Malashri

Malashri
Malashri
Born	Sri Durga; 10 August 1973 (age 51); Madras, Tamil Nadu, India
Nationality	Indian
Other names	Malashree
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1979–present
Spouse	Ramu
Children	2

Sri Durga (born 10 August 1973), known by the screen name Malashri, is an Indian film actress. She has worked predominantly in Kannada films in addition to Telugu and Tamil films. A leading actress of Kannada cinema in the late 1980s and 1990s, Malashri garnered praise for her portrayal of a homely Indian girl and character roles. She was popularly called Kanasina Rani ("Dream Girl") in the media.^[1]

Malashri began her career as a child artiste and has appeared in 34 films of Tamil and Telugu. She made her debut in a lead role with the Kannada film Nanjundi Kalyana (1989). Her portrayal of a haughty, shrewish woman in the movie won her many accolades heralding her as one of the top actresses in Kannada Cinema. She went to establish herself as a leading actress in Kannada cinema with the films Gajapathi Garvabhanga (1989), Policena Hendthi (1990), Kitturina Huli (1990), Rani Maharani (1990), Hrudaya Haadithu (1991), for which she won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress, Ramachaari (1991), Belli Kalungura (1992), Solillada Saradara (1993) and Gadibidi Aliya (1995). In the 2000s, Malashri began to work exclusively in action films like Chamundi (2000), Kannadada Kiran Bedi (2009), Shakti (2012), Veera (2013) and Ganga (2015) for which she won her first Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress.^[2]

Career

Child artiste

Malashri began her career in films as a child actor after being roped in by the directors of her mother's films. She appeared in 34 films as a child actor, out of which she played the role of a boy in 26 of them.^[3] In a talk show, Majaa Talkies, she said that as a child, she was a fan of actor Amitabh Bachchan and would dress up like him, appearing as boy, which prompted directors to cast her in their films. Among them include the 1979 films, Imayam and Neela Malargal.^[4]

Lead roles

Writer and lyricist Chi. Udaya Shankar first introduced Malashri to Rajkumar family who were on the look out for a fresh face. In a lead role, she was introduced first by the Parvathamma Rajkumar, and cast her opposite her son Raghavendra Rajkumar for the film Nanjundi Kalyana (1989), who also rechristened her name as Malashri. She went on to act in two other films from Vajreshwari Combines, namely, Gajapathi Garvabhanga opposite Raghavendra again, and Mruthyunjaya with Shiv Rajkumar.

She took on the famous double role in Rani Maharani (immortalized earlier by Vanisri in Ganga Manga/Rani Vani and Sridevi in Chaalbaaz). With this film, she silenced her critics once and for all with a powerhouse performance. But it was not until her next film Hrudaya Haadithu that she openly won all praises from the masses, elite and critics alike. Her portrayal of a young girl inflicted with heart problem and her simple desires in life won her the Filmfare Best actress award in the year 1991. As she churned out hit after hit. Even director V. Ravichandran, who till then believed only in importing heroines from the film industries of other states, cashed in hugely on her popularity by casting her in Ramachaari (a remake of Tamil Hit Chinna Thambi). This enabled him to come out of the financial crisis he was facing due to the debacle of Shanti Kranti during that time.

However, in the mid-90s, Malashri had a string of less successful films like Prema Khaidi, Snehada Kadalalli, Megha Mandara, Harishina Kumkuma, and Solillada Saradara. She had a few comeback hits in the new millennium with "angry woman" roles in Chamundi, Durgi and Kannada Kiran Bedi.

