Yaragudipati Venkata Mahalakshmi (born 13 December 1952), known professionally as Lakshmi, is an Indian actress known for her works primarily in all 4 Southern Indian language film industries (distributing her acting career across all four languages almost equally). She has also acted in some

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

films. She made her debut as actress with the 1968 Tamil film '' Jeevanaamsam''. She debuted in full-fledged lead role in the same year with the

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

film '' Goa Dalli CID 999''. She also made her debut in Telugu in the same year with the film '' Bandhavyalu''. In 1974, her debut

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

film, '' Chattakari'' went on to become a blockbuster throughout India. She has acted in over 650 films as confirmed in the popular Kannada TV Show Weekend With Ramesh on Zee Kannada channel. Her performance in '' Mithunam'' (2012) is regarded as one of the ''100 Greatest Performances of the Decade'' by '' Film Companion''. Lakshmi then went on to appear in a number of commercially successful films in various languages without a hesitation or diction. She dubs her voice for all of her movies, irrespective of the language and remains one of the very few critically acclaimed stars to achieve this stage. In a career spanning more than five decades she has won one

National Film Award for Best Actress The National Film Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India since 1968 to an actress for the best performance in a leading role within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry. ...

, nine

Filmfare Awards South The Filmfare Awards South are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, Malayalam cinema and Kannada cinema. They are presented by ''Filmfare'' magazine of The Times Group. When it was intr ...

, One Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress,

Nandi Awards The Nandi Awards are annual awards presented by the Government of Andhra Pradesh to recognise excellence in Telugu cinema, theatre, and television, as well as lifetime achievements in Indian cinema. The awards are named after the monolithic ...

, Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress for the movie Hoovu Hannu, the Bengal Film Journalists Association Awards and various other state awards. Lakshmi made her

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

debut in 1975, with the woman-centric '' Julie'', the remake of

film ''Chattakkari''. After appearing as a lead actress for more than a decade, she switched over to character roles. She is the only actress who has won the

in all four south languages.https://archive.org/download/41stAnnualFilmfareBestTeluguFilmKannadaActorActressDirector/41st%20annual%20filmfare%20best%20telugu%20film%20kannada%20actor%20actress%20director.jpg

Early life

Lakshmi was born and raised in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Her mother Kumari Rukmini was a Tamil actress. Her father, Yaragudipati Varada Rao, was a Telugu producer, director, thespian, screenwriter, editor and actor known for his works predominantly in Telugu,

and Tamil Cinema.

Career

She established herself as a successful and popular actress in South India in the 1970s, acting in all four South Indian languages: Kannada,

, Tamil and Telugu. Lakshmi rose to fame with her first Malayalam movie '' Chattakari'' (1974), which won her the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress. This has the distinction of being the first Malayalam film to run continuously for 40 weeks in a Bangalore theatre. ''Chattakari'' (1974) was remade in Hindi as '' Julie'' (1975) and in Telugu as ''Miss Julie Prema Katha'' (1975). In addition to a Filmfare Best Actress Award, she also won the Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards for the "most outstanding work of the year", for her work in ''Julie''. She is known for her versatility as an actress and for the glamorous outlook she embodied. Her acting in the Telugu film ''Panthulamma'' is often credited as one of her best performances. After the success of her debut Malayalam film ''Chattakari'', she starred in many other films in Malayalam. She won Filmfare Awards for Best Actress for her performances in '' Chalanum'' and '' Mohiniyaattam''. She is only actress to play daughter, sister, love interest and wife to

Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram. Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001), better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, was an Indian actor and film producer. He was mainly active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th centur ...

even her mother has acted heroine opposite him and has acted with almost all the leading actors and stars of South India, but it was her combination with famous Kannada star Anant Nag in the 70s and 80s that struck a chord with the audience. Nag and Lakshmi are considered one of the all-time greatest pairs in South Indian cinema. They acted together in 10-12 films. Their pair was considered best-looking and the right recipe for success. Some of these films were based on TaRaSu novels and dealt with the life of married middle-class couples. After her success in ''Julie'', Lakshmi didn't star in many Hindi films and instead concentrated on doing more South Indian films. She won the

for '' Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal'' (1977), becoming one of the first South Indian actresses to win that category for a Tamil film. When her career as a leading lady ended in the 1980s, she started playing supporting roles as a mother and later as grandmother. She played Aishwarya Rai's grandmother in the Tamil musical blockbuster film, '' Jeans'' (1998) and Kareena Kapoor's grandmother in the hit film, '' Hulchul'' (2004). She has performed in more than 400 films and has also been involved in politics. Under K. Balachander's supervision, she made her directorial debut with a remake of '' Yours, Mine and Ours'': the

