Manjula (8 November 1954 – 12 September 1986) was an Indian actress who acted in

Kannada language 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 sp ...

films and also 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 ...

(credited as ''Kumari Manjula'') and

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 ...

films. She was one of the most successful and prominent actresses of

Kannada films Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. The 1934 film '' Sati Sulochana'' directe ...

in 1970s and 1980s. She acted in more than 100 films and won several awards for her performances, including 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 ...

Personal life

Manjula was born to M. H. Shivanna and Deveramma in Honnenahalli, a village in

Tumkur District Tumakuru District is an administrative district in the state of Karnataka in India. It is the third largest district in Karnataka by land area with an area of 10,598 km2, and fourth largest by Population. It is a one-and-a-half-hour drive from ...

. family, her father Shivanna was a police sub inspector. She was married to film director Amrutham who worked with her in films such as ''Hudugaatada Hudugi'' and ''Kanasu Nanasu''. The couple had a son, Abhishek.

Career

Manjula started her acting career in 1965 with a drama troupe

Prabhat Kalavidaru Prabhath Kalavidaru ( kn, ಪ್ರಭಾತ್ ಕಲಾವಿದರು) is a theatre group based in Bangalore, India. Started in the year 1930, this group has staged many drama performances and is famous for its ballets. One of the most popular ...

. She entered the

Kannada film industry Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. The 1934 film '' Sati Sulochana'' directe ...

in a small role in ''Mane Katti Nodu'' in 1966. Her debut as a heroine was in the 1972 film ''Yaara Saakshi'', directed by veteran director M. R. Vittal. She shared screen with Kannada actors including Rajkumar, Vishnuvardhan,

Srinath Narayana Swamy (born 28 December 1944), known by his stage name Srinath, is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Kannada cinema. He holds the position of vice-president of the Kannada television channel Udaya TV. He is ...

, Ashok and

Shankar Nag Shankar Nagarakatte (9 November 1954 – 30 September 1990) was an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, and producer known for his work in Kannada-language films and television. A popular cultural icon of Karnataka, Nag is often referred to as ...

. Her most successful pairing was with

and they acted together in about 35 films. She starred in over one hundred films. She specialized in the role of the bossy tomboyish village belle which brought her huge success as a top Kannada heroine in the late 1970s. Some of her notable films are ''

Sampathige Savaal ''Sampathige Savaal'' () is a 1974 Indian Kannada-language drama film directed by A. V. Seshagiri Rao and produced by A. N. Murthy, based on the play ''Saahukaara'' written by B. P. Dhuttharagi. The film stars Dr. Rajkumar, Rajkumar, Vajramuni a ...

'', '' Eradu Kanasu'', '' Sose Thanda Sowbhagya'', ''

Besuge ''Besuge'' ( kn, ಬೆಸುಗೆ) is a 1976 Indian Kannada-language romance film directed by Geethapriya, based on a novel of the same name by Ashwini, and stars Srinath, Manjula and Chandrashekar, in lead roles. The film is seen as a land ...

'' and ''

Seetharamu ''Seetharamu'' is a 1979 Indian Kannada-language film directed by V. Somashekhar. The film stars Shankar Nag, Manjula and Thoogudeepa Srinivas. The film is based on a science fiction plot of a brain transplant. The movie was remade in Telugu ...

''. She also acted with well known actors in other languages like Ramakrishna (Telugu), Kamalahasan and Rajinikanth (Tamil).

Filmography

Kannada, Telugu and Tamil

Tamil

Telugu

Death

She died from an accidental fire in the kitchen on 19 September 1986.

References

;Citations ;Sources *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Manjula 1954 births Actresses from Karnataka Indian film actresses Actresses in Kannada cinema Kannada people People from Tumkur Filmfare Awards South winners 20th-century Indian actresses Child actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema Indian child actresses Actresses in Tamil cinema 1986 suicides Suicides in India