Kanaka Vijayalakshmi, known by her stage name Madhavi is an Indian actress known for her works in

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 ...

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 ...

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

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 a career spanning of almost 2 decades she has been featured in around 300 films and was hailed as one of the leading actresses of

South Indian cinema The Cinema of South India refers collectively to the six distinct film industries based in Southern region of India namely Tamil, Telugu, Tulu, Kannada, Konkani, and Malayalam. Although these industries developed independently for a long p ...

in the 1980s.

Early life

Madhavi was born in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

, India to Sasirekha and Govindaswamy. She grew up with a sister and a brother, named Keerthi Kumari and Dhananjay respectively. She learnt Bharat Natyam from Uma Maheswari and folk dance from Bhatt from an early age and gave more than a thousand dance performances. She attended

Stanley Girls High School Stanley Girls High School is a missionary girls school located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. It has two branches one near Abids and Malakpet It is administered by the Centenary Methodist Church, Hyderabad of India. History American missi ...

in Hyderabad, Abids Branch.

Career

Director

Dasari Narayana Rao Dasari Narayana Rao (4 May 1947 – 30 May 2017) was an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, lyricist, and politician known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema, in addition to Hindi cinema. He has directed more than 150 ...

gave her a starring role in the

film ''Thoorupu Padamara'' when she was a teenager. The film became a huge hit. She acted in a number of films with Telugu actor

Chiranjeevi Chiranjeevi (born Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad; 22 August 1955) is an Indian actor, film producer and former politician, who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. Chiranjeevi starred in over 150 feature films in Telugu language, Telugu, as ...

. Her first movie with Chiranjeevi was ''

Intlo Ramayya Veedhilo Krishnayya ''Intlo Ramayya Veedilo Krishnayya'' () is a 1982 Indian Telugu-language film directed by debutant Kodi Rama Krishna and produced by K. Raghava starring Chiranjeevi, Madhavi and debutant Gollapudi Maruthi Rao. Released on 22 April 1982, The fil ...

'' in 1982. She acted again with Chiranjeevi in the movie '' Khaidi'' which was a massive hit. Her last movie in Telugu was '' Big Boss'' (another Chiranjeevi film).

K. Balachander Kailasam Balachander (9 July 1930 – 23 December 2014) was an Indian film maker and playwright who worked mainly in the Tamil cinema. He was well known for his distinct film-making style, and the Indian film industry knew him as a master of un ...

then cast her in a supporting role in his Telugu film ''

Maro Charitra ''Maro Charitra'' () is a 1978 Indian Telugu-language romantic tragedy film written and directed by K. Balachander. It stars Kamal Haasan and Saritha in the lead with Madhavi appearing in prominent roles. The film deals with cross-cultura ...

'' (1978). She reprised her role in its Hindi remake ''

Ek Duuje Ke Liye ''Ek Duuje Ke Liye'' () is a 1981 Indian Hindi romantic tragedy film directed by K. Balachander. A remake of Balachander's Telugu film ''Maro Charitra'', it stars Kamal Haasan and Rati Agnihotri as a pair of lovers from different families who ...

'' (1981), which became the top-grossing film of 1981. In both films, she played a lonely wealthy woman who falls in love with

Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali l ...

's character. She earned a Filmfare Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress. K. Balachander introduced her to the Tamil film industry with ''

Thillu Mullu ''Thillu Mullu'' () is a 1981 Indian Tamil-language comedy film directed by K. Balachander and written by Visu. A remake of the 1979 Hindi film '' Gol Maal'', it stars Rajinikanth, with Thengai Srinivasan, Nagesh, Poornam Viswanathan, Sowcar ...

'' (1981), opposite Rajinikanth. By the end of the decade, she starred opposite

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; born as Amitabh Shrivastav; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the most succe ...

in the Hindi film '' Agneepath'' (1990). She appeared in many Malayalam films especially in those starring

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 app ...

and

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 ...

. She portrayed

Unniyarcha Unniyarcha (sometimes spelled "Uñnįarcha") is a legendary warrior and heroine 16th century mentioned in the '' Vadakkan Pattukal'', a set of historical ballads from northern Kerala, a state in southwestern India. She was a member of a Thiy ...

in the National Award-winning movie ''

Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha ''Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha'' () is a 1989 Indian Malayalam-language epic historical drama film directed by Hariharan, written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair, and starring Mammootty, Suresh Gopi, Balan K. Nair, Captain Raju and Madhavi. The film w ...

''. Her portrayal as a mother who dies of leukemia in '' Akashadoothu'' won her the

Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actress The Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actress was an award presented annually from 1969 to 2014 at the Kerala State Film Awards of India. The Kerala State Film Awards is managed by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, an autonomous non-pr ...

and

Filmfare Award for Best Actress The Filmfare Award for Best Actress is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Bollywood, Hindi films, to recognise the female actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role. The award was first gi ...

for 1993. Other films include ''

Ormakkayi '' Ormakkayi '' (officially ''Ormakkyaie'') is a 1982 Malayalam drama film directed by Bharathan and written by John Paul. The film stars Madhavi, Bharath Gopi, Adoor Bhasi, Nedumudi Venu, Ramu, Krishnachandran and Kunchan in pivotal roles. ...

'', ''Changatham'', ''

Novemberinte Nashtam ''Novemberinte Nashtam'' () is a 1982 Malayalam-language romantic drama film written and directed by P. Padmarajan. It stars Madhavi, Ramachandran, Prathap Pothan and Surekha. Plot The film is about a girl's emotional turmoil after a breakup a ...

