '' Chinna Thambi''). The move paid off, enabling him to come out of the financial crisis he faced due to the debacle of ''Shanti Kranti.''

In later part of the 90s, Malashri had a string of less successful films like ''Prema Khaidi'', ''Snehada Kadalalli'', ''Megha Mandara'', ''Arishina Kumkuma'', and ''Solillada Saradara''. She took brief hiatus after marriage and made comeback in the new millennium with "angry woman" roles in ''Chamundi'' (2000), ''Kannadada Kiran Bedi'' (2009), ''Shakti'' (2012), '' Veera'' (2013) and ''Ganga'' (2015).

Personal life

Malashri was born and brought up in Chennai (Chennai). She shot to fame with ''Nanjundi Kalyana'' in 1989 but her personal life hit an all-time low the same year when her mother died in a road accident. She was in a relationship with actor Sunil, her co-star of many films. But in 1994 they met with a car accident and while Malashree suffered multiple injuries, Sunil died on the spot. It was rumoured that they had been planning to get married. She was married to film producer Ramu in 1997 and they had a daughter and son together, Ananya (b. 2001) and Arjun. Her sister Subhashri was also an actress, who appeared in South Indian films. Her husband Ramu died on 26 April 2021 due to Covid.

Filmography

Awards

;Karnataka State Film Awards
* 2015 : Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress : ''Ganga''

;Filmfare Awards South
* 1991: Filmfare Award for Best Actress: ''Hrudaya Haadithu''
*1993 : Cinema Express Award for Best Actress : Mangalya Bandhana

;Other awards
1990 - Nandi Award for best Supporting Actress - Prema Khaidi
* 2011: NTR Award
*2016: Santosham Award for Completing 25 Years in Cinema at 14th Santosham Film Awards

References

External links

*

Malashri Filmography

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Actresses in Kannada cinema
Actresses in Telugu cinema
Indian film actresses
Filmfare Awards South winners
1973 births
Living people
Telugu actresses
Actresses from Chennai
21st-century Indian actresses
20th-century Indian actresses
Indian child actresses
Child actresses in Tamil cinema
Child actresses in Telugu cinema
Santosham Film Awards winners
Actresses from Andhra Pradesh
Indian actresses