Showing all artists born at Guntur

Sunitha Upadrashta is a playback singer, anchor and dubbing artist in the Telugu Film industry, also known as Tollywood.


Sunitha's career began in the year 1995 with the movie Gulabi. She works as a singer and an Anchor to various channels who conduct musical programmes. She also works as a dubbing artist and has dubbed for about 750 films.


Sunitha has started her Cultural pursuit at a very early age of threeyears and got training in Music from Pemaraju Surya Rao in Karnatic Vocal and Light music from Kalaga Krishna Mohan for eight years. She has received awards and appreciations in various competitions for her performances. Sunitha, at the age of 10, participated in Tyagaraja Aradhana Utsavalu along with her guru Sri Pemmaraju Surya Rao garu.


She has begun her singing career as a playback singer in films at an age of 16. Sri Sasi Preetham, a music director first gave her a chance to sing in her debut film 'Gulabi' and her debut song is 'Ee Vela Lo Neevu' written by Sirivennela Sitaramasastri.


She has worked under the supervision of music directors like Ilayaraja, Vidya sagar, M.M. Keeravani, S.V. Krishna Reddy, Koti, Raj, Vandematharam Srinivas, Mani Sharma, Ramana Gogula, S.A. Raj kumar, Sandeep choutha, Micky-J-Mayer, Devisri Prasad, R.P. Patnaik, Chakri, Nihal, Kalyani Malik, Anup, Sunil Kashyap, Saluri Vasu Rao, Madhavapeddi Suresh, Saketha Sairam, Bunty, V. Hari Krishna, S.S. Thaman etc. She rendered nearly 3000 songs in many south Indian films. She has sung in Kannada and Tamil apart from Telugu.


Upadrashta has given stage shows abroad as a Singer.[citation needed] She was invited to Telugu Association of North America –TANA in 1999, 2001.She was also invited for European Telugu Association – ETA and American Telugu Association – ATA.


Upadrashta has given voice over for various artists like Jyothika, Anushka, Bhoomika, Charmi, Laila, Meera Jasmine, Soundarya, Sonali Bendre, Shriya, Genelia, Sneha, Sada, Katrina Kaif, Tamannaah, Trisha, Kamilini Mukherji, Nayantara etc.

Saritha is a South Indian actress. She has acted more than 140 films in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu languages and was in a television serial Selvi in 2005. Her mainstream career spanned from 1978 to 1989.

Saritha made her acting debut through Maro Charithra, a Telugu film directed by K. Balachander. The movie dealt with cross-cultural romance, where she acted opposite Kamal Haasan as a Telugu-speaking girl. She received more offers in Tamil films mostly directed by Balachander. Some of her films include Thappu Thalangal, Idi Katha Kaadu, Vandichakkaram, Netrikan, Agni Sakshi, Puthukavithai, Kalyana Agathigal and Achamillai Achamillai. Her performance in Vandichakkaram (1980) and Achamillai Achamillai (1984) won her Filmfare Best Tamil Actress awards. She also played guest roles as herself in 47 Natkal and its Telugu remake, directed by Balachander. She had her head tonsure for the cancer-affected role in Sujatha in 1980 and gained several pounds to play the psychotic role in the 2005 film Julie Ganapathi. Neither of these films were successful. She also won a Nandi Special Jury Award for her performance as "Aandaalu" in the movie Arjun in 2004.Saritha has also worked as a voice actor in Kannada, Telugu and Tamil films. She has lent her voice to other actresses including Madhavi, Soundarya, Ramya Krishnan, Nagma and Vijayashanti. She won Nandi Award for Best Female Dubbing Artist for her voice to Soundarya in Maa Ayana Bangaram (1997) and Anthapuram (1999).


She married Malayalam actor Mukesh on 2 September 1988 and has two sons Shravan & Tejas. Shravan is pursuing M.B.B.S in Ras Al Khaima University Dubai and Tejas is pursuing his undergraduate degree from Victoria University of Wellington New Zealand. In March 2007, the couple filed for divorce and it was withdrawn in 2011 by Saritha. Both sons are staying with Saritha.

Pradeep Shakthi (July 25, 1954 – 20 February 2016) was an Indian Telugu actor, director and businessman.

Pradeep Shakthi, born as Raja Vasireddy, was from the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. He was known for his negative and character roles in many movies from 1980 like Nayakudu, Guna, etc. He directed a politically controversial movie, 'Kaliyuga Viswamithra'. He migrated to the US in 1993 and settled in Staten Island, New York, where he became a full-time restaurateur.

Savitri or Savitri Ganesh, was a Telugu actress, director and producer of films in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi languages. She was known for her liveliness and captivating performance and is still treated as the benchmark for acting in Telugu movies and also called as one of the best actresses of All Time.

Savitri was born in Chinaravuru near Tenali in Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh, India to Nissankara Rao Guruviah and Subhadramma. She learned music and Indian classical dance under Sista Purnayya Sasthri. She performed stage shows during her childhood. She acted in 318 films in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Hindi languages, with ten to twenty movies released per year.

She later directed some films. One day she went to meet the Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and donated all her jewelry she was wearing for the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. She also built a high school in Andhra. Her favorite sports were cricket and chess. She used to play chess at home. She claimed that her favorite sports person was Gary Sobers. She participated in many celebrity cricket matches.

She gave some public performances as a child in Vijayawada. She worked in a theater company run by Nandamuri Taraka Ramarao. She also started her own company, the Navabharata Natya Mandali. Her best stage role was in Atma Vanchana written by Bucchi Babu.

