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Sumalatha

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Sumalatha
Sumalatha in 2019
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
23 May 2019 – 04 June 2024
Preceded byL. R. Shivarame Gowda
Succeeded byH.D.Kumaraswamy
ConstituencyMandya
Personal details
Born (1963-08-27) 27 August 1963 (age 61)[1]
Madras, Madras State (present–day Chennai, Tamil Nadu), India
Political partyBharatiya Janata Party (05 April 2024–present)
Other political
affiliations		Independent (2019–04 April 2024)
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1991; died 2018)​
ChildrenAbhishek Gowda
Occupation
  • Actress
  • Politician

Sumalatha Ambareesh (born 27 August 1963) is an Indian actress and politician. She has acted in over 220 films across multiple languages, primarily in Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada, with a few appearances in Tamil and Hindi cinema. She received the Nandi Award for Best Actress for her role in Sruthilayalu (1987).

Sumalatha was married to Kannada actor-politician Ambareesh, with whom she has a son, Abhishek Ambareesh. In March 2019, she announced her candidacy for the Mandya Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka. Contesting as an independent, she won the election, defeating Nikhil Kumaraswamy by a margin of over 1.25 lakh votes.[2]

Sumalatha Received Honorary Doctorate from United Technological Research University of America

Career

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Sumalatha during 60th Filmfare Awards South in 2013

Sumalatha did her schooling at St. Joseph's Convent School, Brodipet, Guntur.[3] She began acting at age 15, after winning an Andhra Pradesh beauty contest in 1979. After her pictures began circulating in the magazines, film producer D. Ramanaidu expressed interest in casting her in his film and offered her a signing amount of ₹1,001 in 1979.[4] However, she made her film debut in Tamil with Thisai Maariya Paravaigal (1979). She was named the Best New Face following the film.

She entered the Telugu film industry with Samajaniki Saval (1979). She made her Kannada debut with Ravichandra (1980) opposite Dr. Rajkumar her Malayalam debut with Moorkhan (1980). She was Rajinikanth's heroine along with Rati Agnihotri in films like Murattu Kaalai and Kazhugu. She was the heroine of legendary Malayalam actor Jayan's last film Kolilakkam (1981).

Sumalatha reportedly speaks six languages, and has acted in five appearing in many Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada films and a few in Tamil and Hindi. Her most memorable Malayalam films include Thazhvaram, Isabella, Nirakkoottu, Dhinarathrangal, Thoovanathumbikal, Parampara and New Delhi.[5] Her popular Kannada movies include Aahuti, Avatara Purusha, New Delhi, Taayi Kanasu, Karna, Hong Kongnalli Agent Amar, Taayiya Hone and Kallarali Hoovagii.

She received the best actress Nandi Award for her role in Shrutilayalu in 1987.

She is a close friend of actress Suhasini Maniratnam. The friendship between the two provided the material for a candid scene in the film, when director Kodandarami Reddy noticed Suhasini combing Sumalatha's long hair on a train journey to the film set. Reddy had asked his cameraman, Ashok Reddy, to film the two and added the scene to the movie's final cut.[6]

Personal life

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Sumalatha with husband Ambareesh

Sumalatha married Kannada actor and politician Ambareesh on 8 December 1991 and their son Abhishek Gowda was born in the year 1993.[citation needed] She starred alongside Ambareesh[citation needed] in movies like Aahuti, Avatara Purusha, Kallarali Hoovagi, New Delhi and Sri Manjunatha. Kallarali Hoovagi went on to win a National Film Award.

In an interview with TV9 Kannada, the couple revealed that they first met each other on the sets of the movie Aahuti. In the course of the interview, Sumalatha expressed that Ambareesh was extroverted and gregarious in nature where as she leaned more towards having an introverted and conscientious personality on the sets. She shared memories of Ambareesh giving her friendly advice to mingle with other co-stars in the set by involving herself in group activities; else it could lead to misunderstandings. She revealed that it was Ambareesh's bold, and carefree personality that made him memorable and attractive to her.[7][8]

On 24 November 2018 Ambareesh died due to a cardiac arrest.[9] Few days after Sumalatha shared an emotional letter addressed to late Ambareesh on 8 December 2018 the eve of their 27th marriage anniversary.[10][non-primary source needed] On 6 July 2020 It was reported that Sumalatha tested positive for COVID-19 and had placed herself in home quarantine.

