Malavika Avinash is an Indian spokesperson, actress, television personality and politician who is the current State
spokesperson
A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others.
Duties and function
In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...
of
Bharatiya Janata Party of Karnataka. She is known for her work in
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 ...
and
Tamil films. She hosted ''Baduku Jataka Bandi'', a television show that aired on
Zee Kannada
Zee Kannada is an Indian Kannada pay television general entertainment channel that was launched in the year 2006 and owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It is also being as the first mainstream satellite channel in Kannada.
History
Zee Kan ...
. She is a part of the ensemble cast in the highest grossing Kannada movie - ''
K.G.F: Chapter 2''.
Early life
Malavika was born in a Tamil family to N. Ganesan from
Thanjavur
Thanjavur (), also known as Thanjai, previously known as Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 12th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of southern Indian religion, art ...
. Her father was a banker and writer, and her mother, Savithri, a vocalist and dancer. She was initiated into classical arts under the tutelage of
Padmashree Leela Samson in
Bharatanatyam
''Bharatanatyam'' is a Indian classical dance form that came from Tamil Nadu, India. It is a classical dance form recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas of Hinduism and Jainism.< ...
and Pandit Partho Das on the
sitar
The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...
.
G. V. Iyer spotted her at a dance performance as Krishna and cast her as
Krishna
Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...
in his ''Krishnavataar''. She then played a lead role as a princess in
Prema Karanth's Panorama children's film ''Nakkala Rajakumari''.
She completed her Bachelor of Law at
Bangalore University
Bangalore University (BU) is a public state university in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. The university is a part of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) and affiliated by University Gra ...
and was awarded 3rd rank.
She married actor
Avinash
Avinash may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Avinash'' (film), a 1986 Indian Hindi-language film
* Tiger (YRF Spy Universe) (Avinash Singh Rathore), fictional agent in the ''Tiger'' franchise of the YRF Spy Universe
People
* Avinash Sachde ...
in 2001. They have a son named Gaalav.
Career
Malavika's stint as a child artist was followed by her entry into cinema as the heroine in award-winning Malayalam films for
Lenin Rajendran
Lenin Rajendran was an Indian film director and screenwriter who worked in Malayalam cinema. He served as the Chairman of Kerala State Film Development Corporation from 2016 to January 2019.
Career
Beginning his film-making career as an assist ...
and popular Kannada films. Television however, turned out to be the medium that adopted her. Her earlier television series were for
Girish Karnad
Girish Karnad (19 May 1938 – 10 June 2019) was an Indian playwright, actor, film director, Kannada writer, and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Marathi films. His rise as a playwr ...
and
Ashutosh Gowariker
Ashutosh Gowariker (born 15 February 1964) is an Indian film director, actor, screenwriter and producer who works in Indian cinema, Indian Hindi cinema. He is known for directing films "set on a huge canvas while boasting of an opulent treatment ...
in Hindi, Ashok Naidu in Kannada and
Dinesh Baboo
Dinesh Baboo (also known as Dinesh Babu) is an Indian film director, cinematographer, actor and screenwriter who works predominantly in Kannada cinema. In a career spanning five decades he has directed more than 40 films, filmed more than 20 fil ...
in Malayalam. Her performance in ''
Mayamruga'' provided her iconic status among Kannada television viewers. ''Mayamruga''s success caught the eye of
K. Balachander, who then chose to usher her into Tamil cinema world with
''Anni'', where Malavika played the protagonist Anni.
Malavika's Tamil films and Serials include Raji Or Raja Rajeshwari Role in ''"Raja Rajeshwari" Sun TV Serial'' 90'S Kids Favourite (Saregama India Ltd) Company Episodes Directors are Selva Kumar and Selva Pandi and
K. Balachander's ''Nilavai Pidippom'' where she portrayed a middle-class working woman, Pudhuyugam, Pralayam in "Comedy Colony" again under her mentor Balachander. She played Madurai Thilaka in ''Arasi'' and Muththazhagi in ''
Chellamey''. She played key roles in Tamil films.
Another milestone was her portrayal of Nanjamma, the protagonist in
Girish Kasaravalli
Girish Kasaravalli (born 3 December 1950) is an Indian film director, in the Kannada cinema, and one of the pioneers of the Parallel Cinema. Known internationally for his works, Kasaravalli has garnered fourteen National Film Awards, including f ...
's film of
S. L. Bhyrappa's celebrated novel, ''Gruha Banga''. In her decade of television acting, Malavika played roles in Tamil, Kannada and Hindi productions including cross-over film ''Cyanide'', in which Malavika's portrayal of Shubha won her critical acclaim. Apart from ''Manvantara'' for
T. N. Seetharam, Malavika swayed the Kannada audiences with her cult figure like character of Madhavi Patel, IPS, in her ''Muktha''.