'' and '' Nombarathi Poovu''. She has acted in many Kannada movies alongside

actors including

Dr. Rajkumar Singanalluru Puttaswamaiah Muthuraj (24 April 1929 – 12 April 2006), better known by his stage name Dr. Rajkumar, was an Indian actor and singer who worked in Kannada cinema. Regarded as one of the greatest actors in the history of Indian ci ...

, Vishnuvardhan,

Anant Nag Dr Anant Nagarkatte (born 4 September 1948) is an Indian actor whose predominant contribution has been in Kannada cinema. He has acted in over 300 films which include over 200 Kannada films as well as Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Malayalam and En ...

and

Ambareesh Malavalli Huchchegowda Amarnath (29 May 1952 – 24 November 2018), known by his screen name Ambareesh, was an Indian actor, media personality, politician from the state of Karnataka. Alongside Rajkumar and Vishnuvardhan, he is counted in ...

. With Rajkumar she acted in many movies including ''

Haalu Jenu ''Haalu Jenu'' () is a 1982 Indian Kannada-language tragicomedy film directed by Singeetham Srinivasa Rao, starring Rajkumar, Madhavi and Roopa Devi. The movie is famous for its evergreen songs, which were composed by G. K. Venkatesh. The mo ...

'', '' Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma'', ''

Anuraga Aralithu ''Anuraga Aralithu'' () is a 1986 Indian Kannada-language film directed by M. S. Rajashekar. It is based on the Kannada novel ''Anuragada Anthahpura'' written by H. G. Radhadevi. The film was produced by M. S. Puttaswamy. The film stars Rajkum ...

'', ''

Shruthi Seridaaga ''Shruthi Seridaaga'' is a 1987 Indian Kannada-language film directed by Chi Dattaraj. The film was produced by Raghavendra Rajkumar. The film starred Rajkumar, Madhavi and Geetha. The music for the film was scored by T. G. Lingappa and the c ...

'', ''

Jeevana Chaitra ''Jeevana Chaitra'' () is a 1992 Indian Kannada language film directed by the duo Dorai–Bhagavan starring Rajkumar and Madhavi. It marked the re-entry of Rajkumar in films after a hiatus of 3 years, and was an instant hit. The film is based on ...

'', ''

Aakasmika ''Aakasmika'' () is a 1993 Indian Kannada language action thriller film directed by T. S. Nagabharana. The film stars Rajkumar, Geetha and Madhavi. The film was based on Ta Ra Su's trilogy ''Aakasmika – Aparadhi – Parinama'' thereby beco ...

'', '' Odahuttidavaru'', ''

'' and ''

Malaya Marutha ''Malaya Marutha'' ( Winds from the hills) is a 1986 Kannada-language musical film starring Vishnuvardhan, Saritha and Madhavi. The film was directed and written by K. S. L. Swamy (Lalitha Ravi) and produced by C. V. L Shastry under "Shastry M ...

''. Madhavi acted alongside

in ''

Raja Paarvai ''Raja Paarvai'' () is a 1981 Indian Tamil-language romance film directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao. The story was written by Kamal Haasan, for whom the film was his 100th as an actor and first as a producer. The score and soundtrack was compo ...

'', '' Tik Tik Tik'', ''

Kaakki Sattai ''Kaakki Sattai'' () is a 1985 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Rajasekhar, starring Kamal Haasan, Ambika, Madhavi, Sathyaraj, Rajeev and Thengai Srinivasan. The film, released on 11 April 1985, became a blockbuster at the b ...

'', '' Sattam'', ''Ellam Inba mayam'' and '' Mangamma Sabadham''. Her films with Rajinikanth include '' Garjanai'', ''

'', ''

Thambikku Entha Ooru ''Thambikku Entha Ooru'' () is a 1984 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film directed by Rajasekhar and written by Panchu Arunachalam. The film stars Rajinikanth, Madhavi and Sulakshana. It revolves around a spoilt rich man who is forc ...

'', ''

Un Kannil Neer Vazhindal ''Un Kannil Neer Vazhindal'' () is a 1985 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Balu Mahendra. It stars Rajinikanth and Madhavi, with Y. G. Mahendran in a prominent role. V. K. Ramasamy and Senthamarai play other pivotal ...

'' and '' Viduthalai''. She was in ''Enga Oor Kannagi'', '' Neethi Devan Mayakkam'' and ''Nirabaraadhi''. Most of her author-backed roles were in Malayalam films. She has won three Kerala State Film Awards, one for Best Actress and two for Second Best Actress.

Personal life

In 1996, her Hindu spiritual teacher Swami Rama arranged her marriage to one of his followers, a pharmaceutical businessman named Ralph Sharma. Ralph first met Swami Rama at the age of 32 at the

Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy The Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy is an international non-profit organization, which promotes yoga and holistic health through yoga retreats, residential programs, health products and services, media publications including ''Yo ...

., and Madhavi first met him in 1995. They were married on 14 February 1996. They have three daughters and live in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

Awards and honours

Partial filmography

In order of languages from most to fewest films

Telugu

Malayalam

Complete list of Madhavi's Malayalam Movies are available from the MSI Database.

Hindi

Tamil

Kannada

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Madhavi Living people Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Malayalam cinema Actresses from Hyderabad, India Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Kannada cinema Kerala State Film Award winners Filmfare Awards South winners Actresses in Odia cinema Indian film actresses 20th-century Indian actresses Year of birth missing (living people)