Anushka Shetty
Shetty at TeachAIDS launch event in 2010
Born	Sweety Shetty[1] (1981-11-07) 7 November 1981 (age 30)[2] Mangalore, Karnataka, India
Other names	Sweety, Tommulu
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2005—present

Anushka Shetty (born on 7 November 1981 as Sweety Shetty) is an Indian film actress who works mainly in the Telugu and Tamil film industries. She debuted in the 2005 Telugu film Super and rose to fame following her performance in Vikramarkudu (2006).^[3] After starring in a series of high-budget productions alongside leading Telegu and Tamil actors, she went on to became one of Telegu and Tamil cinema's leading actresses in the successive years,^[4] while receiving high critical acclaim for her portrayal of the titular character in Arundhati,^[5] and as Saroja in Vedam,^[6] which fetched her two Filmfare, one Nandi and two CineMAA Awards.

Early life[link]

Anushka Shetty was born as Sweety Shetty on 7 November 1981^[2] in Mangalore. Shetty is an ethnic Bunt hailing from the landed Bellipady Uramalu Guthu family.^[7] Her parents are Prafulla and A.N. Vittal Shetty.^[7] She has two brothers Gunaranjan Shetty and Sai Ramesh Shetty who is a cosmetic surgeon.^[7] She attended her schooling in Bangalore. She did her Bachelor of Computer Applications at Mount Carmel College, Bangalore.^[8] She was also a Yoga Instructor and has trained under yoga guru Bharat Thakur.

Film career[link]

Shetty made her acting debut in Puri Jagannath's 2005 Telugu film Super alongside Akkineni Nagarjuna. The same year, she acted in another film Mahanandi, which was an unsuccessful venture. In 2006, she had four releases, the first being S. S. Rajamouli's Vikramarkudu opposite Raviteja, in which she portrayed the character Neeraja Goswami. The film went on to become very successful and got her much recognition, that eventually made her very popular in Andhra Pradesh.^[3][9] She next had starred in the film Astram, a remake of the 1999 Hindi film Sarfarosh, following which she debuted in the Tamil film industry, acting in the Sundar C.-directed action flick Rendu, sharing screen space with R. Madhavan. Later that year, she made a special appearance in A. R. Murugadoss' directorial debut in Telugu, Stalin.

Her first release in 2007 was Lakshyam, after which she starred in Raghava Lawrence's Don opposite Nagarjuna again. The former, in particular, succeeded at the box office.^[10] In 2008 she had appeared in six films. Okka Magaadu was the first release, in which she played one of three female leads. Her subsequent releases Swagatam alongside Jagapati Babu and Bhumika Chawla and Baladur opposite Ravi Teja garnered poor reviews and box office returns.^[11][12] She next appeared in the film Souryam with Gopichand which became a box office hit.

In 2009, Shetty first starred in the blockbuster hit Arundhati. In this heroine-centric film, she essayed two roles for the first time.^[4] It was a critical as well as commercial success. Critics heaped praise on Anushka for her performance. Idlebrain's Jeevi wrote that she was "simply amazing in two roles" and that she did "exceptionally well with subtle yet impact creating performance", while Rediff claimed that she was "brilliant and breathtaking in parts",^[13] labelling Arundhati as "totally Anushka's film".^[14] Sify noted that she was "at her best with great performance".^[15] She went on to win the Nandi Special Jury Award and the Filmfare Best Actress Award among other accolades. Her next film, the action flick Billa, a remake of the 2007 Tamil namesake, itself a remake of the 1978 Hindi film Don, featured Shetty in a role contrary to that in Arundati. Her final release in 2009 was her second Tamil feature film, Vettaikkaran with leading Tamil actor Vijay which was one of the highest grosser of the year.^[16] She had an array of releases in 2010, with her Tamil release Singam co-starring Suriya emerging her highest-grosser of the year, while most her Telugu films performed poorly. She portrayed a prostitute in Krish's critically acclaimed anthology film Vedam,^[6] winning accolades for her performance, including her second consecutive Filmfare Award, following which she was selected to reprise the character in its Tamil remake, Vaanam as well. Her other 2010 releases were Panchakshari, Khaleja, Nagavalli and Ragada.

