Sweety Shetty (born on 7 November 1981), known by her stagename Anushka Shetty,

is an Indian film actress, who works mainly in the Telugu and Tamil film industr
ies.
Born in Mangalore, Anushka started her career as a Yoga instructor. It was while
teaching Yoga, she got an offer to act in films. She thus made her acting debut
through the 2005 Telugu film Super. She went on to star in a number of Telugu f
ilms such as Vikramarkudu (2006), Arundhati (2009) and Vedam (2010). After starr
ing in a series of high-budget productions, she established herself as one of th
e leading actresses in in Telugu cinema.[2] She received critical acclaim for he
r portrayal of the titular character in Arundhati (2009),[3] and as Saroja in Ve
dam (2010),[4] which fetched her two Filmfare, one Nandi and two CineMAA Awards.
In the 2010s, Anushka also achieved success in Tamil cinema; the action film Si
ngam (2010),[2] and its sequel Singam II (2013) were big commercial successes, w
hile her performances in Vaanam (2011) and Deiva Thirumagal (2011) won her criti
cal praise.
Contents
1 Early life
2 Film career
2.1 Debut and fame in Telugu: 2005-2008
2.2 Critical acclaim and box office failures: 2009-2010
2.3 Success and in Tamil cinema: 2011-present
2.4 Action avatars and future films
3 Other works
3.1 Brand endorsement
4 Filmography
5 Awards and nominations
6 References
7 External links
Early life
Born as Sweety Shetty in Mangalore, Karnataka, Anushka is an ethnic Tuluva haili
ng from the landed Bellipady Uramalu Guthu family.[5] Her parents are Prafulla a
nd A.N. Vittal Shetty.[5] She has two brothers Gunaranjan Shetty and Sai Ramesh
Shetty who is a cosmetic surgeon.[5] Anushka did her schooling in Bangalore and
her Bachelor of Computer Applications at the Mount Carmel College, Bangalore.[6]
She was also a yoga instructor, trained under Bharat Thakur.[7]
Film career
Debut and fame in Telugu: 2005-2008
Anushka Shetty records her voice for the TeachAIDS animations at Annapurna Studi
os in Hyderabad
Anushka made her acting debut in Puri Jagannath's 2005 Telugu film Super, where
she featured alongside Akkineni Nagarjuna and Ayesha Takia. The film received mi
xed reviews, but IndiaGlitz said "The two girls, Ayesha and Anushka, are cool an
d chic. Their angles and curves provide all the glamour and keep you engrossed.
What about their acting? Well, they are in this film for it."[8] and Sify stated
, "The sexy girls Ayesha and Anushka show off their bodies."[9] The same year, s
he acted in another film Maha Nandi, opposite Srihari and Sumanth which also rec
eived mixed reviews. IndiaGlitz said, "Anushka looks comely ---and that is what
she seems to be in for." but added, "The script has been stitched and the seams
look frayed."[10] Sify stated that it "starts promisingly with a racy first half
but goes awry and the tempo slackens post interval." and added, "Anushka looks
ravishing thanks to Vasus camera which is a major plus for the film."[11]
In 2006, she had four releases, the first being S. S. Rajamouli's Vikramarkudu,
where she was paired with Ravi Teja. The film went on to become very successful
and got her much recognition, making her very popular in Andhra Pradesh.[12][13]
Kishore of Nowrunning.com said "The high points of the movie are the flawless a
cting of Raviteja and the lusciousness of Anushka. Raviteja has got all the ingr
edients that an actor should have and Anushka has all the assets to that a woman
ought to have."[14] and Sify said that Anushka "is definitely a highlight."[15]
She next starred in the film Astram, a remake of the 1999 Hindi film Sarfarosh,
following which she debuted in the Tamil film industry, acting in the Sundar C.-
directed action flick Rendu, sharing screen space with R. Madhavan. Later that y
ear, she made a special appearance alongside Mega star Chiranjeevi in A. R. Muru
gadoss' directorial debut in Telugu, Stalin.
Her first release in 2007 was Lakshyam which was a success in box office, after
which she starred in Raghava Lawrence's Don opposite Nagarjuna again. The former
, in particular, succeeded at the box office.[16] In 2008 she had appeared in si
x films. Okka Magaadu was the first release, in which she played one of three fe
male leads. Her next releases Swagatam alongside Jagapati Babu and Bhumika Chawl
a and Baladur opposite Ravi Teja garnered poor reviews and box office returns.[1
7][18] She next appeared in the film Souryam with Gopichand which became a box o
ffice hit.
