Soundarya

Soundarya Sathyanarayana (18 July 1972  – 17 April 2004)[2] was an Indian actress and producer who worked predominantly in Telugu and Kannada films, besides Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi films in lead roles.[3]

In this Indian name, the name Sathyanarayana is a patronymic, not a family name, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Soundarya.

Soundarya
Born	K. S. Sowmya Sathyanarayana (1972-07-18)18 July 1972[1][2] Mulabagilu, Kolar, Karnataka, India
Died	17 April 2004(2004-04-17) (aged 31) Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Cause of death	Helicopter crash
Years active	1992–2004
Spouse(s)	G. S. Raghu (m.2003-2004)
Parents	K. S. Satyanaryana (father) Manjula Satyanarayana Potluri (mother)

In 2002, she received the National Film Award for Best Feature Film as producer for the Kannada film Dweepa. She received two Karnataka State Film Awards for Best Actress, several Filmfare Awards South and the Nandi Awards for her performances in films such as Ammoru (1994), Anthapuram (1998), Raja (1999), Dweepa (2002) and Aaptamitra (2004).[3][4] At the peak of her career, Soundarya died in an aircraft crash near Bangalore on 17 April 2004, when she was on her way to Andhra Pradesh to campaign for the Bharatiya Janata Party.[5][6] Soundarya's first movie was the Kannada movie Gandharva in 1992, produced and directed by Hamsalekha. In the same year, she entered Telugu movies ("Tollywood") through the movie Raithu Bharatham, opposite Krishna.

Personal life

Soundarya was born in a Kannada speaking Ashtagrama Iyer family to Kannada film writer-producer K. S. Satyanarayana. She discontinued her M.B.B.S. after her first year in Bangalore. She married G. S. Raghu, her maternal relative, a Software Engineer by profession. She had wide popularity and tremendous goodwill among Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and is probably the most successful actress after Savitri in the history of Telugu cinema and is often called the "Savitri of modern Telugu cinema". She died in a 2004 aircraft crash along with her brother Amarnath in Bangalore during an election campaign to support BJP Party while travelling to Karimnagar from Bangalore on 17th of April 2004 at 1:30pm. [7]

Early career

Soundarya's first movie was the Kannada film Gandharva in 1992. In the same year, she acted in the Telugu movie Raithu Bharatham, with Krishna, directed by Tripuraneni Sriprasad alias Varaprasad. She made more than 100 movies, predominantly in Telugu, in a span of 12 years. Telugu actor Venkatesh once described her as "a thorough actress" of Indian cinema.[8]

She began with lead roles in Kannada, her mother tongue, and went on to become the most popular actress in Telugu films. In her first hit in Telugu, in 1993, she acted in the leading role alongside Rajendra Prasad in Rajendrudu Gajendrudu, directed by S. V. Krishna Reddy. The real commercial recognition came with Hello Brother (1994), directed by commercial director E. V. V. Satyanarayana, in which she starred alongside Nagarjuna and Ramya Krishna. She had an award-winning role in Ammoru, directed by Kodi Ramakrishna. She starred alongside Ramya Krishna and Suresh where she played the role of Bhavani, a devotee of Goddess Ammoru. She had eleven movie releases in 1995.[8] In Tamil, she was introduced by Ammoru dubbing as Amman. She got major acclaim with Ponnumani, starring with Karthik and Sivakumar. She played the role of a mentally disabled person and received good reviews for her acting.

Continuous success, critical acclaim and popularity (1995–2002)

According to D. Ramanaidu, the "Most Beautiful Pairs of Telugu cinema" are NTR and Savitri, ANR and Vanisri, Chiranjeevi and Vijayashanti, Daggubati Venkatesh and Soundarya.

