Soundarya filmography

Soundarya was an Indian actress who worked predominantly in Telugu films in addition to Kannada and Tamil films.^[1] She made her film debut through the Kannada film Gandharva (1992).^[2] The following year, she debuted in Telugu and Tamil with the films Manavarali Pelli and Ponnumani respectively.^[1][2] She received critical acclaim for her role in the latter.^[3] Between 1993 and 1994, she appeared in several commercially successful Telugu films, notably Rajendrudu Gajendrudu, Mayalodu, Number One and Hello Brother.^[1] However, she had her career breakthrough with Ammoru (1995), a film which garnered her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu.^[4] In 1996, she featured in the highly successful film Pavitra Bandham and won the Nandi Award for Best Actress.^[4] The success of these films established her as the leading actress of Telugu cinema.^[5] She achieved further success with films like Pelli Chesukundam, Choodalani Vundi, Dongaata and Arunachalam, the latter being her first venture with Rajinikanth.^[5][6]

Her portrayal of an NRI woman falling prey to the extreme abuse by her father-in-law in the film Anthahpuram (1998) was highly applauded by critics.^[4] She won several accolades, including her second Filmfare Best Actress award and the Nandi Special Jury Award.^[4][7] In 1999, she featured in the romantic drama Raja, which earned her the third Filmfare Best Actress award as well as the Industry Hit film Padayappa.^[8][9] The same year, she appeared opposite Amitabh Bachchan in the film Sooryavansham, her first and only venture in Bollywood.^[7] Her career saw a further rise with films like Annayya, Ninne Premistha, Azad, 9 Nelalu and Eduruleni Manishi, which garnered her positive reviews.^[10] In 2002, she acted as the protagonist and co-produced the film Dweepa, which won numerous accolades including two National Film Awards.^[11] Swetha Naagu became her last release while being alive; it was her 100th film.^[12] Post her death, Siva Shankar and Apthamitra marked her posthumous releases.^[13][14] She was also awarded the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Kannada for Apthamitra posthumously.^[15]

Telugu Films

List of Telugu films acted by Soundarya

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1993	Manavarali Pelli	Soundarya	Telugu Debut			[2]
	Rajendrudu Gajendrudu	Alaka		[2]
	Mayalodu	Siri		[2]
	Inspector Jhansi	Jhansi
	Mayadari Mosagadu	Latha
	Asalae Pellaina Vanni	Manga
	Donga Alludu	Latha
	Anna Chellelu	Seetha
	Urmila	Sunitha
1994	Number One	Chitra		[2]
	Hello Brother	Ooha		[16]
	Allari Premikudu	Jhansi
	Super Police	Bharati
	Maa Voori Maaraju	Sathyavathi		[17]
	Madam	Soundarya
	Top Hero	Chitra		[2]
	Raithu Bharatam	Radha		[2]
1995	Amma Donga	Kumari Padmapriya		[17]
	Chilakapachcha Kaapuram	Sathyavathi		[17]
	Raja Simham	Sundari		[17]
	Pedarayudu	Bharathi		[18]
	Bhale Bullodu	Radha		[17]
	Amma Naa Kodala	Neelima		[17]
	Vetagadu	Priya		[17]
	Balaraju Bangaru Pellam	Videhi		[17]
	Mayadari Kutumbam	—		[17]
	Maya Bazaar	Herself		[17]
	Ammoru	Bhavani	Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu	[4] [19]
	Rikshavodu	Narasakka		[20]
1996	Puttinti Gowravam	Jyothi		[17]
	Ramudochadu	Sundaralakshmi		[2]
	Intlo Illalu Vantintlo Priyuralu	Seetha		[21]
	Jagadekaveerudu	Soundaya		[17]
	Prema Pranayam	Sudha		[17]
	Pavitra Bandham	Radha	Nominated — Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu	[22] [4]
	Maa Inti Adapaduchu	Janaki		[17]
1997	Dongaata	Subbalakshmi	Nominated — Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu	[5]
	Pelli Chesukundam	Shanti		[23]
	Priyaragalu	Priya		[2]
	Aaro Pranam	Aakanksha		[5]
	Taraka Ramudu	Taraka		[17]
	Ma Ayana Bangaram	Vennela/Shruthi[a]		[5]
	Oosi Naa Maradala	Kanchana Mala		[5]
1998	Pelli Peetalu	Anjali		[17]
	Raayudu	Madhavi		[17]
	Choodalani Vundi	Padmavati		[24]
	Sri Ramulayya	Seethamma		[17]
	Suryudu	Prameela		[17]
	Subhavartha	Meghana		[25]
	Anthahpuram	Bhanumati	Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu	[26] [4]
	Eshwar Allah	—		[17]
	Thambulalu	Seetha		[17]
1999	Raja	Anjali	Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu	[8]
	Premaku Velayera	Madhavi/Malati[a]		[27]
	Arundhati	Arundhati		[17]
	Anaganaga Oka Ammai	Sandhya		[28]
	Manavudu Danavudu	Ratna		[17]
2000	Annayya	Mahalakshmi	Nominated — Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu	[29]
	Ravanna	Sirisha		[30]
	Postman	Archana		[31]
	9 Nelalu	Savitri		[32]
	Moodu Mukkalaata	Shravani		[33]
	Sardukupodaam Randi	Radha Rani		[34]
	Ninne Premistha	Meghamala		[35]
	Azad	Anjali		[36]
	Jayam Manadera	Uma		[37]
2001	Devi Putrudu	Karuna		[38]
	Eduruleni Manishi	Vasundhara		[39]
	Kalisi Naduddam	Vijaya		[40]
	Sri Manjunatha	Katyayani
	Naa Manasistha Raa	Nandini		[41]
	Adhipathi	Jagan's fiancée		[42]
2002	Kondaveeti Simhasanam	Chitti		[43]
	Yathrakkarude Shradhakku	Jyothi		[44]
	Gelupu	—		[45]
2003	Kilichundan Mampazham	Aamina		[46]
	Prema Donga	—
2004	Swetha Naagu	Madhumati		[47] [12]
	Shiva Shankar	Padma	Posthumous release	[13]
2020	Narthanasala	Draupadi	Posthumous release (shelved by actor-director, Nandamuri Balakrishna)	[48] [49]

