Sunday, 19 July 2020

Kasthuri

Kasthuri Shankar
NationalityIndian
Alma mater
Occupation
Years active1991 – present

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Kasthuri Shankar is an Indian film actress who has appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada language films. After winning the Miss Madras 1992 beauty pageant, Kasthuri began an acting career through Kasthuri Raja's Aatha Un Koyilile (1991). In the early 2010s, she made a comeback and took on roles as a supporting actress and as a television host.

Career

During her education at Ethiraj College for Women, Kasthuri became interested in modelling and later went on to win the Femina Miss Madras beauty pageant for 1992. She received film offers and subsequently made her acting debut through Kasthuri Raja's Aatha Un Koyilile (1991), where she portrayed a wealthy girl in a village. She continued to work in small budget Tamil films such as the horror drama Rasathi Varum Naal (1991) and Manivannan's Government Mappillai (1992), before working alongside Prabhu on more mainstream films such as Gangai Amaran's Chinnavar (1992) and P. Vasu's Senthamizh Paattu (1992). During the same period, she worked on her first Telugu and Malayalam films as a lead actress. After garnering popularity for her early films, she was cast opposite Rajinikanth in P. Vasu's Uzhaippali (1993), but was later dropped from the project.In the mid-1990s, Kasthuri was the subject of a 30-minute documentary film Kasthuri: A South Indian Film star made by Richard Breyer and N. C. Rajamani. Kasthuri then continued to work as the lead actress in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam films, notably appearing in successful films such as the horror drama Athma (1993), the political satire Amaidhi Padai (1995) and as the title character in Chinna Mani (1995). At the height of her popularity, her Telugu film Merupu (1996) co-starring Anand and Vikram, was dubbed and released in Tamil as Miss Madras, owing to her success in the competition. Kasthuri was then cast alongside Kamal Haasan in Shankar's action drama Indian (1996), where she portrayed a pivotal supporting role a poor student. She later won critical acclaim for her role as Akkalamma in the Telugu devotional film, Annamayya (1997), where she starred alongside Nagarjuna and Ramya Krishnan. She then appeared opposite Prashanth in Agathiyan's romantic drama Kaadhal Kavithai (1998), and won attention for her performance in a song. As her roles diminished in Tamil and Telugu films, Kasthuri began to take up supporting roles towards the end of her first stint. In the late 2000s, Kasthuri returned to India owing to her mother's ailing health and decided to make a comeback as an actress. However, several of the films that she signed during the period were dropped or unreleased including Selva's Nootrukku Nooru, Milind Rau's Kadhal 2 Kalyanam and Venkat's Kadhirvel, where she was signed to perform in an item number. Her first release during her second stint was the action drama Malai Malai (2009), and she followed it up with a single song appearance in the comedy Thamizh Padam (2010). Throughout the mid-2010s, she continued to shift base between the US and India, and acted in more films in guest appearances and in single song appearances. She also notably portrayed a key supporting role as an investigative agent in Adhik Ravichandran's Anbanavan Asaradhavan Adangadhavan (2017), appearing alongside Silambarasan. The film garnered fanfare prior to release, but the commercial failure of the film saw a proposed sequel cancelled.

Personal life

Her father Shankar was an engineer from IIT and her mother, Sumathi, was an advocate. She has a daughter who is a leukaemia survivor.

Filmography

Year Film Role Language Notes
1991 Aatha Un Koyilile Kasthuri Tamil
Chakravarthy Praseetha Malayalam
Rasathi Varum Naal Radha Tamil
1992 Government Mappillai Mallaria
Chinnavar Meena
Urimai Oonjaladugiradhu Uma
Senthamizh Pattu Shanmathi
Abhirami Dhanam
Gang War Kaveri Telugu
1993 Rakkayi Koyil Vellaiyamma Tamil
Pudhiya Mugam Raja's first wife
Pass Mark Shanthi
Aathma Uma
Udan Pirappu Sumathi
Nippu Ravva Bharathi Telugu
Enga Muthalali Kalyani Tamil
1994 Amaidhi Padai Thayamma
Watchman Vadivel Radha
Raja Pandi Ponnuthaayi
Thendral Varum Theru Nalini
Jaana Kasturi Kannada
1995 Sindhu Bath Shobana Tamil
Chinna Mani Chinna Mani
Kolangal Uma
God Father Aruna Telugu
Agrajan Sreedevi Malayalam
Radholsavam Chempakam
Aniyan Bava Chetan Bava Ammu
1996 Ibbara Naduve Muddina Aata - Kannada
Indian Kasthuri Tamil
Krishna Lizy
Soggadi Pellam - Telugu
Merupu Prema
1997 Chilakkottudu Kasturi
Ratha Yatra -
Annamayya Akkalamma
Maa Aayana Bangaram
1998 Mangalya Pallakku Seethalakshmi Malayalam
Thutta Mutta Dr. Seema Kannada
One Man Army Kasthoori
Sneham Radhika Malayalam
Kaadhal Kavidhai Kasthuri Tamil
1999 Habba Anu Kannada
Suyamvaram Uma Tamil
Panchapaandavar Nandini Malayalam
2001 Engalukkum Kaalam Varum Pooja Tamil
Dosth - Special appearance in the song "Hey Sal Sal"
Akasa Veedhilo Padma Telugu
Premakke Sai Vedha Kannada
2002 Adheena - Malayalam
2009 Malai Malai Lakshmi Tamil
2010 Thamizh Padam - Special appearance in the song "Kuthuvilakku"
Gudu Gudu Gunjam Malleeshwari Telugu
Don Seenu Lakshmi
2011 Pathinaaru Ilavarasi Tamil Guest appearance
Thoonga Nagaram - Special appearance
2012 Naanga Chithra
2013 Azhagan Azhagi - Special appearance in the song "Ethuvarai Vaanam"
Naan Rajavaga Pogiren Bharathi
2014 Vadacurry Satish's sister in law
Naan Ponnu Ondru Kanden - Special appearance in the song "Othaya Retaya"
2017 Anbanavan Asaradhavan Adangadhavan Ruby
Samanthakamani Krishna's mother Telugu
2018 Traffic Ramasamy Witness in court Tamil Guest appearance
Thamizh Padam 2 - Special appearance in the song "Vaa Vaa Kaama"
2020 Velvet Nagaram Gauri
Thamilarasan Filming

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