Neravanda Chetticha Prema is an Indian actress known for her work predominantly 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 ...

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 ...

and 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 ...

and

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 ...

language films. She has appeared in many commercially successful and critically acclaimed feature films. She was a leading Kannada actress at the turn of the century and has received the Karnataka State Film Award and Filmfare Best Actress awards for her performances in Kannada films. She has featured in '' Om'' and '' Yajamana'', which are the two major blockbuster and highest-grossing films of their time in Kannada cinema. After an eight-year hiatus, she returned to films with ''

Upendra Matte Baa ''Upendra Matte Baa'' () is a 2017 Indian Kannada-language supernatural drama film directed by N. Arun Lokanath (Loki). The film stars Upendra in dual roles along with Prema and Sruthi Hariharan. The film, a remake of Telugu-language film ''Sog ...

'' in 2017.

Personal life

Prema was born into Neravanda family, of the Kodava community to Chetticha and Kavery, in military hospital, Bangalore. She received high school education in Mahila Seva Samaja High School and completed her

Pre-university course The Pre-University Course or Pre-Degree Course (PUC or PDC) is an 2-year Senior Secondary Course under the 10+2 education system after Class 10th (SSLC, SSC) and the PUC commonly refers to Class 11th and Class 12th and called as 1st PUC (1st Year ...

in Murnad junior college,

Kodagu Kodagu (also known by its former name Coorg) is an administrative district in the Karnataka state of India. Before 1956, it was an administratively separate Coorg State, at which point it was merged into an enlarged Mysore State. It occupies ...

. As a student she was involved actively in sports and represented her school and college in high jump and volleyball events at the national level. Her younger brother

Neravanda Aiyappa Neravanda Aiyappa, aka NC Aiyappa (born 19 October 1979), is a former Indian first-class cricketer who played in Ranji Trophy matches for Karnataka. He made his debut in first-class cricket on 2nd December 2001 in a match against Tamil Nadu. A ...

was a cricket player who represented

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy (also known as Mastercard Ranji Trophy for sponsorship reasons) is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between multiple teams representing regional and state cricket associations. Board of Control for Cr ...

. Her younger sister Indu NC lives in Dubai. Prema was married to Jeevan Appacchu. She filed a divorce petition in the Family Court, Bangalore in March 2016.

Film career

Prema began her career in the Rajkumar camp in 1995 starring opposite

Shivarajkumar Nagaraju Shiva Puttaswamy (born 12 July 1962) known by his screen name Shiva Rajkumar, is an Indian actor, producer and television presenter, predominantly works in Kannada cinema.

in '' Savyasachi'' and

Raghavendra Rajkumar Raghavendra Rajkumar (born 15 August 1965) is an Indian actor, singer and producer of Kannada cinema. He is the son of actor Dr. Rajkumar and film producer Parvathamma Rajkumar. He made his debut as a lead in the film ''Chiranjeevi Sudhakar'' ...

with ''Aata Hudugaata'' respectively. Though both films did not perform well at the box-office, she was given the lead role in another Shivarajkumar starrer '' Om'' directed by

Upendra Upendra (Devanagari: उपेन्द्र) is an Indian masculine given name. The meaning of the Sanskrit word ' is "younger brother of Indra" and refers to either Krishna or Vishnu, who as a son of Aditi (or in the Vamana avatar) was born subs ...

. The film turned out to be a blockbuster and also got her the Karnataka State Award for Best Actress. In 1996 she acted in the

Sunil Kumar Desai Sunil Kumar Desai is an Indian film director, writer and producer, known for his work in Kannada cinema. In most of his films, Desai blends art and commercial cinema. He has written and directed Thriller (genre), suspense/thrillers and Romance f ...

directed ''

Nammoora Mandara Hoove ''Nammoora Mandara Hoove'' () is a 1996 Indian Kannada-language film directed by Sunil Kumar Desai starring Shiva Rajkumar, Ramesh Aravind and Prema in lead roles. It's considered one of the all-time blockbuster romantic movies in Kannada Film ...

'' co-starring

Shivarajkumar Nagaraju Shiva Puttaswamy (born 12 July 1962) known by his screen name Shiva Rajkumar, is an Indian actor, producer and television presenter, predominantly works in Kannada cinema.

and

Ramesh Aravind Ramesh Aravind is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter and television presenter who predominantly works in Kannada films and television. In a career of over 34 years, Aravind has been appeared in over 140 films including several Tamil and T ...

. She also made her Malayalam debut with ''

The Prince ''The Prince'' ( it, Il Principe ; la, De Principatibus) is a 16th-century political treatise written by Italian diplomat and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli as an instruction guide for new princes and royals. The general theme of ''The ...

'' opposite

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 appeare ...

,directed by Tamil director

Suresh Krissna Suresh Krissna (born 25 June 1959) is an Indian film director who has directed Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi Language films. His first independent film as a director was '' Sathya'' (1988), with Kamal Haasan. He is well known for ha ...

fresh from the success of ''

Baashha ''Baashha'' is a 1995 Indian Tamil-language gangster action film written and directed by Suresh Krissna. The film stars Rajinikanth, Nagma and Raghuvaran, with Janagaraj, Devan, Shashi Kumar, Vijayakumar, Anandaraj, Charan Raj, Kitty, Sath ...

''. The same year, she made her Telugu debut with ''

Dharma Chakram ''Dharma Chakram'' () is a 1996 Indian Telugu-language action thriller film written and directed by Suresh Krissna, and produced by D. Ramanaidu under the Suresh Productions banner. The film stars Venkatesh, Ramya Krishna, and Prema while Gir ...