Political life

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In March 2019, Sumalatha announced that she would be contesting as an independent candidate in the 2019 Indian general election in Karnataka (Lok Sabha) from Mandya.[11] She was backed by big stars from the Kannada film industry like Darshan, Yash, Rockline Venkatesh, Doddanna.[12] Bharatiya Janata Party decided not to field a candidate in Mandya in efforts to support her. Some of the Congress Party workers supported her indirectly due to the history of traditional rivalry between JDS - Congress rivalry in Mandya which was a tricky situation for congress.[13] She won, defeating Nikhil with a margin of 128,876 votes.[14] She is the first Independent woman Member of parliament from Karnataka.[15]

Sumalatha joined BJP ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha Elections on 05 April 2024 in the presence of Former Chief Ministers B S Yediyurappa & D V Sadananda Gowda, State President B Y Vijayendra, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly R Ashoka, national General Secretary in-charge of elections in Karnataka Radha Mohan Das Agarwal.[16][17]

Awards

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  • Devar's Best New Face Award: Thisai Maariya Paravaigal (1979) (Tamil)
  • Special Jury Nandi award (Best Actress): Sruthilayalu (1987) (Telugu)
  • Film Fans Award for Best Actress: Sruthilayalu (1987) (Telugu)
  • Kerala Film Critics Award for Best Actress: New Delhi and Thoovanathumbikal (1987) (Malayalam)
  • Lux Award for Best Actress: New Delhi (1987) (Malayalam)
  • Film Fans Award for Best Actress: New Delhi (1987) (Hindi)
  • Kerala Film Critics Award for Best Actress: Isabella (1988) (Malayalam)[18]
  • Honorary doctorate by the United Technological Research University of America in Hyderabad (2024).[19]

Filmography

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Telugu

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Malayalam

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Kannada

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Tamil

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Hindi

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sumalatha.

References

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  1. ^ "Parliament of India biodata". Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  2. ^ "Sumalatha Ambareesh". news18.com. 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
  3. ^ "Sumalatha Ambareesh(Independent(IND)):Constituency- MANDYA(KARNATAKA) - Affidavit Information of Candidate". myneta.info.
  4. ^ Shivakumar, S. (27 March 2015). "On the road of flowers". The Hindu. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  5. ^ "Nostalgia". www.manoramaonline.com (in Malayalam). 14 August 2013. Archived from the original on 16 August 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  6. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 1 August 2008. Retrieved 24 April 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ Rebel-Star ಅಂಬರೀಶ್Sumalatha ,PRAMAPALLAVI. 11 August 2009. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021 – via YouTube.
  8. ^ "personal". sumalatha.tripod.com.
  9. ^ Gejji, Anil (25 November 2018). "Ambareesh death: Kannada actor, former Union minister Ambareesh died in Bengaluru hospital". The Times of India. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  10. ^ "Sumalatha Amarnath". Retrieved 7 March 2020 – via Facebook.
  11. ^ "Sumalatha to contest Mandya LS polls as an independent". Deccan Herald. 18 March 2019. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
  12. ^ "It's official. Sumalatha to contest as Independent from Mandya". The Hindu. 18 March 2019. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  13. ^ "Actor Ambareesh's Wife Sumalatha Gets BJP Backing In Karnataka's Mandya". NDTV.com. 23 March 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  14. ^ "Karnataka Lok Sabha Election Results: Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil loses in Mandya". The Times of India. 23 May 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  15. ^ Yasmeen, Afshan (25 May 2019). "Two women from State heading to Lok Sabha this time". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  16. ^ NDTV (5 April 2024). "Karnataka Independent MP Sumalatha Ambareesh Joins BJP Ahead Of Polls". Archived from the original on 5 April 2024. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  17. ^ The Hindu (5 April 2024). "Mandya MP Sumalatha Ambareesh joins BJP in Karnataka". Archived from the original on 5 April 2024. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  18. ^ "Biodata". sumalatha.tripod.com.
  19. ^ Raashtra (20 January 2024). "ఘనంగా డాక్టరేట్స్ ప్రదానం.. మీడియా పార్టనర్ గా 'రాష్ట్ర'". Archived from the original on 21 January 2024. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
  20. ^ "PRALAYA SIMHAM (1984)". BFI. Archived from the original on 14 January 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  21. ^ ETV Cinema (9 September 2024). Intiko Rudramma Full Movie | Bhanuchander,Sumalatha,Ranganath,Sharada,Sujatha,Giribabu | ETV Cinema. Retrieved 13 September 2024 – via YouTube.
  22. ^ Intiko Rudramma (1985) - S.A. Chandrashekhar | Cast and Crew | AllMovie. Retrieved 13 September 2024 – via www.allmovie.com.
  23. ^ "Varadanayaka: Khakhi Power". Bangalore Mirror.
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