Shweta, known by her

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Rakshita, is an Indian television personality, film producer and former actress known for her work in

Kannada cinema 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'' directed ...

Early life

Rakshita was brought up 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 ...

. Her father

B. C. Gowrishankar B. C. Gowrishankar (25 February 1950 – 16 November 2004) was an Indian cinematographer and an occasional film director and screenwriter who worked primarily in Kannada cinema. He was known for his unorthodox style as a cinematographer and wa ...

was a cinematographer and mother Mamatha Rao, an actress, both of whom worked in Kannada films. Rakshita underwent an acting course under Krishnamurthy Kavathar's tutelage for about 15 days before entering films. Pursuing a bachelor's degree in computer applications (BCA) from

Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain College (SBMJC) was established in the year 1990. Founded by Group of members of Jain Society, in VV Puram and now known as a part of Jain University which has established many colleges. However, SBMJC remains a promi ...

in Bangalore at the time, she discontinued during the first year before enrolling in a correspondence course for a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in 2001. During this time, she was signed to play the lead opposite Puneeth Rajkumar in '' Appu'' (2002) by producer

Parvathamma Rajkumar Dr.Parvathamma Rajkumar (6 December 1939 – 31 May 2017) was an Indian film producer and distributor. She was the wife of veteran Kannada actor Dr. Rajkumar. She produced successful films featuring Rajkumar and their sons Shiva Rajkumar, Punee ...

who gave her the name Rakshita.

Career

Actor

Rakshita started her career with the Kannada movie '' Appu'' with Puneeth Rajkumar. She also acted in remakes of the same movie in Telugu titled '' Idiot'' and in Tamil titled '' Dum'' alongside Silambarasan. She became a top Kannada heroine when ''

Kalasipalya Kalasipalya is a locality in the central part of Bangalore, Karnataka, India, and one of the older and most congested places in the city. The locality is home to landmarks such as Bangalore Fort and Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace. The area is know ...

'' became a big hit. Apart from Puneeth Rajkumar, she formed a successful pair with all the top Kannada heroes of the time -

Upendra Upendra (Devanagari: उपेन्द्र) is an Indian masculine given name. The meaning of the Sanskrit word ' is "younger brother of Indra" and refers to either Krishna or Vishnu, who as a son of Aditi (or in the Vamana avatar) was born subs ...

, Sudeep, Darshan and Aditya. She has also acted with big time heroes such as

Chiranjeevi Chiranjeevi (born Konidela Sivasankara Varaprasad; 22 August 1955) is an Indian actor, film producer and former politician, who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. Chiranjeevi starred in over 150 feature films in Telugu language, Telugu, as ...

Nagarjuna Akkineni Akkineni Nagarjuna Rao (born 29 August 1959), known mononymously as Nagarjuna, is an Indian actor, film producer, television presenter, and entrepreneur. Nagarjuna has acted predominantly in Telugu, along with a few Hindi and Tamil language fil ...

, Mahesh Babu,

Jr NTR Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao Jr. (born 20 May 1983), also known as Jr. N.T.R. or Tarak, is an Indian actor who primarily works in Telugu cinema. One of the highest paid Telugu film actors, Rama Rao Jr. has won several accolades, including two Fil ...

, Jagapathi Babu, Vishnuvardhan,

V. Ravichandran Veeraswamy Ravichandran (born 30 May 1961), known mononymously as Ravichandran, is an actor, director, producer, music director, lyricist and editor in the Kannada Film Industry. He is the son of film producer N. Veeraswamy. As producer, Ravi ...

Shivarajkumar 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.

, Vijay,

Ravi Teja Bhupatiraju Ravi Shankar Raju (born 26 January 1968), known professionally as Ravi Teja, is an Indian film actor and producer who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. He is known for his roles in action comedy films. He is one of the highest- ...

, and Silambarasan After her marriage to director Prem, she cut down on her acting assignments and took over film-making. She turned producer for the prestigious ''

Jogayya ''Jogayya'' is a 2011 Indian Kannada-language action drama film written and directed by Prem. starring Shiva Rajkumar in his 102nd film. It was produced under the banner of Prem Pictures. Rakshita Prem, who is married to the director Prem, is ...

'' directed by Prem, starring

Shivarajkumar 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.

in the lead (100th movie).

Politics

Rakshita announced that she had joined the Badavara Shramikara Raitara (BSR) Congress in March 2012, after politician

B. Sriramulu Ballari Sriramulu (born 8 August 1971) is an Indian politician who is currently serving as Minister of Transport Department and Tribal Welfare of Karnataka from 4 August 2021. He was the Minister of Social Welfare Department of Karnataka from 1 ...

announced of founding it, which eventually happened in 2013. She served as the President of the women's wing of the BSR Congress till April 2013, when she quit the party citing differences with the party members over contesting elections from a constituency of her choice at the Karnataka Legislative Assembly election. In the same month, she joined the

Janata Dal (Secular) The Janata Dal (Secular) is an Indian political party led by former prime minister of India, H. D. Deve Gowda. The party is recognized as a State Party in the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Arunachal Pradesh. It was formed in July 1999 by the ...

. She again had differences with the party over its ignoring her plea for a ticket to contest from

Mandya Mandya is a city in the state of Karnataka. It is the headquarter of Mandya district and is located from Mysore and from Bangalore. Sugar factories contribute to the major economic output. It is also called Sugar city (which in Kannada mean ...

at the 2014 general election, and quit in March 2014, joining the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

(BJP). Following this, she became subject to media and public ridicule, and was called a "party-hopper", having changed 3 political parties in two years.

Personal life

She is married to film director Prem since 2007.

Filmography

As producer

As actress

Television

* 2010 – Swayamvara – host(Suvarna TV Kannada) * 2014 – '' Thaka Dhimi Tha Dancing star'' – Judge (ETV Kannada) * 2015 – ''Putani Pantru Season 2'' – Judge (Suvarna TV Kannada) * 2017 – ''Comedy Khiladigalu'' – Judge (Zee Kannada) * 2017 – ''Dance Karnataka Dance- Family War'' -Judge (Zee Kannada) * 2018 – ''Comedy Khiladigalu Season 2'' -Judge (Zee Kannada) * 2018 – ''Dance Karnataka Dance Little Masters'' - Judge ( Zee Kannada) * 2018 – ''Comedy Khiladigalu Championship'' -Judge (Zee Kannada) * 2019 - ''Dance Karnataka Dance'' - Family War (Season 2) - Judge (Zee Kannada) * 2019 - ''Comedy Khiladigalu Season 3'' - Judge (Zee Kannada) * 2020 - ''Comedy Khiladigalu Championship Season 2'' - Judge (Zee Kannada) * 2021 - ''Dance Karnataka Dance Season 5'' - Judge (Zee Kannada) * 2022 - ''Dance Karnataka Dance Season 6'' - Judge (Zee Kannada) * 2022 - ''Comedy Khiladigalu Season 4'' - Judge (Zee Kannada)

As dubbing artist

* Amy Jackson ('' The Villain'')

References

External links

*
Rakshita
at

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

{{authority control Living people Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Kannada film producers Actresses from Bangalore Indian actor-politicians Indian film actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Politicians from Bangalore Businesswomen from Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Karnataka BSR Congress politicians Janata Dal (Secular) politicians 21st-century Indian women politicians 21st-century Indian politicians Film producers from Bangalore Actresses in Kannada television Indian television actresses Year of birth missing (living people) Women members of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly