Malashri

Child artist

Malashri began her career as a child artiste and appeared in 35 films in Tamil and Telugu and she played the role of a boy in 26 of them.^[13] In a talk show, Majaa Talkies, she said that as a child, she was a fan of actor Amitabh Bachchan and would dress up like him, which prompted directors to cast her as a boy, in 1979 films like Imayam and Neela Malargal.^[14]

Lead roles

Writer and lyricist Chi. Udaya Shankar introduced Malashri to the Rajkumar family when they were on the lookout for a fresh face opposite their son Raghavendra Rajkumar who was gearing up to make his debut. Parvathamma Rajkumar decided to cast her in Nanjundi Kalyana (1989) for her production banner, Vajreshwari Combines and rechristened her Malashri. Malashri went on to act in two other films with Vajreshwari Combines, Gajapathi Garvabhanga opposite Raghavendra again, and Mruthyunjaya with Shiva Rajkumar. Between the years 1989–1991, she starred in around 50 films, out of which 35 films hits and 15 were average grosses, making her the heroine with the highest hit percentage in the Kannada film industry.

In 1990 Malashri took on the famous double role in Rani Maharani (immortalized by Sridevi in ChaalBaaz) and won a huge fan following with her powerhouse performance. Her next film Hrudaya Haadithu where she played a young woman inflicted with a heart problem won her acclaim from the masses and critics alike as well as the Filmfare Best Actress award for 1991. As she churned out hit after hit even the stalwart V. Ravichandran, who till then believed only in importing heroines from other states, cashed in on her popularity by casting her in Ramachaari (a remake of Tamil Hit Chinna Thambi). The move paid off, enabling him to come out of the financial crisis he faced due to the debacle of Shanti Kranti.

In the later part of the 90s, Malashri had a string of less successful films like Prema Khaidi, Snehada Kadalalli, Megha Mandara, Arishina Kumkuma, and Solillada Saradara. She took brief hiatus after marriage and made a comeback in the new millennium with "angry woman" roles in Chamundi (2000), Durgi (2004), Kannadada Kiran Bedi (2009), Shakti (2012), Veera (2013) and Ganga (2015).

Kannada films

Telugu films

Tamil films