Shweta, known by her

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Rakshita, is an Indian television personality, film producer and former actress known for her work in Kannada cinema.

Early life

Rakshita was brought up in Bangalore. Her father

B. C. Gowrishankar B. C. Gowrishankar (25 February 1950 – 16 November 2004) was an Indian cinematographer and an occasional film director and screenwriter who worked primarily in Kannada cinema. He was known for his unorthodox style as a cinematographer and wa ...

was a cinematographer and mother Mamatha Rao, an actress, both of whom worked in Kannada films. Rakshita underwent an acting course under Krishnamurthy Kavathar's tutelage for about 15 days before entering films. Pursuing a bachelor's degree in computer applications (BCA) from

Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College (SBMJC) was established in the year 1990. Founded by Group of members of Jain Society, in VV Puram and now known as a part of Jain University which has established many colleges. However, SBMJC remains a promi ...

in Bangalore at the time, she discontinued during the first year before enrolling in a correspondence course for a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2001. During this time, she was signed to play the lead opposite Puneeth Rajkumar in '' Appu'' (2002) by producer Parvathamma Rajkumar who gave her the name Rakshita.

Career

Actor

Rakshita started her career with the Kannada movie '' Appu'' with Puneeth Rajkumar. She also acted in remakes of the same movie in Telugu titled '' Idiot'' and in Tamil titled '' Dum'' alongside Silambarasan. She became a top Kannada heroine when '' Kalasipalya'' became a big hit. Apart from Puneeth Rajkumar, she formed a successful pair with all the top Kannada heroes of the time - Upendra, Sudeep, Darshan and Aditya. She has also acted with big time heroes such as Chiranjeevi,

Nagarjuna Akkineni Akkineni Nagarjuna Rao (born 29 August 1959), known mononymously as Nagarjuna, is an Indian actor, film producer, television presenter, and entrepreneur. Nagarjuna has acted predominantly in Telugu, along with a few Hindi and Tamil language fil ...

, Mahesh Babu,

Jr NTR Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Jr. (born 20 May 1983), also known as Jr. N.T.R. or Tarak, is an Indian actor who primarily works in Telugu cinema. One of the highest paid Telugu film actors, Rama Rao Jr. has won several accolades, including two Fil ...

, Jagapathi Babu, Vishnuvardhan, V. Ravichandran, Shivarajkumar, Vijay, Ravi Teja, and Silambarasan After her marriage to director Prem, she cut down on her acting assignments and took over film-making. She turned producer for the prestigious '' Jogayya'' directed by Prem, starring Shivarajkumar in the lead (100th movie).

Politics

Rakshita announced that she had joined the Badavara Shramikara Raitara (BSR) Congress in March 2012, after politician

B. Sriramulu Ballari Sriramulu (born 8 August 1971) is an Indian politician who is currently serving as Minister of Transport Department and Tribal Welfare of Karnataka from 4 August 2021. He was the Minister of Social Welfare Department of Karnataka from 1 ...

announced of founding it, which eventually happened in 2013. She served as the President of the women's wing of the BSR Congress till April 2013, when she quit the party citing differences with the party members over contesting elections from a constituency of her choice at the Karnataka Legislative Assembly election. In the same month, she joined the

Janata Dal (Secular) The Janata Dal (Secular) is an Indian political party led by former prime minister of India, H. D. Deve Gowda. The party is recognized as a State Party in the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Arunachal Pradesh. It was formed in July 1999 by the ...

. She again had differences with the party over its ignoring her plea for a ticket to contest from Mandya at the 2014 general election, and quit in March 2014, joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Following this, she became subject to media and public ridicule, and was called a "party-hopper", having changed 3 political parties in two years.

Personal life

She is married to film director Prem since 2007.

Filmography

As producer

As actress

Television

* 2010 – Swayamvara – host(Suvarna TV Kannada) * 2014 – '' Thaka Dhimi Tha Dancing star'' – Judge (ETV Kannada) * 2015 – ''Putani Pantru Season 2'' – Judge (Suvarna TV Kannada) * 2017 – ''Comedy Khiladigalu'' – Judge (Zee Kannada) * 2017 – ''Dance Karnataka Dance- Family War'' -Judge (Zee Kannada) * 2018 – ''Comedy Khiladigalu Season 2'' -Judge (Zee Kannada) * 2018 – ''Dance Karnataka Dance Little Masters'' - Judge ( Zee Kannada) * 2018 – ''Comedy Khiladigalu Championship'' -Judge (Zee Kannada) * 2019 - ''Dance Karnataka Dance'' - Family War (Season 2) - Judge (Zee Kannada) * 2019 - ''Comedy Khiladigalu Season 3'' - Judge (Zee Kannada) * 2020 - ''Comedy Khiladigalu Championship Season 2'' - Judge (Zee Kannada) * 2021 - ''Dance Karnataka Dance Season 5'' - Judge (Zee Kannada) * 2022 - ''Dance Karnataka Dance Season 6'' - Judge (Zee Kannada) * 2022 - ''Comedy Khiladigalu Season 4'' - Judge (Zee Kannada)

As dubbing artist

* Amy Jackson ('' The Villain'')

References

External links

*
Rakshita
at

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{{authority control Living people Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Kannada film producers Actresses from Bangalore Indian actor-politicians Indian film actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Politicians from Bangalore Businesswomen from Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Karnataka BSR Congress politicians Janata Dal (Secular) politicians 21st-century Indian women politicians 21st-century Indian politicians Film producers from Bangalore Actresses in Kannada television Indian television actresses Year of birth missing (living people) Women members of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly