Ambika (actress)

Ambika
Born	(1963-08-16) 16 August 1963[1] Kallara, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1978–1989 1997–present
Spouse(s)	Shinu John (m.1988-1997) (divorced) Ravikanth (m.2000-2002)(divorced)
Children	Ramkeshav (born 1989) Rishikesh (born 1991)
Parent(s)	Kunjan Nair, Kallara Sarasamma[2]
Family	Radha (sister)
Awards	Kalaimaamani, Cinema express, film critics

Ambika (born 16 August 1962) is an Indian film actress known for her works predominantly in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu films. She was one of the top heroines for a decade from 1978 to 1989. Her younger sister, Radha, was also an actress. They acted together in a number of south Indian films and during the peak of their careers they owned a movie studio called "ARS Studios". In 2013 they converted ARS Studios to a hotel complex.

Personal life

Ambika was born on 16 August 1962 to Kunjan Nair and Sarasamma at Kallara village located in Trivandrum district.^[3] Her mother Kallara Sarasamma is present Mahila Congress leader.^[4] She has two younger sisters, Radha and Mallika, and two younger brothers, Arjun and Suresh.^[5][6] Actress Ambika married NRI Shinu John in 1988 and migrated to USA. They have two sons, Ramkeshav and Rishikesh. However, the couple got divorced in the year 1997 and Ambika came back to India to resume her acting career. She went on to marry actor Ravikanth in the year 2000. However, this marriage, too, ended in a divorce in 2002. Currently, Ambika resides in Chennai along with his elder son Ramkesav.

Career

Ambika started her career as a child artist and later as main heroine at her age of 16 in 1979 and acted in more than 200 South Indian films. Her career as a heroine started with the Malayalam movie Seetha, which only released really late in her career. But with films like Neelathaamara (which was made again in 2009) and Lejjavathi, she became a busy actress in a couple of years not only in Malayalam,^[7] but also in Tamil and Kannada.^[8]

She has acted with actors in all languages including Madhu, Kamal Haasan, Prem Nazir, Jayan, Shankar, Sukumaran, M. G. Soman, Jose, Ratheesh, Mammootty, Mohanlal in Malayalam; Sivaji Ganesan, Rajinikanth, Sivakumar, Vijayakanth, Bhagyaraj, Mohan, Sathyaraj, Prabhu, Karthik Muthuraman in Tamil; NTR, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Murali Mohan, Mohan Babu, Krishna, Krishnamraju in Telugu and with Rajkumar, Vishnuvardhan, Ambarish, Srinath, Anant Nag, Shankar Nag, Ravichandran, Prabhakar in Kannada.

K. Bhagyaraj introduced Ambika in his movie Antha Ezhu Naatkal. She has been acted alongside Kamal Hassan and Rajinikanth in many movies and appeared in glamorous roles in movies such as Kaakki Sattai, Vikram, Kadhal Parisu, Padikkadhavan and Maaveeran. Most of her films have been with actors such as Rajinikanth, Shankar, Mohanlal, Ambarish, Vishnuvardhan, Rajkumar, Mammootty and Vijayakanth.^[9]

She had a very successful career in Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam movies throughout the 1980s. In Tamil and Malayalam, she took on a few bold roles that showcased her versatility and talent. In Kannada, however, she appeared in many roles and songs that were characteristic by being erotic yet understated. Her hot rain songs with Vishnuvardhan are shown frequently in Midnight Masala TV program and are considered groundbreaking in terms of bold, stunning and revealing in an otherwise conservative industry.^[10]

In Tamil, Ambika shot to fame with the movie Kakki Chattai. In the zenith of her career she was paired in the same movie with her sister Radha in Kadhal Parisu, where both actresses demonstrated their acting prowess by taking on roles of two young, beautiful sisters, who had strong, yet conflicting personalities.

After she got divorced, she returned to India from U.S later in 1997 and started acting again in films like Periyamanushan with Sathyaraj in a glamorous role, Maa Naanaki Pelli in Telugu and with Krishnam raju and Simmadamari in Kannada. She acted as heroine in Vikaraman’s project Mariyathai, in which Vijayakanth acted in father and son roles along with Meena and Meera Jasmin. She acted in Malayalam films like Angel John with Mohanlal, Thanthonni, Sadgamaya and is currently more active doing TV serials.^[11]

She has acted in many advertisements.She is a designer too.She has judged many reality shows also.In a film called Medulla Oblangatta(2014) she has done lyrics works too.

Awards

• 1984 Kalaimaamani Award- Vaazhkai (film)
• Cinema Express
• Film critics Award Enkeyo Ketta Kural

Filmography

In order of languages in which she acted the most to least number of films.

Malayalam

Tamil

Kannada

Telugu

Television

• Kanalpoovu(Jeevan TV)
• Avakashikal (Surya TV)
• Sreepadmanabham (Amrita TV)
• Veruthe alla bharya season 2(Mazhavil Manorama) as Judge
• Veruthe alla bharya season 3(Mazhavil Manorama) as Judge
• Uggram Ujjwalam Season 2 (Mazhavil Manorama) as Judge

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ambika (actress).

• Ambika at the Internet Movie Database
• Ambika at MSN