Anu Prabhakar, also known by her married name Anu Prabhakar Mukherjee, is an Indian actress, who predominantly appears in

Kannada films Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. The 1934 film '' Sati Sulochana'' dire ...

and a few Tamil films.

Early life

Anu was born in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

to M. V. Prabhakar, an employee with

Bharat Heavy Electricals Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) is an Indian central public sector undertaking. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Heavy Industries, Government of India. It is based in New Delhi, India. Established in 1956, BHEL is India ...

, and dubbing artiste and actress Gayathri Prabhakar. Anu grew up in the

Malleswaram Malleshwara (also referred as Malleshwaram) is a northwest neighborhood and one of the zones of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike in Bengaluru, India. It was planned in 1889 after the great plague of 1898, developed as a suburb in 1892 and h ...

suburb of Bangalore, and studied in the Nirmala Rani High School. She appeared as a child artiste in Kannada films '' Chapala Chennigaraya'' (1990) and '' Shanti Kranti'' (1991), and English film Mysteries of the Dark Jungle (1990). While she dropped out of college when her career as a heroine took off she later went on to pursue a master's degree in

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

from Karnataka University through correspondence.

Career

Anu made her debut as a heroine in 1999 with

Hrudaya Hrudaya ''Hrudaya Hrudaya'' is a 1999 Kannada-language romantic drama film directed by M. S. Rajashekar and produced by Parvathamma Rajkumar. The film stars Shiva Rajkumar, Ramesh Aravind and Anu Prabhakar, making her debut, whilst Sharath Babu, Avinas ...

opposite

Shiva Rajkumar Nagaraju Shiva Puttaswamy (born 12 July 1962) known by his screen name Shiva Rajkumar, is an Indian actor, producer and television presenter, predominantly works in Kannada cinema.

and became a top rung heroine in Kannada films. She formed a popular pair with

Ramesh Aravind Ramesh Aravind is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter and television presenter who predominantly works in Kannada films and television. In a career of over 34 years, Aravind has been appeared in over 140 films including several Tamil and T ...

. She has co-starred with superstar Vishnuvardhan in several films like

Soorappa ''Soorappa'' is a 2000 Indian Kannada-language action drama film directed by Naganna and produced by Super Hit Films. The film stars Vishnuvardhan in his 175th film along with Charan Raj, Shruti and Anu Prabhakar in prominent roles. The film ...

, Jamindarru,

Hrudayavantha ''Hrudayavantha'' () is a 2003 Indian Kannada-language drama film directed and written by P. Vasu and produced by K. Manju. The film stars Vishnuvardhan, Nagma and Anu Prabhakar. The film met with average reviews upon release. The soundtrack ...

, Sahukaara and Varsha. She has acted in 2-3 Tamil movies as well. In her upcoming 2020 film based on the life of 12th-century Kannada poet

Akka Mahadevi Akka Mahadevi ಅಕ್ಕ ಮಹಾದೇವಿ (c.1130–1160) was one of the early female poets of the Kannada literature and a prominent person in the Lingayat Shaiva sect in the 12th century. Her 430 extant Vachana poems (a form of spont ...

, she plays a dual role; one of the poet and the other of Jyothi, a girl who pursues

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

on the poet.

Awards

Anu Prabhakar was honoured by Bangalore's Kolada Math, with the title 'Abhinaya Saraswathi' for her performance in various films. She has won other awards such as 'Karnataka State Government best actress award 2000–01'.

Personal life

In 2009, she gave her voice to an

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

education animated software tutorial created by the nonprofit organisation

TeachAids TeachAids (pronounced ) is a nonprofit social enterprise that develops global health education technology products for HIV/AIDS, concussions, and COVID-19, based on an approach invented through research at Stanford University. The TeachAids so ...

. Anu married Krishna Kumar, son of actress Jayanthi in March 2002. Citing differences, they divorced in January 2014. In April 2016, she married

Raghu Mukherjee Raghu Mukherjee is an Indian Kannada film actor and model. Career Mukherjee won the ''Grasim Mr. India'' title in February 2002 soon started receiving modelling assignments and thus pursued modelling for a while. He started his film career, ...

, a model-turned-actor. They have a daughter named Nandana.

Filmography

Films

Television

* ''Bale Bangara'' * ''Home Minister'' * ''Shrimati Karnataka'' * ''Manju Musukida Haadi'' * ''Nooru Dinagalu'' * '' Triveni Sangama'' *''

Nannamma Super Star ''Nannamma Super Star'' (ನನ್ನಮ್ಮ ಸೂಪರ್ ಸ್ಟಾರ್) is a Kannada game show involving celebrity mothers and their children, and it is airing on Colors Kannada and streamed on Voot Voot is an Indian subscri ...

(Judge)''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prabhakar, Anu Year of birth missing (living people) Actresses from Bangalore Indian film actresses Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Living people 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Child actresses in Kannada cinema Indian television actresses Actresses in Kannada television Mount Carmel College, Bangalore alumni