Personal life

Malashri was born and brought up in Madras (now Chennai) into a Telugu speaking family.^[5] She shot to fame with Nanjundi Kalyana in 1989 but her personal life hit an all-time low the same year when her mother died in a road accident. She had an affair with actor Sunil, her co-star in many films.^[6] But in 1994 she met with a car accident when her car got hit by a truck. While Malashree suffered multiple injuries, Sunil died within an hour. It was rumoured that they even had plans of getting married.^[7] She is currently married to film producer Ramu and they have a daughter together, Ananya (b. 2001).^[8] Her sister Subhashri was also an actress, who appeared in South Indian films.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Language	Notes
1979	Imayam		Tamil	Credited as Baby Durga
1979	Neela Malargal		Tamil
1989	Nanjundi Kalyana	Devi	Kannada
	Gajapathi Garvabhanga	Sowmya	Kannada
	Chinnari Sneham		Telugu
	Chinna Chinna Aasaigal		Tamil	Credited as Rasika
1990	Prema Khaidi	Neelima	Telugu
	Policena Hendthi	Vanaja	Kannada
	Mruthyunjaya	Shailaja	Kannada
	Raja Kempu Roja	Geetha	Kannada
	Aatha Naan Pass Ayittaen		Tamil
	Rani Maharani	Suma / Rani	Kannada	Dual roles
	Prathap	Rani	Kannada
1991	Hrudaya Haadithu	Asha	Kannada	Filmfare Award for Best Actress
	Kitturina Huli	Bharathi	Kannada
	Thavarumane Udugore	Lakshmi	Kannada
	Readymade Ganda		Kannada
	S. P. Bhargavi	Bhargavi	Kannada
	Ramachaari	Nandini	Kannada
	Gandu Sidigundu		Kannada
	Rowdy & MLA		Kannada
	Halli Rambhe Belli Bombe		Kannada
	Gruha Pravesha		Kannada
	Kollur Kala		Kannada
	Mangalya		Kannada
1992	Belli Kalungura	Bhadra	Kannada
	Hatamari Hennu Kiladi Gandu		Kannada
	Shivanaga		Kannada
	Belli Modagalu	Seetha	Kannada
	Sindhoora Thilaka		Kannada
	Vajrayudha		Kannada
	Malashree Mamashree	Malashri	Kannada
	Solillada Saradara		Kannada
	Nagaradalli Nayakaru		Kannada
	Kanasina Rani		Kannada
	Sahasi		Kannada
	Prema Sangama		Kannada
	Megha Mandara	Megha	Kannada
	Gruha Lakshmi		Kannada
	Halli Krishna Delhi Radha	Radha	Kannada
	Snehada Kadalalli		Kannada
	Mana Mecchida Sose		Kannada
	Marana Mrudanga		Kannada
	Belliyappa Bangarappa	Herself	Kannada	Guest appearance
	Kaliyuga Seethe		Kannada
1993	Hendthi Helidare Kelabeku	Mala	Kannada
	Mangalya Bandhana		Kannada
	Kalyana Rekhe		Kannada
	Navibbaru Namagibbaru		Kannada
	Paruvu Prathistha	Prema	Telugu
	Akka Chellelu		Telugu
	Urmila	Urmila	Telugu
	Lovers		Telugu
	Bava Bavamaridi	Geeta	Telugu
1994	Police Alludu		Telugu
	Allari Police	Kasturi	Telugu
	Bhale Maavayya	Vyjayanti	Telugu
	Bangaru Mogudu	Rani	Telugu
	Thodi Kodallu	Vyjayanthi	Telugu
1995	Mutthinantha Hendthi		Kannada
	Gadibidi Aliya		Kannada
	Giddu Dada		Kannada
	Lady Police		Kannada
	Putmalli	Putmalli	Kannada
	Hello Sister		Kannada
	Gharana Alludu		Telugu
1996	Sahasa Veerudu Sagara Kanya	Ganga	Telugu
	Circle Inspector		Kannada
	Arishina Kunkuma		Kannada
	Nirnaya		Kannada	Special appearance
1997	Surya Putrulu		Telugu
	Ganga Yamuna	Ganga	Kannada
	C.B.I. Durga	Durga	Kannada
	Lady Commissioner		Kannada
	Akka		Kannada
	Zindabad		Kannada
1998	Lady Tiger		Kannada
	Agni Sakshi		Kannada
	Goonda Matthu Police		Kannada
	Tiger Padmini	Padmini	Kannada
2000	Chamundi		Kannada
2001	Bhavani IPS	Bhavani	Kannada
2004	Durgi	Durga	Kannada
2007	Bhasmasuran		Malayalam
2009	Kannadada Kiran Bedi	Kiran Bedi / Bellary Bhagyalakshmi	Kannada
2012	Shakti	Shakthi	Kannada
2013	Veera		Kannada
2013	Election	Indira	Kannada
2014	Gharshane	Nethra	Kannada
2015	Mahakali	Devi	Kannada
2015	Ganga	Ganga	Kannada	Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress
2016	John Jani Janardhan		Kannada	Special appearance
TBA	Boys		Kannada	Filming
TBA	Uppu Huli Kaara		Kannada	Filming
TBA	Malashree	Malashri	Kannada	Announced^[9]