Other languages

• Films in Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi

Year	Title	Role	Language	Notes	Ref.
1992	Rajadhi Raja	Shakuntala	Kannada	Debut film	[50]
	Nanna Thangi	Madhuri	Kannada		[50]
	Baa Nanna Preethisu	Asha	Kannada		[50]
	Gandharva	Sudha	Kannada		[2]
1993	Ponnumani	Chinthamani	Tamil	Tamil Debut	[3] [51]
	Vijaya Kranthi	Lucky	Kannada		[52] [50]
1994	Thooguve Krishnana	Meena	Kannada		[53] [50]
1995	Muthu Kaalai	Poonjolai	Tamil		[54]
	Dear Son Maruthu	Rani	Tamil		[55]
1996	Sipayi	Shanthi	Kannada		[56] [50]
	Senathipathi	Aishwarya	Tamil		[57]
1997	Arunachalam	Vedhavalli	Tamil		[58] [59]
1998	Kaathala Kaathala	Stella Sundari	Tamil		[60] [61]
	Doni Sagali	Kshama	Kannada		[62]
1999	Mannavaru Chinnavaru	Meghana	Tamil	partially reshot version of Subhavartha	[63]
	Aryabhata	Bharati	Kannada		[64]
	Padayappa	Vasundhara	Tamil		[65] [9]
	Naanu Nanna Hendthiru	Seetha	Kannada		[50]
	Sooryavansham	Radha	Hindi	Hindi debut	[66] [67]
2000	Naga Devathe	Goddess Nagamma	Kannada		[68]
2001	Sri Manjunatha	Katyayani	Kannada		[69]
	Thavasi	Priyadharshini	Tamil	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil	[70] [71]
2002	Ivan	Dheetchanya	Tamil	Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil	[72] [73]
	Dweepa	Nagi	Kannada	Also producer; Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Kannada	[11] [74]
	Yathrakarude Sradhakku	Jyothi	Malayalam	Malayalam debut	[75]
2003	Chokka Thangam	Pavalam	Tamil		[76]
	Kilichundan Mampazham	Aamina	Malayalam		[77] [78]
	Vijayadashami	Goddess Bhuvaneshwari	Kannada		[79]
	Sri Renukadevi	Renuka Devi	Kannada		[80] [2]
2004	Swetha Nagara	Madhumati	Kannada		[12]
	Apthamitra	Ganga / Nagavalli[b]	Kannada	Posthumous release Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Kannada	[81] [82]
2008	Navashakthi Vaibhava	Goddess Renukadevi	Kannada	Posthumous release (using archive footage)

Television

Year	Title	Language	Notes	Ref.
1998	Gruhabhanga	Kannada	Producer; TV Series based on S. L. Bhyrappa's novel of the same name.	[2]

See also

• List of Indian film actresses
• Telugu cinema

Notes

1. Soundarya played a single character with two or more names.
2. Soundarya played dual roles.