Anushka Shetty – Top Telugu actress of ‘Bahubali’ fame

Anushka Shetty is one of the top female stars of south Indian film industry. She shot to fame playing the lead role of princess Devasena in the Telugu blockbusters – Baahubali series directed by Rajamouli. She was already a well-established heroine of commercial cinema when she bagged the lead role of the iconic character Devasena in the magnum opus of Rajamouli. Her titular role in Rudrama Devi (2015) as the princess was also well received and she received Filmfare Award for Best Telugu Actress award. Arundhati (2009) and Vedam (2010) also earned her the prestigious award. 

Baahubali – The Beginning & The Conclusion, Arundhati, Vedam, Rudrama Devi, Lakshyam, Souryam, Chintakayala Ravi etc are her major Telugu hits. Her best Tamil movies include – Singam, Singam II, Deiva Thirumagal, Yennai Arindhaal, Billa, Vaanam and Inji Iduppazhagi and Si3.

Anushka hails from Mangalore, Karnataka. Puttur is her hometown. She made her acting debut in year 2005 at the age of 24. Telugu film ‘Super’ was her debut flick in a supporting role, which bagged her a Filmfare nomination too. S. S. Rajamouli’s Vikramarkudu, released in 2006 was her first major hit followed by Asthram. Same year she made her Tamil film debut opposite Madhavan through Rendu. For the next 4-5 years she gave equal preference to Tamil and Telugu film industry, and later fully switched over to Telugu cinema. By that time she already turned a huge star. Till now she has appeared in more than 30 films.

Anushka Shetty – Some interesting facts

1. Born into an ethnic Tulu family, she never thought of a film career till director Puri Jagannadh selected her through an audition for his film, Super. Tulu is her mother tongue.

2. Anushka’s real name is Sweety Shetty. Tommulu is her nickname. She was embarrassed when everyone called her as ‘Sweety’ in the sets of her debut flick, and so she changed her name, and it took almost 1 year to get respond to the new name.

3. She worked as a yoga instructor before she joined film industry.

4. Anushka Shetty has been paired with Prabhas in many hit movies including Bahubali series. There were speculations that they are getting married. However both the stars denied the rumours. She has been linked up with south superstar Gopichand earlier.

5. Kalaimamani, Nandi Award and Filmfare Awards (south) are the major awards received by her.

6. At 5 feet 9 inches, Shetty is the tallest actress in Tollywood.

7. She had gained about 20 kilos for her movie Size Zero.

8. She appeared in a swimming costume for the first time in her career for the action flick – Billa.