Byrraju Sandhya Raju (born as Sri Sandhya Raja) is an Indian

Kuchipudi Kuchipudi () ( Telugu: ) is one of the eight major Indian classical dances. It originates from a village named Kuchipudi in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Kuchipudi is a dance-drama performance, with its roots in the ancient Hindu Sa ...

dancer and actress. She is a student of Dr. Vempati Chinna Satyam, Chennai at Kuchipudi Art Academy. She made her acting debut in the 2013

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 ...

short film ''Yaadhon Ki Baraat'' and feature film debut in the 2017

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 ...

thriller film titled ''Careful'', which came shortly after her appearance in a short film titled ''Natyam'' (2016) which released on International Dance Day. She is the eldest child of Ramco Industries Chairman P. R. Venkatrama Raja and married Rama Raju, son of the businessman

Ramalinga Raju Byrraju Ramalinga Raju (born 16 September 1954) is an Indian businessman. He is the founder of Satyam Computer Services and served as its chairman and CEO from 1987 until 2009. Raju stepped down following his admission to embezzlement from the ...

. She founded Nishrinkala Dance Academy to impart her Guru's Kuchipudi to the next generation. She is the managing director of Sandhya Spinning Mills which is a part of the Ramco Group of Industries.

Early life

Raju completed her primary education at

Krishnamurti Foundation The Krishnamurti Foundation is a nonprofit organisation originated with the life and spiritual teaching of Jiddu Krishnamurti. ''Jiddu Krishnamurti'' ( or ; 11 May 1895 – 17 February 1986) was a philosopher, educationist, spiritual lead ...

's The School KFI Chennai, her high school in Bala Vidya Mandir, Chennai and studied briefly at Loyola College, Chennai and graduated from

Osmania University Osmania University is a collegiate public state university located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Mir Osman Ali Khan, the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad in 1918 , He released a farman to establish OSMANIA UNIVERSITY on the day of 28 August 1918. It ...

with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology. She began her training as a

Dancer at the tender age of ten under Vempati Chinna Satyam at the Kuchipudi Art Academy which was next door to her house. She was also trained by prominent

Guru Kishore Mosalikanti''.'' and completed her ''Rangapravesham'' under his guidance.

Career

She made her

Telugu film Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, Hy ...

debut with ''

Natyam ''Natyam'' () is a 2021 Indian Telugu-language dance romantic drama film written, directed, filmed and edited by Revanth Korukonda. The film is produced by Sandhya Raju who also plays the main lead role. The film was released theatrically on ...

.'' The film is said to be a romantic drama that revolves around various dance forms.

Kuchipudi

Sandhya Raju has been performing Kuchipudi ever since she was a teenager. Her first performance was a small role in her Guru's Popular Dance Drama Ksheera Saagara Madhanam, which was staged in

Rajapalayam Rajapalayam () is a City in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the largest municipality in the Virudhunagar district. Rajapalayam is located in the Madurai to Quilon National Highway at a distance of 562 km south to the state capita ...

. She continued to perform small roles in several of Vempati Chinna Satyam’s dance dramas. At the age of 15 Sandhya was selected to play the main role of Lord Krishna in his final Dance Drama Gopika Krishna. Sandhya toured the US with her Guru. Thereafter, Sandhya began her Training under Guru Shri Mosalikanti, who is a senior disciple of Vempati Chinna Satyam himself. Sandhya has performed for Guru Kishore Mosalikanti's ensemble on several occasions and finally debuted as a professional Solo performer at her Rangapravesham in Music Academy, Chennai. Her debut solo was highly appreciated by Ms. Leela Samson and Shri Chidambaram who graced the occasion. Sandhya has performed several solo Kuchipudi acts across India and the globe. Some of her prominent performances being that in

Guimet Museum The Guimet Museum (full name in french: Musée national des arts asiatiques-Guimet; MNAAG; ) is an art museum located at 6, place d'Iéna in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. Literally translated into English, its full name is the Nation ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, International Museum of Vienna and her virtual performance for erasing Borders, NYC and two tours of South Africa. In India she has performed in the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Mumbai. Krishna Ghana Sabha,

Narada Gana Sabha Narada Gana Sabha is one of the foremost music associations in the city of Chennai, India. It regularly organises programmes during the Chennai Music Season. History The Narada Gana Sabha was founded on 9 February 1958, in Mylapore. After fun ...

and Music Academy in Chennai. She has performed in her own home town of

for her great grandfather's annual birthday celebrations. Her live performances have been documented on YouTube. She has over 8 million views across her Kuchipudi videos, making her the highest viewed Kuchipudi performer on YouTube. Her most popular videos include her performance of Krishna Shabdam and Muddugare Yashodha.

Filmography

References

External links