Vaanam became her first 2011 release, which received critical acclaimed reviews as well. Her next release Deiva Thirumagal with Vikram became a critical and commercial success, fetching her laurels for her portrayal as Anuradha, a lawyer. The successes of her Tamil films led to Anushka growing in popularity in Tamil cinema. She was subsequently offered several high-profile productions, including A. R. Murugadoss' new project starring Vijay and the Gautham Menon-directorial Neethane En Ponvasantham featuring Jeeva.^[17] with Sify calling her the "most wanted heroine in Kollywood".^[17] She confirmed that she had signed two Tamil films, Selvaraghavan's Irandam Ulagam opposite Arya and an action-masala film to be directed by Suraj, co-starring Karthi.^[18][19] She agree to be part of another Tamil production, Thaandavam, in November 2011.^[20] She is shooting for two Telugu projects as well, the fantasy film Damarukam alongside Akkineni Nagarjuna and the period drama Rampachodavaram.^[21] She is also acting in Koratala Siva's Vaaradhi opposite Prabhas.^[22]

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

Wins

• 2010: Filmfare Award for Best Actress - Telugu - Arundhati
• 2010: Nandi Special Jury Award - Arundhati
• 2010: CineMAA Award for Best Actress - Arundhati
• 2010: Vijay Award for Favourite Heroine - Vettaikkaran
• 2011: CineMAA Award for Best Actress (Jury) - Vedam
• 2011: Filmfare Award for Best Actress - Telugu - Vedam
• 2011: Jaya Award for Favorite Actrees - Deiva Thirumagal

Nominations

• 2011: Filmfare Award for Best Actress - Telugu - Nagavalli
• 2011: Vijay Award for Favourite Heroine - Singam

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Anushka Shetty

• Anushka Shetty at the Internet Movie Database

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2012)

Avasarala Kanyakumari is a renowned female Carnatic music violinist from South India.

Profile[link]

Kanyakumari is a native of Vijayanagaram, Andhra Pradesh and has been living in Chennai for more than 4 decades.She belongs to a family of musicians.Her parents Sri Avasarala Ramarathnam and Smt.Jayalakshmi encouraged her immensely to pursue music. She was fortunate to be a sishya (disciple) of 3 great legendary gurus, Ivaturi Vijeswara Rao, M. Chandrasekaran and M. L. Vasanthakumari.

Listening to her sparkling brighas and intricate sangatis while she had just started to tread her musical journey, the respected music critic Subbudu compared her music to the ever glittering diamond stud in the nose ring of the goddess Kanyakumari. Ever since she has received innumerable accolades and praise from audiences worldwide and discerning critics for her innovation, accompaniment and solo performances while at the same time strictly adhering to the Carnatic music tradition. Needless to say it is her dedication and sincere hardwork along with the able guidance of her gurus Ivaturi Vijeshwara Rao, M. Chandrasekharan and M. L. Vasanthakumari which have groomed her into a front ranking violinist. Her extensive experience spanning more than 4 decades combined with a sharp acumen and fine sense of creativity has earned her a distinct place.She has evolved her own style of melodious playing and silken bowing which closely resembles vocal music rhapsodising audiences all over.

Innovations and Challenging Feats She has many successful creative innovations to her credit. "Vadya Lahari" her brain child is a new combo of the violin, veena and Nadaswaram. "Tristhayi sangamam" Confluence of 3 violins playing in different octaves portraying a special dimension. "Carnatic Music Ensembles" of 25, 50, 75 and 100 violins as well as 100 instrument ensemble commemorating the millennium A music piece "100 ragamalika swarams" which exposes her dexterity in bringing out the raga swaroopam in just one avarthana each. 29 hours non stop marathon performance

She has dedicated her life to music and is grateful to the Almighty, gurus, parents, students, sabhas, critics and rasikas for their continued support.

Awards and honours[link]

Many prestigious awards and titles have been bestowed uon her.Some of them include

• Kalaimamani from Govt. of Tamil Nadu
• Ugadi Puraskarfrom Govt. of Andhra Pradesh
• Top Rank by A.I.R
• Honorary citizenship of the state of Maryland,U.S
• TTK Award from the Music Academy,Chennai
• Asthana Viidushi of Sringeri Sarada Peetam,Ahobila Mutt and Avadhoota Peetam
• "Saptagiri sangeetha vidwanmani from Sri Tyagaraja Festival Committee if Tirupathi.
• Dhanurveena Praveena, a title bestowed on her by M.S. Subbulakshmi, commemorating Kanyakumari's 25 years in concerts
• Sangeeta Kala Nipuna, from the Mylapore Fine Arts Club, 2002 ^[1]
• Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, 2003

She was selected for Limca Book of Records 2004 for her various achievements in music as a versatile woman violinist.

Teaching[link]

She is a dedicated teacher and has taught numerous students in India and abroad, many of whom are very popular artists. She teaches without a price tag and generously encourages students to participate in full measure. She has also released Violin Lessons Tutorial VCD's for students who do not have access to learn directly from a guru.

References[link]

External links[link]

akanyakumari.com