In 1997, she continued her success with Pelli Chesukundam, Pavitra Bandam, Amma Donga, Maa Aayana Bangaram, Osi Na Maradala and Aaro Pranam, winning acclaim from all over the industry for her performances. She also starred alongside South Indian superstar Rajinikanth in Arunachalam, which became the highest-grossing film of 1997 in Tamil cinema. This stardom made her come out of the shadow of mainstream heroines and she chose scripts which had a wide potential of performance even alongside big stars which was clearly reflected in her movies. Though the industry regarded her to be the golden hand, as a former director's daughter, she always regarded the success not as a one-man show, but the teamwork between 36 departments.[8]

Furthermore, the critical success of Chudalani Vundi, directed by Gunashekar, opposite Chiranjeevi in 1998 made her reach the pinnacle of her cinema career. She also starred along Kamal Haasan and Prabhudeva in Kaathala Kaathala in Tamil in the same year, dubbed in Telugu as Navvandi Lavvandi, directed by Singeetam Srinivas. Pelli Peetalu and Sri Ramulayya, Ninne Premista in Telugu and Doni Saagali in Kannada were commercially highly successful. Anthapuram, directed by Krishnavamshi, stood as one of the finest performances of Soundarya in her career, winning her a State Nandi Award for Best Actress and also her second consecutive Filmfare Award for Best Actress. The producers and directors realized Soundarya's ability to be a crowd puller and the biggest plus for the promotion of the movie. Her 1999 release Raja, opposite Venkatesh, was another blockbuster and won her her third Filmfare Award. Her other releases, Padayappa opposite Rajinikanth, Azad opposite Nagarjuna and Premaku Velayera, Premaku Swagatam and Arundathi further solidified her position. In the same year, she starred opposite Amitabh Bachchan in Sooryavansham, which was one of the remarkable work in her career.[8]

In 2000, she starred in yet another commercial success, Annayya, opposite Chiranjeevi, Jayam Manadera and Deviputrudu, opposite Venkatesh, Ninne premista, opposite Nagarjuna and Srikanth and several others and went on displaying her acting abilities, continuing her successful journey with films such as Eduruleni Manishi and Sri Manjunatha, opposite Chiranjeevi, Arjun Sarja, Ambareesh and Sumalatha and Narasimha, opposite Rajinikanth and Ramyakrishna, Pelli Peetalu, Dongata and Nagadevatha.[8]

She has also given special songs in a few movies. alongside Akkineni Nageswara Rao in Mayabazar, directed by Dasari Narayana Rao, In Adhipathi, alongside Akkineni Nagarjuna and in Shubalagnam, alongside Ali also. She had about 10 film releases each year, most of them in Telugu, from 1993 to 2001, which reflects her path-breaking success. After the entry of the budding next generation, she slowed down, but even later she went on acting in eight films each year till 2004. She has never been proud about stardom, she has been recognized for her super talent, her directors and costars describe her as an honest, grounded and friendly person.[8]

During the period, Balakrishna is announced plans to act and direct in the remake of Nartanasala, and a launch event was held in Hyderabad during March 2004. Soundarya was signed to play Draupadi.[9] The remake was shelved later due to the death of Soundarya in an flight accident.

She worked with almost all the top directors of the film industry, like Dasari Narayana Rao, K. Raghavendra Rao, Singeetam Srinivasa Rao, A. Kodandarami Reddy, Priyadarshan, Girish Kasaravalli, S. V. Krishna Reddy, K. S. Ravikumar, Krishna Vamsi, Kodi Ramakrishna, E. V. V. Satyanarayana, Muthyala Subbaiah, Gunasekhar, P. Vasu, Muppalaneni Shiva, Bharathi Kannan, Sundar C. and many more.

She starred along with many actors such as megastar super-star Krishna for 5 movies, Chiranjeevi for 4 in Telugu and 1 in Kannada movies, Balakrishna in only one movie, Nagarjuna for 5 movies, Venkatesh for 8 movies, Jagapathi Babu for 7 movies, Mohan Babu for 5 movies, Rajashekar for 5 movies, Suman for 3 movies, Harikrishna for 2 movies, Srikanth, Saikumar for 5 movies and Rajendra Prasad for 4 movies and has given films with all heroes such as Vinod Kumar, Naresh, Suresh, Harish, Abbas, Vineeth, Vadde Navven, Ramesh Babu, Avinash, Bhanu Chander and J. D. Chakravarthy.[8]

