Padmavati Rao, credited as Akshatha Rao in

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, is an Indian actress, theatre personality, poet, dancer and translator. She is known for her theatre activities and performances in movies including

Ondanondu Kaladalli ''Ondanondu Kaladalli'' () is a 1978 Indian Kannada-language epic film co-written and directed by Girish Karnad with soundtrack by Bhaskar Chandavarkar, starring Shankar Nag and Akshatha Rao in their debut. Through this movie, Kavita Krishnamur ...

(1978),

Geetha (1981 film) ''Geetha'' is a 1981 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film directed by and starring Shankar Nag in lead, alongside Akshatha Rao in title role. The supporting cast features K. S. Ashwath, Ramesh Bhat and Gayathri. Ilayaraaja composed the so ...

, Pardes (1997),

Padmaavat ''Padmaavat'' is a 2018 Indian period romantic action drama film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Based on the epic poem of the same name by Malik Muhammad Jayasi, it stars Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmavati, a Rajput queen known for her ...

(2018) and

Tanhaji ''Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior'' is a 2020 Indian historical action film, co-written and directed by Om Raut and produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar and Ajay Devgn under T-Series Films and Ajay Devgn FFilms. Tracing the life of Maratha w ...

(2020).

Personal life

Padmavati was born in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. She is the sister of actress

Arundhati Nag Arundhati Nag (née Rao; born 1955/1956) is an Indian actress. She has been involved with multilingual Theatre in India, for over 25 years, first in Mumbai where she got involved with Indian People's Theatre Association ( IPTA), and did various ...

Career

;Film career Rao's debut movie was 1978 Kannada film

, directed by

Girish Karnad Girish Karnad (19 May 1938 – 10 June 2019) was an Indian actor, film director, Kannada writer, playwright and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in South Indian cinema and Bollywood. His rise as a playwright in the 1960s marked the ...

. In 1981, she played the title role of Geetha in the film Geetha, directed by

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 ...

. She went on to appear in movies including Pardes and

. She played

Amitabh Bacchan 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 success ...

's wife in the critically acclaimed film

Te3n ''Teen'' (stylised as ''Te3n''; ) is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language mystery thriller film written and directed by Ribhu Dasgupta. This remake of the 2013 South Korean film ''Montage'' stars Amitabh Bachchan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sabyasachi Chakra ...

, directed by

Ribhu Dasgupta Ribhu Dasgupta is an Indian film and television director. He made his directorial debut with 2011 film '' Michael''. He was nominated at the Shanghai International Film Festival for Asian New Talent Award of Best Film for the film '' Michael'' ...

. She performed as Jijabai, mother of Shivaji, in the 2020 film

. ;Theatre career Rao's career was started with theatre activities. She has conducted and performed plays and workshops across India. She first acted in theatre under the direction of

. She assisted him in Malgudi Days as assistant director, also acted and dubbed for the same project. In her theatre career, Rao has worked with

M. S. Sathyu Mysore Shrinivas Sathyu ( kn, ಮೈಸೂರು ಶ್ರೀನಿವಾಸ ಸತ್ಯು) (born 6 July 1930) is a leading film director, stage designer and art director from India. He is best known for his directorial ''Garm Hava'' (1973), ...

, ''Ramesh Talwar'', ''Shaukat Azmi'', ''A. K. Hanagal'' and many other theatre personalities. Her theatre work ''Kitchen Poems'', a solo performance, was much appreciated. She has been doing theatre activities for children.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Padmavati Actresses in Marathi theatre Actresses in Kannada television Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Kannada theatre Actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses in Malayalam cinema 21st-century Indian actresses Actresses in Marathi cinema 1963 births Living people