Soundarya Biography: South actress Soundarya, who appeared in several Kannada and Telugu films, died in a plane accident near Bangalore on April 17, 2004. On the 17th anniversary of her passing, her devoted admirers recalled the gifted actress. Soundarya’s portrayal of Radha Thakur in Amitabh Bachchan’s ‘Sooryavansham’ earned her widespread acclaim. Soundarya was two months pregnant at the time of her demise, and she had planned to retire from acting.
Soundarya Biography
Name | Soundarya |
Nationality | Indian |
Profession | Actress |
Date of Birth | July 18, 1972 |
Place of Birth: | Bangalore |
Died: | April 17, 2004 |
Soundarya’s Early Years
Soundarya was born on July 18, 1972, in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. She was the second daughter of the renowned film producer and director S. V. Ranga Rao and his wife, Smt. Sathyavathi.
Soundarya was exposed to the film industry at an early age due to her family’s involvement in the field. She completed her secondary education in Bangalore before pursuing an engineering degree at Bangalore University.
Despite her academic credentials, Soundarya was interested in a vocation in the film industry. She made her acting début in the 1992 Kannada film “Gandharva” and subsequently appeared in a number of Kannada, Telugu, and Tamil films.
Personal Life
Soundarya was born and raised in Bangalore, Karnataka, to a Kannada Brahmin family. Her parents are K. S. Sathyanarayana and Manjula. Her father was a Kannada film producer and writer. In Bangalore, she discontinued her M.B.B.S. after one year. The birthdate of Soundarya has been reported inconsistently by the media. While some sources cite 18 July 1972 as the date of birth, others, including The Times of India, cite 18 July 1976.
She married G. S. Raghu, a software engineer by trade, on April 27, 2003.
Career
Soundarya’s first film, directed by S. Siddalingaiah and titled Baa Nanna Preethisu, was released in April 1992, followed by Gandharva in July 1992. In the same year, she starred alongside Krishna in the Telugu film Raithu Bharatham, directed by Tripuraneni Sriprasad aka Varaprasad. In a period of twelve years, she appeared in over a hundred Telugu-language films.
She began her career playing leading roles in Kannada, her native language, before becoming the most renowned actress in Telugu films. S. V. Krishna Reddy directed her first Telugu-language film, Rajendrudu Gajendrudu. The film Hello Brother (1994), directed by E. V. V. Satyanarayana and starring Nagarjuna and Ramya Krishna, brought her real commercial success. She portrayed Bhavani, a devotee of Goddess Ammoru, in the award-winning film Ammoru, directed by Kodi Ramakrishna and co-starring Ramya Krishna and Suresh. In 1995, she had eleven releases.[18] In her Tamil debut film Ponnumani, opposite Karthik and Sivakumar, she received widespread acclaim for portraying a mentally disabled person.
She has performed alongside Vishunuvardhan, Anant Nag, Ravichandran, Shashikumar, Ramesh Arvind, and Avinash in Kannada. In 1996, she starred alongside Ravichandran and Chiranjeevi in the musical blockbuster Sipayi, translated in Telugu as Major. Dweepa earned her the 2002 National Film Award for Best Feature Film (Producer). She performed alongside Ambareesh in Sri Manjunatha. Apthamitra, starring Vishnuvardhan and Ramesh Arvind, was her final film. The film earned her the Best Actress Filmfare Award posthumously in 2004.
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Soundarya Honours
Soundarya was a multi-award-winning actress in the South Indian film industry who received widespread acclaim for her performances. Among her notable accolades are:
- Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress – “Konjum Kumari” (Tamil) –
- 1996 Filmfare Award for Best Actress – “Ammoru” (Telugu) –
- 1995 Filmfare Award for Best Actress – “Annamayya” (Telugu) –
- 1997 Best Actress – “Padayappa” (Tamil)
- 1999 Tamil Nadu State Film Award
Soundarya Death
On 17 April 2004, Soundarya and her brother Amarnath perished in a plane accident while travelling to Karimnagar from Bangalore to support the Bharatiya Janata Party, which she had joined that year.[21]
The Cessna 180 aircraft lifted off at 11:05 a.m., turned west and crashed on the Gandhi Krishi Vigyan Kendra campus of the University of Agricultural Sciences. It reached only 100 feet (30 metres) in height before bursting into flames. B. N. Ganapathi, one of the two individuals working on the university’s experimental fields who rushed to the aircraft to save the passengers, stated that the aircraft shook prior to the accident.