''Agni'', a talk show that Malavika hosted on E-TV Kannada was followed by ''Baduku Jataka Bandi''. In the latter, Malavika deals with the problems of individuals, thereby providing an Alternate Dispute Resolution forum for resolving family issues. She also discusses social issues. She was a housemate in
Bigg Boss Kannada Season 4.
In 2017, she played a judge in
Ilayathalapathy Vijay's movie ''
Bairavaa.'' She also starred in the current highest grossing Kannada film
K.G.F: Chapter 1 as well as the highly acclaimed Tamil movie
Kaithi
Kaithi (), also called Kayathi (), Kayasthi (), or Kayastani, is a Brahmic script historically used across parts of Northern and Eastern India. It was prevalent in regions corresponding to modern-day Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand. The s ...
, all 3 which have grossed more than 100 crores at the box office and the sequel of KGF,
K.G.F: Chapter 2 which is India's 3rd highest-grossing film of all time grossing more than 1000 crore at the box office.
Journalism
Malavika participated in and won many international moot courts as a student, served as editor of her college journal, joined Madhyam, a development communications organization, served as assistant-editors of Madhyam journal, a legal column for the Times of India and UDAYAVANI for two years, her "Malavika Pakkam" column in Kumudam, a Tamil weekly, an Agony aunt column for Kumudam and more recently, 'Malavika order', a weekly column in Vijaya Karnataka. Malavika served as head of programming at
Zee Kannada
Zee Kannada is an Indian Kannada pay television general entertainment channel that was launched in the year 2006 and owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It is also being as the first mainstream satellite channel in Kannada.
History
Zee Kan ...
.
Dance
Malavika's association with
Bharatanatyam
''Bharatanatyam'' is a Indian classical dance form that came from Tamil Nadu, India. It is a classical dance form recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas of Hinduism and Jainism.< ...
commenced at age five when her mother introduced it to her. She trained under M. R. Krishnamurthy of Kalakshetra, followed by advanced tutelage under
Padmashri Leela Samson in Delhi. She was a recipient of the CCERT (a unit of the Culture Ministry) scholarship for Bharatanatyam. She pursued dance along with her dancer sister, an alumnus of Kalakshetra, Ranjani Ganesan Ramesh. As a duo they performed at cultural centres in India and abroad, including Hampi festival, Pattadakkal festival, Khujrajo festival, Chidambaram Natyanjali and Uttara Chidambaram. Together, they organise an annual dance festival called Arudhra at Bangalore.
Malavika served as a judge on TV dance shows and hosted ''Takadhimithaa'', a game show dedicated to Bharatanatyam on
JayaTV.
Malavika Avinash entered politics campaigning for
BJP leader
Sushma Swaraj
Sushma Swaraj (''née'' Sharma; 14 February 1952 – 6 August 2019; ) was an Indian lawyer, politician and diplomat who served as the 5th Chief Minister of Delhi, and also the Minister of External Affairs of India in the first Narendra Modi ...
in
Bellary
Ballari (formerly Bellary) is a city in the Ballari district in state of Karnataka, India.
Ballari houses many steel plants such as JSW Vijayanagar, one of the largest in Asia. Ballari district is also known as the ‘Steel city of South Ind ...
. She is a member of the BJP's Mahila Morcha. She joined
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...
in September 2013 and was appointed one of its co-spokespersons in February 2014.
Controversy
Sanitary pad controversy
Goods and Service Tax applied on
sanitary napkins
A menstrual pad is an absorbent item worn in the underwear when menstruating, bleeding after giving birth, recovering from gynecologic surgery, experiencing a miscarriage or abortion, or in any other situation where it is necessary to absorb ...
when items like
bangle
A bangle is a traditionally rigid bracelet which is usually made of metal, wood, glass or plastic. These ornaments are worn mostly by women in the Indian subcontinent, Southeastern Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, and Africa. It is common to see a ...
s and
sindhoor were exempted from the new tax system by the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party has come under criticism from women and men. In July 2017, Malavika defended the BJP and said that sanitary pads are not required as Multi-national corporations have been dumping sanitary pads in India since it was rejected by developed countries, Cloth is hygienic in contrast to sanitary pads. The defense of Malavika on the decision of her party to enforce GST on sanitary pads provoked a lot of backlash from people.
Filmography
Television career
;Serials
;Shows
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avinash, Malavika
Living people
20th-century Indian actresses
21st-century Indian actresses
21st-century Indian politicians
21st-century Indian women politicians
Actresses from Chennai
Actresses in Malayalam cinema
Actresses in Kannada cinema
Actresses in Kannada television
Actresses in Tamil cinema
Actresses in Tamil television
Indian actor-politicians
Indian film actresses
Indian television actresses
Politicians from Chennai
Tamil television actresses
Television personalities from Tamil Nadu
Year of birth missing (living people)