Ramya Krishnan


Ramya Krishnan, is an Indian film actress. She has acted in over 260 films in five languages: Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi. Ramya has won four Filmfare Awards, three Nandi Awards and a Tamil Nadu State Film Award. She is credited as Ramya Krishna in the Telugu and Kannada film industries.
She is known for playing Neelambari in Padayappa which also won her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil. She also won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress – Telugu for the 2009 dramedy Konchem Ishtam Konchem Kashtam. Ramya's portrayal of Sivagami Devi in the Baahubali series received universal acclaim. While ' is the sixth highest grossing Indian film, its sequel ' is the second highest grossing Indian film of all time. Her performance in Baahubali: The Beginning also won her the Best Supporting Actress – Telugu at the 2016 Filmfare Awards and Best Supporting Actress at Nandi Awards by Government of Andhra Pradesh.

Early life

Ramya was born in Madras to Krishnan and Maya. She is the niece of veteran Tamil comedian Cho Ramaswamy. She received initial training in Bharathanatyam, Western and Kuchipudi dance forms and has given many stage performances.

Film career

Debut and early struggles (1984–1989)

Ramya started her acting career in 1984 at the age of 14 in the Tamil film Vellai Manasu, opposite Y. G. Mahendra. In 1986, she made her debut in Telugu with Bhale Mithrulu. Both the films went unnoticed. Then she went onto play supporting roles in Tamil which includes Padikkadavan starring Rajinikanth and Per Sollum Pillai starring Kamal Haasan in Tamil.

Breakthrough and commercial success (1989–1998)

After a series of failures in both Tamil and Telugu, she achieved fame through Kasinadhuni Viswanath's Sutradharulu, released in 1989. The film went onto win National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu. As her breakthrough came from K. Raghavendra Rao directorial movies where she emerged as a commercial romantic diva of the season, due to successful movies such as Alludugaru, Allari Mogudu, Major Chandrakanth along with Mohan Babu and Allari Priyudu along with Rajasekhar. Her performance in Allari Priyudu received praise from audience. She emerged as a leading actress in the Telugu industry alongside Soundarya, Meena, Roja and Nagma in the 1990s. Her films with Nagarjuna received a widespread praise from audience in the films like Hello Brother, Criminal, Gharana Bullodu, Annamayya and Chandralekha. She played the role of a devoted wife of Sri Annamacharya, which was played by Nagarjuna in the film Annamayya. In 1998, she played a leading role in Kante Koothurne Kanu. She received a prestigious Nandi Award for Best Actress from the Government of Andhra Pradesh for her performance in the film.
Ramya made her debut in Hindi in Parampara under Yash Chopra direction. Then she acted in few hindi films includes Subhash Ghai's Khalnayak, Mahesh Bhatt's Chaahat and David Dhawan's Banarasi Babu and Bade Miyan Chote Miyan along with Amitabh Bachchan and Govinda.

Comeback to Tamil cinema

After four years break from Tamil cinema, In 1999, Ramya played the female antagonistic role in the Tamil film Padayappa along with Rajinikanth. Her performance in the film as "Neelambari" received a much critical acclaim. The critic from Rediff stated "Ramya does a fantastic job. She is vicious to her dying breath, when she declares she will revenge herself in her next life. She does a fabulous tandav of rage when her father commits suicide".She went onto receive several awards including Filmfare Award for Best Actress - Tamil and Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize. She then starred in commercially successful films like Paattali, Budget Padmanabhan and Panchatanthiram. Her performance in Panchatanthiram as "Maggie" received critical acclaim. The critic from Screen praised as her "one of the finest performances ever".
In her career, Ramya played a Goddess role in many films includes, highly acclaimed Ammoru, Rajakali Amman and Annai Kaligambal.

Baahubali and critical acclaim

In 2015, Ramya acted in an S.S. Rajamouli's fantasy multi-starrer and its sequel, where she played Rajamata Sivagami. Her performance met with the critical acclaim and the film becomes the Highest grossing Indian film in India. Sangeetha Devi Dundoo praised Ramya's performance and stated "Ramya Krishnan once again aces with her part".She received Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress - Telugu for both films. After the success of Baahubali, she reunited with Mohan Babu in Mama Manchu Alludu Kanchu and Nagarjuna in Soggade Chinni Nayana. In 2019, she played a porn actress in critically acclaimed Super Deluxe directed by Thiagarajan Kumararaja. Srivatsan S from The Hindu stated her role as "boldest role yet".
She made her debut in digital platform with Queen in 2019.The Series received much acclaim for its writing and Ramya's performance. The critic from India Today stated "Ramya Krishnan as the failing actress and a budding politician puts in a measured performance and it is what stands out in a series that relies heavily on performances".

Kannada and Malayalam cinema

Ramya had worked in Kannada films such as Gadibidi Ganda, Mangalyam Tantunanena, Neelambari, Raktha Kanneeru. In Malayalam, she debut in Neram Pularumbol along with Mohanlal and Mammootty. Her notable film in Malayalam was Ore Kadal which received National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam.

Television

She was a judge in a dancing show on STAR Vijay: Jodi Number One, season 1, followed by season 5. She hosted a popular show "Thanga Vettai" on Sun TV and starred in tele-series like Kalasam, Thangam and Vamsam.

Filmography

Personal life

She married Telugu film director Krishna Vamsi on 12 June 2003. They have a son.

Awards

YearAwardCategoryFilmResult
1998Nandi AwardsNandi Award for Best ActressKante Koothurne Kanu
2000Tamil Nadu State Film AwardsTamil Nadu State Film Award Special PrizePadayappa
2000Filmfare Awards SouthFilmfare Award for Best Actress - TamilPadayappa
2007Dubai Amma AwardsBest Supporting ActressOre Kadal
2007Amrita Film AwardsBest Supporting ActressOre Kadal
2009Nandi AwardsNandi Award for Best Supporting ActressRaju Maharaju
201057th Filmfare Awards SouthFilmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress - TeluguKonchem Ishtam Konchem Kashtam
20161st IIFA UtsavamIIFA Award for Best Supporting Actress - TamilAambala
2016Nandi AwardsNandi Award for Best Supporting Actress'
201663rd Filmfare Awards SouthFilmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress - Telugu'
20165th South Indian International Movie AwardsBest Supporting Actress'
20161st IIFA UtsavamIIFA Award for Best Supporting Actress- Telugu'
20161st IIFA UtsavamBest Supporting Actress- Tamil'
2016Ananda Vikatan Cinema AwardsBest Supporting Actress'
201764th Filmfare Awards SouthFilmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress - TeluguSoggade Chinni Nayana
20172nd IIFA UtsavamBest Supporting Actress - TeluguSoggade Chinni Nayana
20176th South Indian International Movie AwardsBest Supporting Actress - TeluguSoggade Chinni Nayana
20176th South Indian International Movie AwardsBest Supporting Actress - MalayalamAadupuliyattam
2017Asianet Film AwardsBest Supporting ActressAadupuliyattam
201865th Filmfare Awards SouthFilmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress - Telugu'
20187th South Indian International Movie AwardsBest Supporting Actress - Telugu'
2018Behindwoods Gold MedalBest Supporting Actress
20198th South Indian International Movie AwardsSIIMA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role - TeluguSailaja Reddy Alludu
201966th Filmfare Awards SouthFilmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress - TamilThaanaa Serndha Koottam
2020 Zee Cine Awards TamilBest Supporting Actor - FemaleSuper Deluxe
2020Ananda Vikatan Cinema AwardsBest Supporting Actor - FemaleSuper Deluxe