Jaya Prada

Background

Jaya Prada was born Lalita Rani Ravanam on April 3, 1962, in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh, India. Her father, Krishna Rao, was a Telugu film financier. Her mother, Neelaveni, was a homemaker.

Education

The young Prada attended Telugu Middle School in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh, and was also enrolled in dance and music classes at an early age. She then went to Rajlakshmi Women College, Rajahmundry, but left after the first year.

Career

When Prada was 13 years old, she performed a dance at her school's annual function. A film director in the audience offered her a three-minute dance number in the Telugu film Bhoomi Kosam. She was hesitant, but her family encouraged her to accept it. She was paid only 10 rupees for her work in the film, but the rushes of those three minutes of film were shown to the major figures of the Telugu film industry. Major filmmakers offered her starring roles in quality films, and she accepted them.

She became a huge star in 1976 at the age of 17 with major hit films. Director K. Balachander's black-and-white film Anthuleni Katha (1976) showcased her dramatic skills; K. Viswanath's color film Siri Siri Muvva (1976) showed her playing a mute with excellent dancing skills; and her title role as Sita in the big-budget mythological film Seetha Kalyanam confirmed her versatility. In 1977, she starred in Adavi Ramudu, which broke box office records and which permanently cemented her star status.

The song "Aaresukoboyi Paresukunnanu" performed by Prada and co-star N.T. Rama Rao became a mass hit. Important filmmakers were casting her and repeating her in their films. Filmmaker Vijay introduced her to Kannada cinema in his 1977 super-hit movie Sanadi Appanna alongside Kannada matinee idol Raj Kumar. The movie is also known to be the only movie to feature shehnai rendition by Ustad Bismillah Khan. Prada repeated her successful pairing with Raj kumar in films such as Huliya Halina Mevu (1979), Kaviratna Kalidasa (1983) and Shabdavedhi (2000). In 1979, K. Balachander repeated her in the Tamil film Ninaithale Inikkum opposite Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth in which she played a terminally-ill patient.

She continued to act in more films in Telugu opposite actors such as Krishna, Krishnam Raju and Sobhan Babu throughout the 70s and 80s. K. Viswanath remade Siri Siri Muvva (1976) in Hindi as Sargam, introducing Prada to Bollywood in 1979. The film was successful and she became a star there as well.

In 1981, she starred in the critically acclaimed Tamil film 47 Natkal and simultaneously made Telugu film "47 Rojulu" by filmmaker K. Balachander in which Chiranjeevi played her villainous, bigamist husband. After she took Hindi lessons, director K. Vishwanath relaunched her in Hindi films, with the hit film Kaamchor where she spoke Hindi fluently for the first time. She was now able to consistently work in Hindi films, and earned two more Filmfare nominations as Best Actress for playing Amitabh Bachchan's endearing girlfriend in Prakash Mehra's Sharaabi (1984) and for her challenging double role in K. Vishwanath's Sanjog. Saagara Sangamam directed by K. Vishwanath, starring Kamal Hassan proved to be a milestone in her career.

Prada made a successful team not just with Amitabh Bachchan and Jeetendra, but also with her immediate screen rival Sridevi, with whom she has acted in about a dozen films. Their hit Telugu film Devatha (1982), where they played sisters who made huge sacrifices for each other, was remade into the hit Hindi film Tohfa (1984). These films endeared Jaya Prada to the traditional conservative section of film goers and she amassed a huge female fan following as well. It was an image that would serve her well when she started a new career as a politician.

In 1985, she acted in the Malayalam film Iniyum Katha Thudarum directed by Joshiy starring Mammootty, Baby Shalini and Ambika. The film portrayed her as the wife of Mammootty, leading to a tragic end of mother and daughter, the film ends with Mammootty taking revenge on his family's death.

Prada had a pairing with Aditya Pancholi in Zakhmi Zameen (1990) film was last box office success of her leading actress. As she became involved in her political career since 1994, at the age of 32, her involvement with films reduced. In 2000, she acted in the Malayalam film Devadoothan, starring Mohanlal, directed by Sibi Malayil. The film garnered immensely popular reviews from the critics but failed at the box office. But it met with great appreciation from the audience when released in Home Media and when aired on television. This movie had evergreen hit songs. In 2004, she acted in Ee Snehatheerathu, a Malayalam film as Kunchacko Boban's mother.

In 2002, she stepped into the Marathi film industry by being a guest in the movie Aadhaar. Thus far, she has acted in eight languages and has completed 300 films during a 30-year film career. She started playing mature roles in 2004.

In 2011, she returned to Malayalam screens with a strong role in Pranayam, alongside Mohanlal and Anupam Kher. She played the role of "Grace" in this film, which won her critical acclaim and several awards. Her 2012 Kannada film Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna (Sangolli Rayanna) that saw her donning the historical role of courageous Kittur Chennamma, completed 100 days at the box office. In 2013 she appeared in the film Rajjo playing Janki Devi. She then had a break from the film industry for five years, and appeared in 2018 films Kinar, Keni and Sharabha. In 2019 she appeared in Suvarna Sundari.

Achievements

• Jaya Prada is known today as one of the most famous and influential Indian actresses of all time. She had ruled the screen for more than thirty years in Hindi and South Indian films, and also has been actively involved in the Indian politics for more than twenty years. She also has been considered by many as the most beautiful face graced indian cinema.
  