In Tamil, she also collaborated with superstar Rajinikanth for 3 movies, Kamal Hassan for one movie, Karthik for 3 movies, Arjun Sarja for 4 movies, Vijaykanth for 3 movies, Parthiban for 3 movies, and along with Chiyaan Vikram, Anand, Rehman, etc. and also she shared screen with Shivaji Ganesan in Padayappa.[8]

Kannada Cinema

In Kannada movies, she has acted with Vishunuvardhan, Anant Nag, Ravichandran, Shashikumar, Ramesh Arvind and Avinash. In 1996, she acted in the musical blockbuster Sipayi, along with Ravichandran and Chiranjeevi, dubbed in Telugu as Major. In 2002, she received the National Film Award for Best Feature Film (producer) for Dweepa. She also acted beside Ambareesh in Sri Manjunatha. Her last film was the Kannada film Apthamitra, a runaway hit with Vishnuvardhan. The film won her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress posthumously in 2004.

Other languages

Soundarya acted in the Hindi film Sooryavansham, alongside Amitabh Bachchan. She also starred in Kollywood super-hits such as Arunachalam and Padayappa, alongside Rajinikanth and Kaadhala Kaadhala, alongside Kamal Haasan. She acted in Mollywood as female lead in Kilichundan Mambhazham, with Mohanlal and Sreenivasan. And also with Jayaram in Yathrakarude Shradaykku in 2002, which was her first movie in Malayalam.

Politics and accidental death

Soundarya joined into Bharatiya Janata Party in the year 2004. Vijayashanti (joined in 1998) and Soundarya are star actresses to host the meetings of Lal Krishna Advani in Nirmal and Adilabad.[10] Soundarya and her brother Amarnath died in an aircraft crash near Bangalore on 17 April 2004, when she was on her way to Karimnagar to campaign for the Bharatiya Janata Party and Telugu Desam Party candidate for the upcoming elections. The aircraft, a Cessna 180 owned by Agni Aerosports, took off at 11:05 a.m. and turned in a westerly direction before crashing on the campus of the Gandhi Krishi Vigyan Kendra of the University of Agricultural Sciences. It had reached only a height of 100 feet before it crashed and burst into flames. B. N. Ganapathi, one of the two persons working on the experimental fields of the university, who rushed to the aircraft to save the occupants, said the plane wobbled before the crash.

Social reforms

Before death, Soundarya started 3 schools for orphaned children in Bangalore, in the name of her father, after Soundarya's death, her mother Manjula started schools, institutions and orphanages in the name Amarsoundarya Vidalaya's in Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Filmography