Savitri was a legendary actress in Tamil. She has paired opposite leading actors like Sivaji Ganesan and M.G.R. She married Gemini Ganesh, while acting in ‘Manam Pola Mangalyam’(1953) with him. Savithris 100th film ‘Konjum Salangai’ (‘Muripinche Muvvalu’ in Telugu) also happened to be paired with Gemini Ganeshan. She was fondly called Nadigaiyar Thilagam in the Tamil film industry.

Kalathur Kannamma, Kai Kodutha Deivam, Thiruvilaiyadal, Navarathiri, Pasa Malar, Yaar Paiyyan, Paarthal Pasi Theerum, Padithal Mattum Podhuma, Karpagam, Karnan and Paava Mannippu are some of her memorable classics in Tamil.

Savitri secretly married Gemini Ganesan in 1954 and she declared it publicly three years after the wedding. Gemini Ganesan and Savitri made a hit pair on-screen. Her wedding was revealed when she signed in a photo for a Lux advertisement as Savithri Ganesh. They had two children Vijaya Chamundeswari and Sathish Kumar. Savitri was a strict, disciplined and compassionate mother. Since there was no availability of televisions at that time, she arranged a 16mm projector to show movies to kids. She would watch Hollywood movies and analyze them thoroughly. She loved Sophia Loren and Shirley MacLaine. She died at an early age of 46.

Savitri (born Savitri Nissankararao 6 December 1935– 26 December 1981) was an Indian film actress, playback singer, dancer, director and producer. She appeared in Telugu as well as Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi language films. Widely regarded as one of the finest actresses of Telugu cinema, Savitri made her lead role debut with the 1952 Telugu film Pelli Chesi Choodu.  In 1960, she received the Rashtrapati Award for her performance in the Telugu film Chivaraku Migiledi. In 1968, she has produced, and directed the Telugu film, Chinnari Papalu for which she received the state Nandi Award for Best Feature Film (Silver).  She was honored among "women in cinema" at the 30th International Film Festival of India.

She is best known for her works in award winning films such as Devadasu (1953), Ardhangi (1955), Missamma (1955), Donga Ramudu (1955), Amara Deepam (1956), Thodi Kodallu (1957), Mayabazaar (1957), Abhimanam (1958), Mangalya Balam (1958), Appu Chesi Pappu Koodu (1959), Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam (1960), Chivaraku Migiledi (1960), Manchi Manasulu (1961), Aradhana (1962), Gundamma Katha (1962), Rakta Tilakam (1963), Mooga Manasulu (1963), Doctor Chakravarthy (1964), Pooja Phalam (1964), Devata (1965), Pandava Vanavasam (1965), Kanya Sulkam, Naadi Aada Janme, Prana Mitrulu (1967), Varakatnam (1968), Maro Prapancham (1970), Manase Mandiram (1966) and Jagan Mohini (1978).

Her Tamil works include Kalathur Kannamma (1959), Pasamalar (1961), Pava Mannippu (1961), Paarthal Pasi Theerum (1962), Karpagam (1963), Karnan (1963), Kai Kodutha Deivam, Navarathri (1964), Thiruvilaiyadal (1965) etc.


Early life

Savitri's parents are Nissankararao Guraviah and Subhadhramma. She was born in Chirravuru Tadepalle Mandalam (near Undavalli) in Guntur, Madras Presidency, now part of Andhra Pradesh in a Telugu speaking family.  Her father died when she was 6 months old. She had an elder sister named Maadhuri. Later, her family moved to Chirravuru. She studied in Kasturbhai High School. She learned music and Indian classical dance from Sistla Purnayya Sasthri, starting from the age of 8. She performed stage shows as a child.

Personal life

Savitri was married to a Tamil actor Gemini Ganesan in 1955. Her marriage became public when she signed in a photo for a Lux advertisement as Savithri Ganesh three years later.  They had two children, Vijaya Chamundeswari and Sathish Kumar.

Early career

She gave a few public performances as a child artiste in Vijayawada. Later, she worked in a theatre company run by Nandamuri Taraka Ramarao. She also started her own company, the Navabharata Natya Mandali. Her best stage role was in Atma Vanchana, written by Bucchi Babu. She was offered a role in 'Agni Pariksha' in 1949. However she looked too young (she was 14) in screen tests and so was dropped. Then, she was selected for the lead role in the film Samsaram by the banner 'Sadhana Chitra' in 1950. Because of stage-fright she needed a lot of retakes on the floor so she was dropped again. However, she was replaced by Pushpavalli and was given a small role, with Nageswara Rao which has less import. She performed a dance in Pathala Bhairavi in 1951.

Bollywood

She has acted in a few Hindi films such as, Bahut Din Huwe, Ghar Basake Dekho, Balaram Sri Krishna and Ganga Ki Lahren.

Kannada cinema

Savitri starred in a few Kannada films such as, Thaayige Thakka Maga, Ravichandra, and Chandanada Gombe.

Playback singing

She is known for play back singing, and some of her works include, "Sundari Neevanti" from Mayabazar, "Rangu Rangula Sila" from Navarathri (1966) and Neevevaro from Annapurna (1960) which she gave voice for actress Girija.

Direction

Savitri has directed films such as, Chinnari Papalu, Chiranjeevi, Maathru Devatha ,Vintha Samsaram, Kuzhanthai Ullam and Praptham.