Awards

Karnataka State Film Awards

2015 : Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress : Ganga

Filmfare Awards South

1991: Filmfare Award for Best Actress: Hrudaya Haadithu^[10]

Other awards

2011: NTR Award^[11]

References

^ "The name is star, super star". The Times of India. 11 November 2008.
^ Karnataka State Film Awards, 2015: Full List
^ "I played a boy in 26 films: Malashri". The Times of India. 29 March 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
^ Malashri (17 August 2015). Majaa Takies - 17th October 2015 - ಮಜಾ ಟಾಕೀಸ್ - Full Episode (in Kannada). Colors Kannada. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
^ "Combat queen". The Hindu. 17 April 2009. Retrieved 26 October 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "Malashree's comeback effort". Rediff. 5 May 2000. Retrieved 26 October 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "Kannada Actress Malashree Profile". karnatakaspider. Retrieved 26 October 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ "IT'S MOTHER MALASHREE". chitraloka.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2001. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
^ "Action queen returns with a new role". The Indian Express. 28 September 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
^ https://archive.is/20170208061710/https://archive.org/details/39thAnnualFilmfareKannadaBestActorActress
^ "Land for Telugu institute: Somanna". The New Indian Express. 5 June 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2015.

External links

Malashri at IMDb
Malashri Filmography

[1] "The name is star, super star". The Times of India. 11 November 2008.

[2] Karnataka State Film Awards, 2015: Full List

[3] "I played a boy in 26 films: Malashri". The Times of India. 29 March 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2013.

[4] Malashri (17 August 2015). Majaa Takies - 17th October 2015 - ಮಜಾ ಟಾಕೀಸ್ - Full Episode (in Kannada). Colors Kannada. Retrieved 24 October 2015.

[5] "Combat queen". The Hindu. 17 April 2009. Retrieved 26 October 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[6] "Malashree's comeback effort". Rediff. 5 May 2000. Retrieved 26 October 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[7] "Kannada Actress Malashree Profile". karnatakaspider. Retrieved 26 October 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[8] "IT'S MOTHER MALASHREE". chitraloka.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2001. Retrieved 26 April 2016.

[9] "Action queen returns with a new role". The Indian Express. 28 September 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2013. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[10] ttps://archive.is/20170208061710/https://archive.org/details/39thAnnualFilmfareKannadaBestActorActress

[11] "Land for Telugu institute: Somanna". The New Indian Express. 5 June 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2015.

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v t e Filmfare Award for Best Kannada Actress
1972–1989	Kalpana (1972) Jayanthi (1973) Aarathi (1974) Aarathi (1975) Jayanthi (1976) Manjula (1977) Shobha (1978) Aarathi (1979) Ashwini (1980) Aarathi (1981) Saritha (1982) Suhasini (1983) Suhasini (1984) Saritha (1985) Saritha (1986) Saritha (1989)
1990–2009	Suhasini (1990) Malashri (1991) Sudha Rani (1992) Lakshmi (1993) Shruti (1995) Shilpa (1996) Suhasini (1997) Jayamala (1998) Tara (1999) Sudha Rani (2000) Prema (2001) Soundarya (2002) Meena (2003) Soundarya (2004) Vidhya Venkatesh (2005) Ramya (2006) Rashmi (2007) Radhika Pandit (2008) Radhika Pandit (2009)
2010–present	Radhika Pandit (2010) Ramya (2011) Priyamani (2012) Amulya (2013) Shwetha Srivatsav (2014) Parul Yadav (2015) Shraddha Srinath (2016) Sruthi Hariharan (2017) Manvitha Kamath (2018) Yagna Shetty (2020/2021) Chaithra J. Achar (2022) Siri Ravikumar (2023)