Year	No	Film	Role	Language	Notes
1992	1	Gandharva	Sudha	Kannada	Debut movie
1992	2	Nanna Thangi		Kannada
1992	3	Raithu Bharatham	Soundarya	Telugu
1992	4	Baa Nanna Preethisu	Asha	Kannada
1992	5	Manavarali Pelli	Soundarya	Telugu
1993	6	Vijaya Kranthi		Kannada
1993	7	Ponnumani	Chinthamani	Tamil
1993	8	Rajendrudu Gajendrudu	Lalita	Telugu
1993	9	Amma Naa Kodala	Neelima	Telugu
1993	10	Number One	Soundarya	Telugu
1993	11	Mayalodu	Alaka	Telugu
1993	12	Inspector Jhansi	Jhansi	Telugu
1993	13	Asalae Pellaina Vanni		Telugu
1993	14	Donga Alludu	Latha	Telugu
1993	15	Urmila	Cameo Role	Telugu
1994	16	Thooguve Krishnana		Kannada
1994	17	Madam	Soundarya	Telugu
1994	18	Hello Brother	Ooha	Telugu
1994	19	Allari Premikudu	Jhansi	Telugu
1994	20	Top Hero	Chitra	Telugu
1994	21	Super Police	Bharathi	Telugu
1995	22	Amma Donga	Kumari Padma Priya	Telugu
1995	23	Muthu Kaalai	Poonjolai	Tamil
1995	24	Dear Son Maruthu	Raani	Tamil
1995	25	Rikshavodu	Narasakka	Telugu
1995	26	Ammoru	Bhavani	Telugu	Nandi Award for Best Actress Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu Dubbed in Tamil as Amman
1995	27	Bhale Bullodu	Raadha	Telugu
1995	28	Amma Naa Kodala	Neelima	Telugu
1995	29	Peddarayudu	Bharathi	Telugu
1995	30	Chilakapachcha Kaapuram	Satyavathi	Telugu
1995	31	Raja Simham	Sundari	Telugu
1995	32	Vetagadu		Telugu
1995	33	Balaraju Bangaru Pellam		Telugu
1995	34	Maya Bazaar	Herself	Telugu
1996	35	Jagadekaveerudu	Soundarya	Telugu
1996	36	Pavithra Bandham	Radha	Telugu	Nandi Award for Best Actress
1996	37	Maa Voori Maraju	Satyavathi	Telugu
1996	38	Ramudochadu	Soundaryaananda Aravindha Vadhana SundaraLakshmi	Telugu
1996	39	Intlo Illalu Vantintlo Priyuralu	Seeta	Telugu
1996	40	Puttinti Gowravam		Telugu
1996	41	Maa Inti Adapadachu	Janaki	Telugu
1996	42	Sipayi	Shanthi	Kannada
1996	43	Senathipathi	Aishwarya	Tamil
1996	44	Prema Pranayam		Telugu
1997	45	Pellichesukundam	Shanti	Telugu
1997	46	Adirindi Guru		Telugu
1997	47	Taraka Ramudu	Taraka	Telugu	Dubbed in Tamil as "Velli Nilave"
1997	48	Maa Aayana Bangaram	Vennela, Sruthi	Telugu
1997	49	Oosi Na Maradala	Manisha Koirala, Kanchana Mala	Telugu
1997	50	Aaro Pranam	Maknaa, Aakaanksha	Telugu
1997	51	Arunachalam	Vedhavalli	Tamil
1997	52	Priyaragalu	Priya	Telugu
1998	53	Choodalani Vundi	Padmavathi	Telugu
1998	54	Pelli Peetalu	Anjali	Telugu
1998	55	Sri Ramulayya	Seethamma	Telugu
1998	56	Sooryudu	Panthulamma Prameela	Telugu
1998	57	Doni Saagali		Kannada	Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress
1998	58	Anthapuram	Bhanumathi	Telugu	Nandi Award for Best Actress Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu
1998	59	Thambulalu		Telugu
1998	60	Dongata	SubbaLakshmi	Telugu
1998	61	Subhavartha	Meghana	Telugu
1998	62	Raayudu	Madhavi	Telugu
1998	63	Kaathala Kaathala	Sundari	Tamil
1999	64	Mannavaru Chinnavaru		Tamil
1999	65	Raja	Anjali	Telugu	Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu
1999	66	Aryabhata	Bharathi	Kannada
1999	67	Anaganaga O Ammayi	Sandhya	Telugu
1999	68	Arundhati	Arundhati	Telugu
1999	69	Premaku Velayara	Madhavi, Malathi	Telugu
1999	70	Manavudu Danavudu		Telugu
1999	71	Padayappa	Vasundhara	Tamil	Dubbed in Telugu as "Narasimha"
1999	72	Naanu Nanna Hendthiru	Seetha	Kannada
1999	73	Sooryavansham	Radha Singh	Hindi
1999	74	Mayadari Mosagadu	Latha	Telugu
2000	75	Annayya	Gajjela Kanaka Maha Lakshmi Devi	Telugu
2000	76	Jayam Manade Raa	Uma	Telugu
2000	77	Ninne Premistha	Meghamala	Telugu
2000	78	Moodu Mukkalata	Shravani	Telugu
2000	79	Ravanna	pirralamma Sirisha	Telugu
2000	80	Azad	Anjali	Telugu	Dubbed in Tamil as "Gurushethram" and Dubbed in Hindi as "Mission Azad"
2000	81	Naga Devathe/Naga Devatha	Goddess Nagamma	Kannada / Telugu bilingual	Dubbed in Tamil as "Nagadevathai"
2000	82	Postman	Archana	Telugu
2001	83	Devi Putrudu	Karna	Telugu	Dubbed in Tamil as "Paapa" and Dubbed in Hindi as "Aaj Ka Deviputra"
2001	84	Sri Manjunatha	Katyaayini	Kannada
2001	85	Eduruleni Manishi	Vasundhara	Telugu
2001	86	Sarduku Podam Randi	Raadha	Telugu
2001	87	Naa Manasisthaa Raa	Nandhini	Telugu
2001	88	9 Nelalu	Savithri	Telugu	Dubbed in Tamil as "Kanden Seethaiyai"
2001	89	Adhipati	Jagan's fiancée	Telugu
2001	90	Eshwar Allah		Telugu
2001	91	Vijayadasami/Thaye Bhuvaneswary	Goddess Bhuvaneswary	Kannada / Tamil bilingual	Dubbed in Telugu as "Peddamma Talli"
2001	92	Thavasi	Priyadarshini	Tamil
2001	93	Kalisi Naduddam	Vijaya	Telugu
2002	94	Kondaveeti Simhasanam	Chitti	Telugu
2002	95	Premaku Swagatham	Lahari	Telugu
2002	96	Yathrakarude Sradhakku	Jyothi	Malayalam	Debut in Malayalam.
2002	97	Gelupu	Guest Role	Telugu
2002	98	Ivan	Dikshanya	Tamil	Nominated - Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress - Tamil
2002	99	Dweepa	Nagi	Kannada	Also as Producer National Film Award for Best Feature Film Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Kannada Filmfare Award for Best Film – Kannada
2003	100	Chokka Thangam	Pavala	Tamil
2003	101	Prema Donga		Telugu
2003	102	Seetayya	Seetha	Telugu
2003	103	Kilichundan Mampazham	Amina	Malayalam
2003	104	Sri Renukadevi	Goddess Renuka Devi	Kannada	Dubbed in Tamil as "Namma Ooru Ellaiamman" and Dubbed in Hindi as "Ma Ka Chamatkar"
2004	105	Shwetha Nagu/Shwetha Naagara	Madhumathi	Telugu / Kannada bilingual	Dubbed in Tamil as "Madhumathi"
2004	106	Shiva Shankar	Padma	Telugu	Posthumously released
2004	107	Apthamitra	Ganga / Nagavalli	Kannada	Posthumously released Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Kannada