Critical acclaim and box office failures: 2009-2010
In 2009, Anushka first starred in the blockbuster hit, the fantasy film Arundhat
i. In this heroine-centric film, she essayed two roles for the first time.[2] It
was a critical as well as commercial success. Critics heaped praise on Anushka
for her performance. Idlebrain's Jeevi wrote that she was "simply amazing in two
roles" and that she did "exceptionally well with subtle yet impact creating per
formance",[19] while Rediff claimed that she was "brilliant and breathtaking in
parts", labelling Arundhati as "totally Anushka's film".[20] Sify noted that she
was "at her best with great performance".[21] She went on to win the Nandi Spec
ial Jury Award[22] and the Filmfare Best Actress Award.[23] Her next film was Bi
lla, a remake of the 2007 Tamil film of the same name. The film received mixed r
eviews, with Rediff stating "Anushka has a super-toned body and indulges in quit
e a bit of skin show" but had "nothing much to do",[24] while Sify stated "Anush
ka was there to show her oomph and glamour which she has done full justice".[25]
Her final release in 2009 was her second Tamil feature film, the action masala
film Vettaikkaran with actor Vijay and it received generally unfavourable review
s. Rediff said, "Anushka, fresh from her success with Arundhathi, has been releg
ated to pretty bimbette again and appears conveniently during the romantic numbe
rs of which Oru Chinna Thamarai takes the cake."[26] and Sify said, "Anushka has
nothing much to do and hence goes unnoticed."[27]
She had a string of releases in 2010. She portrayed a prostitute in Krish's crit
ically acclaimed anthology film Vedam.[4] For her performance, she won the Filmf
are Award for Best Actress, her second consecutive Filmfare Award.[28] Her next
Telugu film, Panchakshari, was another heroine-centric film where she again perf
ormed double roles.[4] This was followed by the action comedy Khaleja, where she
starred opposite Mahesh Babu for the first time in her career, Nagavalli, the T
elugu remake of the Kannada film Aptharakshaka in which she portrayed the famous
role of Chandramukhi and Ragada. She also made special appearances in the movie
s Kedi and Thakita Thakita. However all these 2010 releases failed to make an im
pact at the box office.[4] Her sole Tamil release of 2010, the police story Sing
am co-starring Suriya was a high commercial success. Sify claimed, "Anushka is t
here only for glamour and songs, but does a decent job".[29] while Pavithra Srin
ivasan of Rediff stated, "Anushka, thankfully, has more to do than just prance a
round in skimpy clothes (which she does very well). She romances dutifully, but
her part picks up when both she and Suriya are in Chennai, tangling with villain
s."[30]
Success and in Tamil cinema: 2011-present
She reprised the role she played in Vedam in its Tamil remake, Vaanam (2011), wh
ich was also critically acclaimed. Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu said, "Boldne
ss and daring mark Anushka's role the actor's eyes effectively convey joy, helpl
essness, agony and anger."[31] A critic from Sify wrote that "Anushka is outstan
ding as the commercial sex worker as she is able to bring out a life-like perfor
mance."[32] She next starred in A. L. Vijay's Deiva Thirumagal. The drama center
s on the characters of Krishna (Vikram), an intellectually disabled father and h
is daughter Nila. The film became a critical and commercial success, fetching he
r laurels for her portrayal as Anuradha, an advocate.[33] Oneindia stated, "Anus
hka Shetty's character in the film had good scope for performance without being
glamorous".[34] She received her first Filmfare nomination in the Tamil category
, besides the Vijay Award for Favourite Heroine.
In 2012, Anushka recollabored with in A. L. Vijay and Vikram in the action drama
Thaandavam. Malathi Rangarajan stated that "the romance between Vikram and Anus
hka is a beautiful feature of Thaandavam."[35] She later appeared alongside Akki
neni Nagarjuna in the fantasy film Dhamarukam, which was her first Telugu releas
e after two years. Karthik Pasupulate from The Times of India said that Anushka
"has little to do as far as performance goes and does a good job of upping the g
lam quotient".[36] Radhika Rajamani of Rediff claimed, "Anushka looks sweet. Nag
and Anushka have good onscreen chemistry".[37] Oneindia claimed, "Anushka Shett
y has less scope for acting, but she impresses you in song sequences. [38]
Her first release in 2013 was Alex Pandian, an action-masala film, directed by S
uraj, co-starring Karthi.[39] The film was a critical and commercial failure.[40
] Her second release was Koratala Siva's Mirchi opposite Prabhas. Idlebrain clai
med, "Anushka is adorable in a naughty village belle, the dubbing also seems gre
at and the character Vennela is the best role among her recent role in movies".[
41] Rediff wrote, "Anushka is bubbly and peps up the film considerably".[42] Sif
y wrote, "Anushka looks beautiful and livens up the moments and praised her chem
istry with Prabhas".[43] She was next seen in Singam II, the sequel to Singam (2
010), reprising her role from the first part. Sify said, "Anushka looks jaded, h
as nothing to do but sizzle with Suriya in two songs"[44] while The Times of Ind
ia stated, "Anushka is forced to take a back seat even as she reprises her role
of Kavya."[45]
Anushka next release was Selvaraghavan's fantasy adventure film Irandam Ulagam o
pposite Arya,[46] that saw her playing a dual role again, the third time in her
career. Anushka played Ramya, a doctor and Varna, a high spirited, warrior-like
character, in a parallel world. Rediff wrote, "Anushka not only shares equal scr
een space with Arya, but also plays quite a significant role. In fact, the story
revolves around her and she has performed admirably".[47] Behindwoods wrote, "A
s the shy doctor Ramya and as the fierce warrior Varna, Anushka is simply at her
best showcasing a wide range of emotions and stunts. It is her performance that
stands as a pivot for the rest of the story to take shape".[48]
Action avatars and future films
As of July 2013, she was working on two magna opera, Gunashekar's bilingual Rani
Rudrama Devi, in which she portrays the titular role of Kakatiya dynasty queen
Rudrama Devi,[49] and S. S. Rajamouli's trilingual Baahubali, which is reported
to be the most costliest Telugu film. In 2014, she was signed as the female lead
in two high-budget Tamil productions Gautham Menon's presently untitled film wi
th Ajith Kumar[50] and K. S. Ravikumar's Lingaa.[51]
Other works
Question book-new.svg
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improv
e this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may b
e challenged and removed. (November 2013)
Brand endorsement
In addition to films, Sweety also endorses a large number of brands. She is the
brand ambassador for Head and Shoulders in South India. She is also the Brand Am
bassador MBS Jewellers, The Chennai Silks. She has also endorsed the Colgate bra
nd in Tamil and Telugu alongside Allu Arjun. Anushka also endorses The Chennai S
ilk (vivaha pattu) and is an ambassador of Poondichery Sri Lakshmi.