Mamilla Shailaja Priya, popularly known as Priya, is a Telugu actress. She appears primarily in Telugu feature films and television soap operas and has also acted in other languages like Hindi and Tamil. She made her acting debut in 1998 with the movie Master which featured Chiranjeevi. She has won the Nandi Award presented by the government of Andhra Pradesh for her role in this serial Priya Sakhi. Apart from soap operas, she has acted in about 60 feature films in Telugu and Hindi with various co stars like Chiranjeevi, Pawan Kalyan, Venkatesh, Nagarjuna and Amitabh Bachchan.
Early life
Popularly known as Priya, Mamilla Shailaja Priya was born in 1978 in Bapatla town in Andhra Pradesh, India. Her parents are Sri Mamilla Venkateswar Rao and Smt Mamilla Kusuma Kumari. She is the third among the three sisters. She has done her schooling in Hyderabad, and while in college has won the Miss College Pageant. She later started pursuing her acting career. She completed her graduation in Bachelor of Arts.
Family
Priya married MVS Kishore in 2002. They have a son Nischay born in 2003. They reside in Hyderabad.
Awards
She won Nandi Award presented by the government of Andhra Pradesh very early in her career. She was also the recipient of various awards like the Dasari Cultural Award, Swathi Cultural Award, and Vamsee Berkeley Award. She won the Cine Goers Award and Gemini Ugadi Puraskaram for her portrayal of the character Bhuvaneshwari in Kotha Bangaaram.
Television career
She started her television career with the runaway hitPriya Sakhi in which she portrayed the lead role which had different shades.It was so popular that she is still identified as "Priyasakhi" Priya and the name stuck to her. She has acted in serials like Priya Ninu Choodaleka and Priya O Priya. Later, she has acted in almost all the leading Television channels in Telugu and Tamil. Her serials include Lady Detective, Sangarshana, Pelli Chesukundam & Jwaala for ETV, Dairy of Mrs Sharada & Kotha Bangaaram for Gemini TV, Maanasa for Maa TV, Vaidehi for Doordarshan, Chinna Kodalu for Zee TV, and Naagamma in Tamil for Sun TV. She has also done a Hindi serial titled Yehi hai Zindagi. She has also done in Vani Rani serial in Tamil which aired on Sun TV. She is currently acting in the serial Kalyani in Telugu which airs on Gemini TV and Piriyadha Varam Vendum and Chocolate in Tamil which airs on Zee Tamizh and Sun TV. Santoor top 10 was a program anchored by Priya which ran for two years in Gemini Channel and she had portrayed different characters in each episode of the show. Similarly, Geethanjali was another music based show anchored by Priya for ETV and ran for a year. Endaro Mahanubhavulu is another show anchored by Priya which portrayed the achievements of various famous people in Andhra Pradesh from all walks of life. She has appeared in commercials for brands like Chandana Brothers, Shakthi Gas, Til Sona Oil and Kanchan Mixer Grinder. She has been credited with the cover page of the most popular Telugu family magazine, Swathi.
Film career
She started her acting career with Chiranjeevi-starrer Master in 1997. In all, she has acted in about 60 feature films, often appearing alongside leading stars of Telugu film industry. She was a constant accompaniment to almost all the leading heroines in her movies. Some of her movies are Master & Annayya with Chiranjeevi, Gokulamlo Seetha with Pawan Kalyan, Chandra Lekha with Nagarjuna, Raja Kumarudu with Mahesh Babu, Jayam Manadera with Venkatesh and most importantly, Soorya Vamsham in Hindi Amithabh Bachchan. Her other films include Taamboolalu, Pedda Manushulu, Maa Vidaakulu, Greeku Veerudu, Sakutumba Saparivara Samethamga, Velugu Needalu, Dongaata, Chiru Navvutho, Harishchandra, Madhuri, Manavudu Danavudu, Sambhavam and Kathi Kantha Rao. In 2012 she appeared in Akkineni Nagarjuna's most acclaimed Dhamarukam. She played Richa Gangopadhyay's mother in Prabhas's MIrchi and appeared in Iddarammayilatho as mother of Catherine Tresa's character.
