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

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

, and a few

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

language films. She ruled Kannada industry in the 90s and early 2000s and she has appeared in many commercially successful 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'' in 2017.

Personal life

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

Pre-university course According to the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), basic education comprises the two stages primary education and lower secondary education. Universal basic education Basic education featured heavily in the 1997 ISCED ...

in Murnad junior college,

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

. 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 was a cricket player who represented

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy is a premier domestic first-class cricket championship played in India and organized annually by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The teams representing regional and state cricket associations participate. BCCI ...

. 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.

Career

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

Shivarajkumar Dr.Shiva Rajkumar (born Nagaraju Shiva Puttaswamy; 12 July 1962) is an Indian actor, film producer and television presenter who predominantly works in Kannada cinema. In a career spanning over three decades, he has worked in over 125 films in Ka ...

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), Thrillers and Romance films. He ...

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 the Kannad ...

'' co-starring

and

Ramesh Aravind Ramesh Aravind (born 10 September 1964), known mononymously as Ramesh, is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter and television presenter. Ramesh has predominantly worked in Kannada and Tamil films along with a few Telugu and Hindi films. He ...

. She also made her Malayalam debut with ''

The Prince ''The Prince'' ( ; ) is a 16th-century political treatise written by the Italian diplomat, philosopher, and Political philosophy, political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli in the form of a realistic instruction guide for new Prince#Prince as gener ...

'' opposite

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (; born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor and filmmaker who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hin ...

, 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 h ...

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, ...

''. 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'', ''

'' and V. Ravichandran's ''Naanu Nanna Hendthiru'' in Kannada and the

Telugu language Telugu (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language native to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it is also the official language. Spoken by about 96 million people (2022), Telugu is the most widely spoken member of ...

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 and Prema in lead roles and Shashikumar in guest appearance. ''Kanasugara'' is a remake of 1998 Tamil film '' Unnidathil E ...

'', 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. The film stars Karthik and Roja, with Ajith Kumar in a guest appearance. Ramesh Khanna, Moulee, Sathyapriya, Fathima Babu, ...

'', 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 Hindi films, to recognise the female performer who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role. The award was first given in ...

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 Alpha-parvin is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''PARVA'' gene In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcrib ...

'' co-starring Vishnuvardhan and

Roja Selvamani R. K. Roja Selvamani (born Sri Latha Reddy), is an Indian politician and former actress. She served as Minister for Tourism, Culture and Youth Advancement of Andhra Pradesh since 11 April 2022 until a landslide defeat in 2024 assembly election ...

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

Singaaravva ''Singaaravva'' () 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 National Film Awards, the film ...

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

Apthamitra ''Apthamitra'' () is a 2004 Indian Kannada-language Psychological horror film written and directed by P. Vasu and produced by Dwarakish. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Soundarya and Ramesh in the lead roles, while Prema, Avinash and Dwarak ...

'', the Kannada remake of Malayalam ''

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

'' by

P. Vasu Vasudevan Peethambaram (born 15 September 1955), known professionally as P. Vasu, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor who works predominantly in Tamil and Kannada films, apart from a few Telugu, Hindi, and Malayalam language fi ...

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

, Jamindaru,

Kshana Kshana ''Kshana Kshana'' is a 2007 Indian Kannada language crime thriller film directed by Sunil Kumar Desai and produced by B. S. Thirumalai. The film stars Aditya, Prema and Kiran Rathod in the lead roles with actor Vishnuvardhan appearing in an ex ...

, Ekadantha,

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

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 won ...

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

Filmography

References

External links

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