  She received numerous awards for her outstanding performance in Indian films, including the Nandi Award for Best Actress, the Lifetime Achievement Award, and many others.

Works

More photos

• movie

  • Rangoon Rowdy

    (Rangoon Rowdy is a 1979 Telugu drama film directed by Das...)

    1979
  • Chauraha

    (Chauraha is a 1994 Bollywood Action film, produced by Pra...)

    1994
  • Manmatha Leelai

    (The film explores the life journey of married man involvi...)

    1976
  • Challenge Ramudu

    (Challenge Ramudu is a 1980 Telugu Action film, produced b...)

    1980
  • Yamagola

    (Satyam's journey for revenge makes him cross through heav...)

    1977
  • Nyay Anyay

    (Law takes precedence over love in this courtroom drama wh...)

    1990
  • Indrajeet

    (Honest Police officer Inderjeet's life takes turn for the...)

    1991
  • Indrajeet

    (Honest Police officer Inderjeet's life takes turn for the...)

    1991
  • Souten Ki Beti

    (Souten Ki Beti is a 1989 Bollywood drama film, produced &...)

    1989
  • Iniyum Kadha Thudarum

    (Iniyum Kadha Thudarum is a 1985 Indian Malayalam film, di...)

    1985
  • Madhura Swapnam

    (Madhura Swapnam is a 1995 Indian Telugu film, directed by...)

    1982
  • Aakhree Raasta

    (Aakhree Raasta is a 1986 Bollywood crime drama film writt...)

    1986
  • Aaj Ka Arjun

    (Aaj Ka Arjun is a 1990 Hindi crime drama film, directed a...)

    1990
  • Srivari Muchatlu

    (Gopi falls in love with Radha while his father wants him ...)

    1981
  • Mardon Wali Baat

    (Yadvinder Singh and his brother Tinku are career criminal...)

    1988
  • Sampoorna Premayanam

    (Sampoorna Premayanam is a 1984 Indian Telugu film, direct...)

    1984
  • Sagara Sangamam

    (Balakrishna is a drunkard and columnist in a newspaper. H...)

    1983
  • Insaniyat Ke Devta

    (Insaniyat Ke Devta is a 1993 Hindi film directed by K. C....)

    1993

Religion

Prada is affiliated with Hinduism.

Politics

Prada joined the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 1994 at the invitation of its founder N. T. Rama Rao, on the eve of the assembly elections, and rose quickly through the ranks. At that time there was speculation that she would run for election, but she preferred not to make her electoral debut, although she was offered a seat by Rao.

She campaigned in several constituencies in 1994. When Rao became the Chief minister in 1994, he appointed one of his sons-in-law Nara Chandrababu Naidu as the Revenue Minister. Soon after the formation of the government, Rao's health started deteriorating, and in response to the growing influence of his wife, Lakshmi Parvati, on the political decisions of NTR, Chandrababu Naidu convinced a majority of the TDP MLAs to elect him as the chief minister. Since most of the legislators had gone over to his side, the Anti Defection Law did not apply and the Telugu Desam Party label passed on to the Chandrababu Naidu faction. During this period, Prada too joined the Chandrababu Naidu faction of the party. She was nominated to the Rajya Sabha representing Andhra Pradesh in 1996. She also held the post of Telugu Mahila President.

Following differences with party Supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu, she left the TDP to join Samajwadi Party. She contested from Rampur parliamentary Constituency in UP during the 2004 General election and got elected with a margin of more than 85000 votes. During her campaign for the Lok Sabha elections in 2009, she was issued a notice by the Election Commission for violating the code of conduct by distributing bindis to women in Rampur's Swar locality. On May 11, 2009, Prada alleged that senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan was distributing nude pictures of her. She was re-elected with a margin of more than 30,000 votes.

After she came out in open support of the former General Secretary of the Samajwadi Party, Amar Singh, Prada was expelled from the party on February 2, 2010 for allegedly indulging in anti-party activities and damaging the party's secular image. Amar Singh, along with Jaya Prada floated his own political party, Rashtriya Lok Manch, in 2011, and fielded candidates in 360 of the 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh in the 2012 assembly polls. However, his party did not win a single seat in these elections. Later she, along with Amar Singh joined the RLD on March 10, 2014 and after that she got the ticket to contest from the Bijnor seat in the 2014 general elections. She, however, lost the election.

She joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of National General Secretary Bhupender Yadav on 26 March, 2019.

Personality

Indian director Satyajit Ray once described her as one of the prettiest women in the world.

Physical Characteristics: Prada's height is 5' 1'' (155 cm), and she weighs around 143 lbs (65 kg). Her eyes are dark brown, and her hair is black.

Interests

• dancing, music

Connections

In 1986, Prada married producer Srikanth Nahata, who was already married to Chandra and had 3 children. This marriage stirred a lot of controversy, especially since Nahata did not divorce his wife and had children with his first wife after marrying Prada. She and Srikanth have no children together, although she had at one time expressed a desire to have children.

Father:

Krishna Rao

Mother:

Neelaveni

Spouse:

Srikanth Nahata

stepson:

Siddhu Nahata

colleague:

Raj Kumar

colleague:

Krishnam Raju

colleague:

Sobhan Babu

colleague:

Chiranjeevi

colleague:

Kamal Hassan

colleague:

Sridevi

colleague:

Mammootty

colleague:

Aditya Pancholi

colleague:

Mohanlal