Awards

National Film Awards

• 2003 – National Film Award for Best Feature Film : Dweepa as (Producer)

Karnataka State Film Awards

• 1998-Best Actress : Doni Saagali
• 2003-Best Actress : Dweepa

Filmfare Awards South

• 1995 -Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu: Ammoru
• 1998 -Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu: Anthapuram
• 1999 -Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu: Raja[11]
• 2003 -Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Kannada: Dweepa
• 2003 -Filmfare Award for Best Film – Kannada: Dweepa (Won as Producer)[12]
• 2004 -Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Kannada: Apthamitra (Posthumously awarded)

Nandi Awards

• 1994 -Best Actress: Ammoru
• 1996 -Best Actress: Pavithra Bandham
• 1998 -Best Actress: Anthapuram

References

1. Pandya, Haresh (10 May 2003). "Obituary: Soundarya". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
2. "Soundarya". IMDb.
3. Pandya, Haresh (10 May 2004). "Soundarya". Online edition. The Guardian. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
4. "International Film Festival of India-2002". Pib.nic.in. 26 September 2002. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
5. "Indian Actress Soundarya Dies in Plane Crash". online edition. Voice of America news. 17 April 2004. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
6. Hemant Raj, Ashwin (17 April 2005). "Soundarya dies in plane crash". Online edition. Times of India. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
7. Press Trust of India (17 April 2004). "Soundarya killed in plane crash. its a tragedy". The Indian Express. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
8. Kumar, Ch Sushil (28 March 1998). "Child, woman, star". Interview. Rediff.com. Retrieved 20 June 2009.
9. "PressReader.com - Connecting People Through News". www.pressreader.com.
10. "The Hindu : Glamour queens to grace Advani's meetings". www.thehindu.com.
11. "Rahman bags 12th Filmfare award". Pvv.ntnu.no. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

External links

• Soundarya on IMDb