Bhanupriya (born Mangabhanu; 15 January 1967) is an Indian actress, Kuchipudi dancer, and voice artist. In a career spanning over 4 decades, Bhanupriya has appeared in 155 feature films- predominantly in Telugu & Tamil, in addition to occasional performances in Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films as well. She has started in a variety of roles, ranging from slapstick comedy-to-epic dramas. She has garnered three state Nandi Awards, two

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence in Tamil cinema in India. They were given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to the South Indian film industry by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The aw ...

, two Filmfare Awards South and two Cinema Express Awards.

Early life

Bhanupriya was born on 15 January 1967 in

Rangampeta Rangam-peta is a village and a Mandal in East Godavari district in the state of Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area ...

village near

Rajahmundry Rajahmundry, officially known as Rajamahendravaram, is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and District headquarters of East Godavari district. It is the sixth most populated city in the state. During British rule, the District of Ra ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

in a

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

-speaking family, to Pandu Babu and Ragamali. She was named as Mangabhanu. Her family later moved to

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

. She has an elder brother Gopikrishana and a younger sister Shantipriya, who has also been a film actress since the 1990s.

Career

She was one of the mainstream top actresses for more than a decade from 1983 to 1995. She made her acting debut with the Tamil film ''

Mella Pesungal ''Mella Pesungal'' () is a 1983 Indian Tamil-language film, directed by the duo Bharathi– Vasu. It stars Bhanupriya and Vasanth. The film marked the debut of Bhanupriya in the film industry. It was released on 24 June 1983. Plot Prabhu, ...

'' (1983). She then appeared in the Telugu hit ''

Sitaara ''Sitaara'' () is a 1984 Indian Telugu-language drama film written and directed by Vamsy. The film marked the debut of Bhanupriya in Telugu film industry. The film was adapted from Vamsy's own novel ''Mahal lo Kokila'' (). The film deals with t ...

'', which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu for that year. She then played an ornithologist in the 1985 mystery film ''

Anveshana ''Anveshana'' () is a 1985 Indian Telugu-language mystery thriller film written and directed by Vamsy. It stars Karthik, Bhanupriya, Kaikala Satyanarayana and Sarath Babu with music composed by Ilaiyaraaja. The story revolves around an orni ...

''. In 1986, she made her Hindi film debut with ''

Dosti Dushmani Dosti Dushmani () is a 1986 Indian Hindi-language action drama film, produced and directed by T. Rama Rao under the Srinath Productions banner. It stars Jeetendra, Rajinikanth, Rishi Kapoor, Poonam Dhillon, Kimi Katkar and Bhanupriya, with mus ...

''. In 1988, she appeared in '' Swarnakamalam'', which was screened at the Indian panorama section of the 1988 International Film Festival of India and the

Ann Arbor Film Festival The Ann Arbor Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Ann Arbor in the U.S. state of Michigan. Established in 1963, it is the fourth-oldest film festival in North America (after the Yorkton Film Festival, 1947; Columbus International Fil ...

. Bhanupriya received the Indian Express Award for Best Actress, the Nandi Award for Best Actress, and the

Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu The Filmfare Best Actress Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Telugu films. The awards were extended to "Best Actress" in 1972. Film world, p 43 The year indicates the year of release of ...

for her performance in the film. In 1989 and 1991, her performances in the Tamil hits ''

Aararo Aariraro ''Aararo Aariraro'' (referring to the starting words of Tamil lullaby song) is a 1989 Tamil romantic drama film, written and directed by K. Bhagyaraj. The film was remade in Kannada as ''Thooguve Krishnana'' (1994), with Ananth Nag and Soundarya ...

,'' and '' Azhagan'' brought her the Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prizes, respectively. She received the JFW Divas of South India Award for her contribution to South Indian cinema, the Gemini TV Puraskaram for lifetime achievement in television and various other honors.

Personal life

Bhanupriya married Adarsh Kaushal, a digital graphics engineer, at the Sri Venkateswara temple in Malibu, California, on 14 June 1998. The couple has a daughter, Abhinaya, born in 2002. Bhanupriya divorced Kaushal in 2005 and returned to India, and resumed her acting career. She lives in

with her daughter. Kaushal died in 2018 after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Filmography

Film

Acting roles

Dubbing artist

Urmila Matondkar Urmila Matondkar (born 4 February 1974) is an Indian actress and politician. Known for her work primarily in Hindi films, in addition to Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi and Tamil films, she has received numerous accolades, including the Filmfa ...

- ''

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

'' (Tamil movie) (1996), Sathya (Telugu) (1998) * Priya Raman- Suryavamsam (1997) * Rambha - ''Arunachalam'' (Telugu movie) (1997) * Nivedita Jain - Thayin Manikodi (1998)

Television

Awards

; Nandi Awards(in

) * Best Actress - '' Swarna Kamalam'' (1988) * Best Character Actress - ''

Lahiri Lahiri Lahirilo ''Lahiri Lahiri Lahirilo ''is a 2002 Indian Telugu-language musical-family drama film written, directed and produced by YVS Chowdary under the banner ''Bommarillu.'' The film stars four pairs Nandamuri Harikrishna, Bhanupriya, Suman, Rachana, ...

'' (2002) * Best Supporting Actress - ''

Chatrapati Chhatrapati is a royal title from Sanskrit language.The word ‘Chhatrapati’ is a Sanskrit language compound word (tatpurusha in Sanskrit) of '' chhatra'' (''parasol'' or ''umbrella'') and ''pati'' (''master/lord/ruler''). This title was used ...

'' (2005) ; Filmfare Awards South * Best Actress - Telugu in 1988 for her performance in '' Swarna Kamalam'' * Best Actress - Tamil in 1989 for her performance in '' Aararo Aaariraro'' ;Other Awards * Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize in 1989 for the film '' Aararo Aaariraro'' * Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize in 1991 for the film '' Azhagan'' * Cinema Express Awards in 1996 for the film ''

Peddarayudu ''Pedarayudu'' is a 1995 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by Ravi Raja Pinisetty and starring Mohan Babu in a dual role with Bhanupriya and Soundarya also starred in the film. Tamil Superstar Rajinikanth appears in a special appearanc ...

'' * Screen Videocon Award for the television serial Shakti. * JFW Divas of South - Awarded on 12 October 2012 by Just for Women magazine for her contribution to south Indian cinema.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bhanupriya Living people 20th-century Indian actresses Actresses in Telugu cinema Indian film actresses Actresses from Andhra Pradesh Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Malayalam cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Nandi Award winners Actresses from Rajahmundry Telugu actresses Kuchipudi exponents 21st-century Indian actresses Performers of Indian classical dance Actresses in Hindi cinema Indian voice actresses Women artists from Andhra Pradesh Singers from Andhra Pradesh Dancers from Andhra Pradesh Indian female classical dancers 20th-century Indian women singers 20th-century Indian singers Actresses in Telugu television Actresses in Tamil television Actresses in Hindi television 1967 births