''. In 1999 the super success of her films had catapulted her to the top spot in Kannada movies. ''

Chandramuki Pranasakhi ''Chandramukhi Pranasakhi'' is a 1999 Indian Kannada-language film, directed by Seetharam Karanth, starring Ramesh Aravind, Prema and Bhavana. It's one of the highest grossing Kannada films of the year 1999. The movie is considered one of the ...

'', ''

'' and

V. Ravichandran Veeraswamy Ravichandran (born 30 May 1961), known mononymously as Ravichandran, is an actor, director, producer, music director, lyricist and editor in the Kannada Film Industry. He is the son of film producer N. Veeraswamy. As producer, Ravi ...

's ''

Naanu Nanna Hendthiru ''Upendra'' is a 1999 Indian Kannada-language psychological thriller film written and directed by Upendra. It starred Upendra, Raveena Tandon, Prema and Damini. The film explores three human emotions through the relationship between the main ch ...

'' in Kannada and the

Telugu language Telugu (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken by Telugu people predominantly living in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it is also the official language. It is the most widely spoken member of the Dravidian language fami ...

film, ''Devi'' which collected Rs. 18 crores at the box-office and was dubbed into Hindi as well. In 2000 she saw 6 releases of which '' Yajamana'' opposite Vishnuvardhan was a runaway hit. 2001 proved lucky with the female-centric ''

Kanasugara ''Kanasugara'' () is a 2001 Indian Kannada-language romantic drama film directed by Karan. Film stars V. Ravichandran, Prema and Shashikumar, Hema Choudhary in lead roles. ''Kanasugara'' is a remake of 1998 Tamil film ''Unnidathil Ennai Kodu ...

'', the remake of Tamil film ''

Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen ''Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen'' () is a 1998 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Vikraman. It stars Karthik and Roja, with Ajith Kumar in a guest appearance. Ramesh Khanna, Moulee, Sathyapriya, Fathima Babu, and M ...

'', which fetched her the

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 ...

and many other awards for her portrayal of a simple girl who becomes a famous singer. Her main release in 2002 was

's musical ''

Parva Parva may refer to: * PARVA, a gene * The 18 parvas, books or chapters of the ''Mahabharata'' * Parva (band), name of English band Kaiser Chiefs from 2000 to 2003 * ''Parva'' (2002 film), a Kannada language film by Sunil Kumar Desai * ''Parva ...

'' co-starring Vishnuvardhan and

Roja Selvamani Roja Selvamani (born Sri Latha Reddy; 17 November 1972), also known as R. K. Roja or Lady Roja Selvamani, is an Indian politician and former actress. She is serving as the current Minister for Tourism, Culture and Youth Advancement of Andhra Pr ...

. In 2003, she was praised by critics for her complex role in ''

Singaaravva ''Singaaravva'' ( kn, ಸಿಂಗಾರವ್ವ) is 2003 Indian Kannada language film directed by T. S. Nagabharana, based on the novel ''Singaravva Mattu Aramane'' by Chandrashekhara Kambara, and starring Prema and Avinash. At the 50th N ...

''. In 2004, Prema played Vishnuvardhan's leading lady in ''

Apthamitra ''Apthamitra'' () is a 2004 Indian Kannada-language horror film directed by P. Vasu, and stars Vishnuvardhan, Soundarya and Ramesh Arvind in the lead roles with Prema, Dwarakish and Avinash in supporting roles. This was Soundarya's last fil ...

'', the Kannada remake of Malayalam ''

Manichitrathazhu ''Manichitrathazhu'' () is a 1993 Indian Malayalam-language epic psychological horror film directed by Fazil, written by Madhu Muttam, and produced by Swargachitra Appachan. The film stars Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi and Shobana with Nedumudi Venu ...

'' by

P. Vasu Vasudevan Peethambharan, known professionally as P Vasu, is an Indian director, writer and actor who works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam language films. In a career spanning three decades, Vasu has directed over 64 films.

. She has shared screen space with Vishnuvardhan in seven films - Yajamana,

, Jamindaru,

Kshana Kshana ''Kshana Kshana'' ( kn, ಕ್ಷಣ ಕ್ಷಣ) is a 2007 Indian Kannada language crime thriller film directed by Sunil Kumar Desai and produced by B. R. Thirumalai. The film stars Aditya, Prema, Kiran Rathod and Ashutosh Rana in the lead r ...

Ekadantha ''Ekadantha'' is a 2007 Indian Kannada-language comedy drama film directed and written by Bollywood actor - director Sachin starring Vishnuvardhan, Prema and Ramesh Aravind. It features soundtrack from Gurukiran.Released on 16 March 2007, t ...

, Ellaranthalla Nanna Ganda. Post her marriage in 2006, Prema cut down on her film assignments. In 2017 she made her comeback with ''Upendra Matte Baa''.Her last release was ''Shishira'' in 2009. She has, thus far, acted in more than 70 movies in Kannada and more than 28 movies in Telugu. In 2017 she made her comeback with ''Upendra Matte Baa''.

Awards

* 1996:

Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress The Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress is a state film award of the Indian state of Karnataka given during the annual Karnataka State Film Awards. The award honours Kannada language film actresses. Since its inception, the award was wo ...

— '' Om'' * 2001: South Filmfare Award for Best Kannada Actress — ''

Filmography

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prema Indian film actresses Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Malayalam cinema Actresses from Bangalore Living people Kodava people Filmfare Awards South winners Actresses in Tamil cinema 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Year of birth missing (living people)