film '' Makkala Sainya'' (1980 Tamil version ''Mazhalai Pattalam''). Lakshmi is fluent in all four South Indian languages. She took a break from acting to host two talk shows, including the Tamil talk show ''Achamillai, Achamillai''.She hosted a talk show in

for Suvarna channel called ''Idu Kathe Alla Jeevana''. She also hosts a talk show in Tamil for Vijay TV called ''Kadhai Alla Nijam''. She has hosted a talk show in

for Suvarna channel called ''Neena? Naana?'' After the shows ended, she returned to act in films. Currently she is on the judges' panel for the Malayalam reality show ''Champions'' on Surya TV. She is also a judge for a

reality show called '' Drama Juniors'' on Zee Kannada. She has overall appeared in over 650 films across languages as confirmed on popular Kannada show '' Weekend with Ramesh'' on Zee Kannada.

Personal life

Lakshmi's first marriage was with Bhaskaran with whom she has a daughter, actress

Aishwariyaa Bhaskaran Shanta Meena, known professionally as Aishwariyaa Bhaskaran, is an Indian actress who has acted in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi movies and along with several Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravi ...

. They later got divorced. Her second marriage was with co-star Mohan Sharma on the sets of '' Chattakari'' (1975) and ended in divorce (1980). While she was shooting ''

En Uyir Kannamma ''En Uyir Kannamma'' () is a 1988 Indian Tamil-language film directed by Sivachandran in his debut. The film stars Prabhu, Radha, Lakshmi and S. S. Chandran. It was released on 15 January 1988. Plot Shanmugasundaram, a lorry cleaner, is ...

'' (1988) she and actor-director M. Sivachandran fell in love and got married (1987). The couple adopted a girl named Samyuktha in 2000.

Awards

National Film Awards The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

* 1977 –

for '' Sila Nerangalil Sila Manithargal''

Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Indian cinema.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were introduced by Filmfare magazine of The Times G ...

* 1976 – Filmfare Award for Best Actress for '' Julie''

Filmfare Awards South The Filmfare Awards South are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, Malayalam cinema and Kannada cinema. They are presented by ''Filmfare'' magazine of The Times Group. When it was intr ...

* 1974 – Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Actress for '' Dikkatra Parvathi'' * 1974 – Filmfare Award for Best Malayalam Actress for '' Chattakari'' * 1975 – Filmfare Award for Best Malayalam Actress for '' Chalanum'' * 1976 – Filmfare Award for Best Malayalam Actress for '' Mohiniyaattam'' * 1978 - Filmfare Special Jury Award for '' Panthulamma'' * 1983 – Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Actress for ''Unmaigal'' * 1986 – Filmfare Award for Best Telugu Actress for ''Sravana Meghalu'' * 1993 – Filmfare Award for Best Kannada Actress for '' Hoovu Hannu'' * 1998 – Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award (South)

Cinema Express Awards

* 1986 – Cinema Express Award for Best Actress – Tamil for '' Samsaram Adhu Minsaram'' ;

* Best Actress - ''Panthulamma'' (1977) * Best Actress - ''Sravana Meghalu'' (1986) * Best Character Actress - '' Murari'' (2001) * Special Jury Award - '' Mithunam'' (2012)

Karnataka State Film Awards

* 1993 – Best Actress for '' Hoovu Hannu'' * 2008 – Best Supporting Actress for '' Vamshi'' * 2017 – Dr. Rajkumar Award (Highest honor in the Kannada Film Industry).

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards

* 1978 – Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress for ''Oru Nadigai Naatakam Paarkiraal''

Kerala State Film Awards

* 1974 – Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress for ''Chattakari''

Bengal Film Journalists Association Awards

* 1975 - Most outstanding work of the year for '' Julie''

South India International Movie Awards

* 2021 – SIIMA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for ''Oh! Baby''

Notable filmography

Tamil

Telugu

Malayalam

Kannada

Hindi

TV serials

* Adutha Veetu Kavithai * Nallathor Veenai * Mahalakshmi

Web series

TV shows

* Kannadada Kotyadhipati as Contestant (Kannada) *Kadhai Alla Nijam reality show in Vijay TV (Tamil) * Neena Naana as Host (Kannada) * Champions as Judge (Kannada) * Drama Juniors as Judge (Kannada) * Kathe Alla Jeevana (Kannada)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lakshmi 1952 births Living people Kerala State Film Award winners Indian film actresses Actresses in Malayalam cinema Actresses from Chennai Best Actress National Film Award winners Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Kannada cinema Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners Filmfare Awards South winners 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Indian web series actresses Nandi Award winners Actresses in Tamil television Television personalities from Tamil Nadu Filmfare Awards winners Recipients of the Rajyotsava Award 2016 South Indian International Movie Awards winners Telugu actresses