B. Jayashree (born 9 June 1950) is a veteran

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n theatre actress, director and singer, who has also acted in films and television and worked as dubbing artist in films. She is the creative director of Spandana Theatre, an amateur theatre company established in Bangalore in 1976. She was nominated to the Upper house of the Indian Parliament,

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

in 2010. She was awarded the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

, fourth-highest civilian honour by

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

in 2013. She is the grand daughter of

Gubbi Veeranna Gubbi Hampanna Veeranna (1891 – 1972) was an Indian theatre director. He was one of the pioneers and most prolific contributors to Kannada theatre. He established the drama company, ''Gubbi Sree Channabasaveshwara Nataka Company'', which play ...

, the noted theatre director who founded the Gubbi Veeranna Nataka Company

Early life and background

She was born in Bangalore to G.V. Malathamma who was the daughter of

. She graduated from the

National School of Drama National School of Drama (NSD) is a drama school situated at New Delhi, India. It is an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It was set up in 1959 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and became an independent school ...

, Delhi in 1973, where she trained under noted theatre director and teacher

Ebrahim Alkazi Ebrahim Alkazi (18 October 1925 – 4 August 2020) was a Saudi Indian theatre director and drama teacher. A rigid disciplinarian, he instilled in his acting students an awe and reverence that they still carry with them, with several of them ...

Career

Over the years, she has worked with notable theatre personalities, including B. V. Karanth. She has acted in Kannada films, like '' Nagamandala'' (1997), '' Deveeri'' (1999) and '' Care of Footpath'' (2006). She was also briefly the director of Mysore-based theatre institute, Rangayana. She was a voice-over artist for top actresses Madhavi, Gayathri,

Jaya Prada Jaya Prada Nahata (born Lalitha Rani Rao; 3 April 1962) is an Indian actress and politician known for her works majorly in Telugu cinema and Hindi cinema as well as in Tamil films in late '70s, '80s and early '90s. Jayaprada is the recipient ...

, Ambika,

Sumalatha Sumalatha Ambareesh (born 27 August 1963) is an Indian actress and politician. She has acted in over 220 films across multiple languages, primarily in Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada, with a few appearances in Tamil and Hindi cinema. She received ...

and others in Rajkumar movies. As a playback singer she has performed in the hit number "Car Car" for Kannada film, ''Nanna Preethiya Hudugi''. In 1996, she was awarded the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IAST: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recogni ...

for acting, given by the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in English language, English) is the national level academy for performing arts set up by the Government of India. It is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Culture (India) ...

, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama, and the highest Indian recognition given to practicing artists, and later she was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2010. She has also received an honorary

D. Litt Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...

degree from the Karnataka State Open University in 2009.

Personal life

She married K. Ananda Raju and the couple has 2 adopted daughters. Sushma Veer is her biological daughter.

Filmography

As actress

* '' Jeevana Chakra'' (1985) * '' Ee Bandha Anubandha'' (1987)...Vijay's aunt * '' Sundara Swapnagalu'' (1987) * '' Malgudi Days'' (1987)...Muniya's wife * '' Cheluvi'' (1992; Hindi) * ''

Kotreshi Kanasu ''Kotreshi Kanasu'' (, ''Dream of Kotreshi'') is a 1994 Indian Kannada language film directed by Nagathihalli Chandrashekar starring Vijay Raghavendra and Karibasavaiah. The film won two National Film Awards at 42nd National Film Awards; Bes ...

'' (1994) * ''Khaki'' (1996)...Sakamma * '' Nagamandala'' (1997)...Kurudavva * ''Kaurava'' (1998) * '' Deveeri'' (1999)...Rangappa's wife * '' Kadamba'' (2003) * '' Durgi'' (2004)...Durgi's grandmother * '' Care of Footpath'' (2006)...Slummu's caretaker * '' Ee Preethi Yeke Bhoomi Melide'' (2007) * '' Banada Neralu'' (2009) * '' Ishtakamya'' (2016) * '' Kiragoorina Gayyaligalu'' (2016) * '' Maasthi Gudi'' (2017) * '' Looty'' (2018)...Ragpicker * '' Mookajjiya Kanasugalu'' (2019)...Mookajji * '' Lineman'' (2024) (Bilingual) * '' Love, Sitara'' (2024) Hindi

As dubbing artist

As playback singer

*'' ambhe ee vyaarada Rambhe- Aaditya 1996 * '' Naga Devathe'' (2000) - Haalundu Hoge * ''

Kothigalu Saar Kothigalu ''Kothigalu Saar Kothigalu'' () is a 2001 Indian Kannada comedy film directed by Rajendra Singh Babu. The film stars Ramesh Aravind, S. Narayan, Mohan Shankar, Mohan, Prema (actress, born 1977), Prema, Tara (Kannada actress), Tara and Urvashi ( ...

''(2001) - Bondana Dummina * '' Durgi'' (2004) - Bilthave Nodeega * '' Kadamba''(2004) - Banda Nodamma * '' Nanna Preethiya Hudugi''(2001) - Car Car * '' Preethi Prema Pranaya'' (2003) - Kabbina Jalle * '' Daasa'' (2003) - Kulukabeda * '' Bhagawan'' (2004) - Gopalappa * '' Jogi'' (2005) - Chikku Bukku Rail * '' Mata'' (2006) - Thandaa Thaayee * '' Maathaad Maathaadu Mallige'' (2007) - Baaro Nam Therige

References

External links

Spandana Theatre, website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jayashree, B. 1950 births Living people Actresses from Bengaluru Indian stage actresses National School of Drama alumni Kannada playback singers Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Indian theatre directors Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Actresses in Kannada cinema Indian film actresses Rajya Sabha members from Karnataka Politicians from Bengaluru Indian actor-politicians Actresses in Kannada theatre 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses 20th-century Indian singers 20th-century Indian women politicians 20th-century Indian politicians 21st-century Indian women politicians 21st-century Indian politicians Indian women playback singers Singers from Bengaluru 20th-century Indian women singers 21st-century Indian women singers 21st-century Indian singers Women musicians from Karnataka Women members of the Rajya Sabha