Anushka Shetty (born as Sweety Shetty on 7 November 1981) is one of the most popular and highest-paid Indian actresses in Bollywood. She is especially renowned for her work in Telugu and Tamil film industries for which he has acquired several awards and nominations including three CineMAA Awards, a Nandi Award as well as three Filmfare Awards from eight nominations. Being that she is one of the most well-known actresses of India, Anushka has been dubbed the Lady Superstar of South Indian Cinema. After the death of Sridevi, she became the highest-grossing actress with over $1 million at the US Box Office.
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Bio Information
- Nickname: Anushka, Sweety, Mac
- Nationality: Indian
- Hometown: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
- School Name: Unknown
- College Name: Mount Carmel College, Bengaluru
- Educational Qualifications: Bachelor of Computer Applications
- Religion: Hindu
- Hobbies: Meditation and Reading
- Salary: 2 or 3 Crore (INR) per movie
- Net Worth: $22 million
Favorites
- Favorite Color: White and Black
- Favorite Actress: Soundarya, Namrata Shirodkar
- Favorite Actor: Prabhas, Akkineni Nagarjuna, Mahesh Babu
- Favorite Place: London, France
- Favorite Food: Hyderabad Biryani, Dosa
Education and Early Life
Anushka was born in Mangalore, Karnataka and is an ethnic Tuluva from the Bellipady Uramalu Guthu family. She is born to father A.N. Vittal Shetty and mother Prafulla Shetty. She also has two brothers including a cosmetic surgeon Sai Ramesh Shetty and businessman Gunaranjan Shetty. She was schooled in Bangalore and received her Bachelor of Computer Applications at the Mount Carmel College, Bangalore. Before being an actress, she was a yoga instructor who was trained under Bharat Thakur.
Early Film Career and Struggle
Anushka made her acting debut in the 2005 Telugu film Super which was directed by Puri Jagannadh where she starred alongside Akkineni Nagarjuna and Ayesha Takia.
She would go on to star in several 2006 releases beginning with acclaimed film director S. S. Rajamouli’s Vikramarkudu opposite to Ravi Teja. The film became very successful and helped Anushka garner incredible recognition, making her incredibly popular in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Her other 2006 film was Astram, which was a remake of the 1999 Hindi film Sarfarosh, after which she made her Tamil film industry debut in the Sundar C.-helmed action flick Rendu where she starred alongside R. Madhavan.
Her success would continue with further releases such as 2007’s box-office smash Lakshyam and then in Raghava Lawrence’s Don where she once again starred opposite to Nagarjuna. However, her film career hit a bit of a snag with 2008 films Swagatam where she starred along with Jagapati Babu and Bhumika Chawla and Baladur opposite Ravi Teja. Both films received poor reviews and produced minimal box office returns. Thankfully, she rebounded with the release of Souryam with Gopichand that went on to become a box office hit.
Breakthrough and Critical Acclaim
Anushka’s film budding film career finally reached its apex level with the release of 2009’s blockbuster smash Arundhati. Not only was the film a commercial and critical success, but Anushka’s performance was remarkably praised as well, with many critics calling it ‘brilliant’ and ‘breathtaking.’ It was this film that helped her win both the Filmfare Best Actress Award and the Nandi Special Jury Award. Even if she were to peer in movies that garnered mixed reviews, she would still be highly praised for her physical features and her on-screen chemistry with the male leads.
For 2010 releases were lined up with films that did well in the box office as well as award her for her performances. Some of these films include the highly-received anthology film Vedam by Krish where she played a prostitute, starring opposite to Allu Arjun. Her performance in the film helped her clinch a second consecutive Filmfare Award for Best Actress. Her one Tamil release of 2010, Singam co-starring next to Suriya, was also a huge commercial success.
Further Success in the South Film Industry
For the next two years, she would appear in a series of Telugu films and evidently become the number one actress of the Telugu film industry. Then from 2011 onwards, she would start appearing in Tamil films. She reprised her role from Vedam in the 2011 Tamil remake Vaanam, going on to become as critically acclaimed as the original. Although largely considered a sex symbol, many critics praised her performance especially when it came to portraying a plethora of emotions. She then went on to star in another critical and commercial box office smash in A. L. Vijay’s Deiva Thirumagal, helping her clinch several awards including her first-ever Filmfare nomination in the Tamil category other than the Vijay Award for Favorite Heroine.
At this point, she was already a well-known name in the South Indian film industry, but it was her role as Princess Devasena from both Baahubali: The Beginning and its sequel Baahubali 2: The Conclusion that made her a household name in the Indian film industry as a whole. Both films broke a variety of box office records and established Anushka along with Prabhas as a powerful on-screen couple would go on to star in a dozen more movies, all of which by the way did exceedingly well at the box office. Because of this, there were several rumors implying that both Anushka and Prabhas might be dating and were planning on getting it soon. However, all those rumors and hearsays were shot down when both of them denied any intimate relationship and only maintained a professional bond with one another.
Other Work
Besides movies, Anushka has appeared in several TV commercials such as Dabur Amla, MBS Jewelers, The Chennai Silks, and Colgate Active Salt. She was also the longtime brand ambassador for Intex Mobile.
Quick Facts
- She doesn’t drink alcohol or anything intoxicating
- She doesn’t smoke
- Her salary per film is Rs. 3 Crores
- She loves eating chicken dishes
- After the death of the late Sridevi, Anushka went on to become the only actress to gross over $1 million at the US box office
- Anushka was previously a yoga instructor trained under Bharat Thakur
- Her most favorite place to visit outside of India is London
- She loves bike riding
- She dislikes giving auditions
