Padmashri Jayasudha

Jayasudha (Telugu: జయసుధ) is an actress-turned-MLA for the Congress in Secunderabad. She was a famous South Indian actress from the 1970s and 1980s, with most of her films being Telugu films. She has also worked in Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and three Hindi films.

Career

Jayasudha was born as Sujatha in Madras, Tamil Nadu on 17 December 1958 to a Telugu speaking family. Her aunt is the famous actress and director Vijaya Nirmala. Jayasudha made her film debut when she was twelve years old as Jamuna’s daughter in the Telugu film Panduntikaapuram (1972). Director K. Balachander gave her a break with the Tamil film Arangetramwhere she played the role of younger sister of Kamal Haasan. She continued to act in more Tamil films in the subsequent years, mostly directed by K. Balachander before getting intoTelugu films. She also acted as Sivaji Ganesan’s daughter in Bharatha Vilas (1973). She acted in a no. of Tamil films such as Sollathan Ninaikkiren, Naan Avanillai, Pattikaattu Raja, Thanagathile Vairam, Melnaatu Marumagal, Mannavan Vanthanadi, etc., all released before 1975. The 1975 Tamil film Apoorva Raagangal saw her playing a very important role as the daughter of Rajini and Srividya. Her fame quickly spread, where Telugu film producers were offering her good film roles. While her debut role as heroine in the Telugu film Lakshmana Rekha (1975) got her attention, it was really the title role in Jyothi (1976 film) (remake of the Hindi film Mili starring Jaya Bhaduri) that made her a huge star in Telugu films. She was now called a successor to the great Telugu actress Savitri and performed many strong roles and showed excellent range. She is given the title “Sahaja Nati” which means “spontaneous/lively actress.” Her roles varied from the cute looking teeny bopper who wore minis in “Nomu” (1974), to that of a tortured wife of a sadist husband in K. Balachander’s film “Idi Katha Kaadu” (1979) to that of a comedienne who discovers that her husband wants to murder her for her wealth in “Money” (1993). She performed showy roles in Telugu remakes of Hindi films, such as Yugandhar (1979) (the fighter role that Zeenat Aman originated in Don (1978 film)), Illalu (1981) (Reena Roy’s dark-shaded role from Apnapan (1977)), etc. In commercial cinema, she received a huge break when she starred in Adavi Ramudu (1977), which broke box office records. She also showed innovativeness and lack of vanity in original Telugu films like Premabhishekam (1981) where she played a supporting role as a deglamorized prostitute, while Sridevi played the female lead.

She acted in 225 Telugu films, and in one year, she had 24 film releases. She accomplished all this, despite her illiteracy in Telugu, by having people read lines to her and she would remember and deliver her lines.

She became such a famous actress that she starred in a film Jayasudha (1982), named after her. Her fame also allowed producers to cast her sister Subhashini in supporting roles in some of the films that she starred in, such as Sivaranjani (1978), “Doctor Cine-actor” and Meghasandesam (1983). Subhashini’s daughter Pooja is now a budding actress.

She joined recently in Congress Party and became as MLA.

Pesrsonal  Life

Jayasudha is a granddaughter of eminent scholar and literary historian, Nidudavolu Venkatarao.

Jayasudha married producer Nitin Kapoor, cousin to actor Jeetendra. They married in 1985 and have two children, Sons Nihar (born in 1986) and Shreayan (born in 1990). While she has friends in the industry, such as Raadhika and Revati, her closest friend is Jayaprada, with whom she had acted with in huge hits Adavi Ramudu (1977) and Meghasandesam (1982). Jayasudha is a converted Christian who had been a Hindu most of her life. She is now a MLA for Congress from the Secunderabad constituency.  She has also launched her official website to further her political career.

Awards

  • Nandi Award for Best Actress for Jyothi (1975)
  • Nandi Award for Best Actress for Aame Katha (1977)
  • Nandi Award for Best Actress for Idi Katha Kaadu (1979)
  • Nandi Award for Best Actress for premabishekam (1981)
  • Nandi Award for Best Actress for Meghasandesam (1982)
  • Kalasagar Award as Best Actress for Meghasandesam (1982)
  • Nandi Award for Best Actress for dharmatmudu (1983)
  • Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award (Telugu) for Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi (2004)
  • Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award (Telugu) for Kotha Bangaru Lokam (2008)
  • Filmfare Best Actress Award (Telugu) (1975),(1979),(1981),(1982)
  • Pride of Indian Cinema Award (2007)
  • Andhra Pradesh Cinegoer’s Association-Lifetime Achievement Award (2008)
  • ANR Lifetime Achievement Award (2008)