Anushka Shetty is an Indian actress who appears in Telugu and Tamil films. She is often considered an influential actress in Telugu cinema industry. [1] [2] With a cinematic career spanning over two decades, she has played pivotal roles in over 50 films. She is often hailed as the "Lady Superstar" of Telugu cinema. [3] [4] She made her acting debut in Puri Jagannadh's 2005 Telugu film Super , [5] and appeared in Mahanandi , released later the same year. The following year, she had four releases, the first being S. S. Rajamouli's Vikramarkudu , which helped her gain recognition, [6] followed by Astram (a remake of the 1999 Hindi film Sarfarosh ), [7] the Sundar C-directed Rendu , (which marked her debut in Tamil cinema), [8] and a special appearance in AR Murugadoss' Telugu film Stalin . [9] She had two releases in 2007: Lakshyam and Don . [10] In 2008, she appeared in six films, including Okka Magaadu , Swagatam and Souryam . In 2009, Shetty played two roles in the fantasy Arundhati . She went on to win the Nandi Special Jury Award [11] and the Filmfare Best Telugu Actress Award for this film. [12] Her next release that year was Billa , a Telugu remake of the 1978 Hindi film of the same name. [13] Her final release in 2009 was her second Tamil feature film, the masala film Vettaikaaran , where she appeared as a medical student. [14] [8]
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Shetty had a string of releases in 2010. She portrayed a prostitute in Krish's Vedam , which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Telugu Actress. [15] Despite critical acclaim, the film failed at the box office. [16] None of her other releases in 2010 succeeded commercially, except for her sole Tamil release of the year, the masala Singam . [17] The following year, Anushka had two releases, both in Tamil. She reprised her Vedam role in its remake Vaanam , [18] then appeared as an advocate in the A. L. Vijay-directed Deiva Thirumagal , a loose adaptation of the American film I Am Sam (2001). [19] The following year, she also had two releases: Thaandavam in Tamil, [20] and Damarukam in Telugu. [21] Her first release in 2013 was Suraj's Tamil masala Alex Pandian , a critical and commercial failure. [22] [23] This was followed by Mirchi in Telugu, Singam II (where she reprised her role from Singam), and Selvaraghavan's Tamil romantic fantasy Irandaam Ulagam where she played three distinct roles. [24] Her sole release of 2014 was K. S. Ravikumar's Lingaa . [25]
In 2015, Shetty appeared in Gautham Vasudev Menon's Yennai Arindhaal , [26] followed by Rajamouli's Telugu-Tamil bilingual Baahubali: The Beginning , where she played a queen named Devasena. [27] [28] Her performance as Rudrama Devi, a monarch of the Kakatiya dynasty in the eponymous film won her the Filmfare Award for Best Telugu Actress. [29] She then appeared in the Telugu romantic comedy Size Zero (filmed simultaneously in Tamil as Inji Iduppazhagi), in a role for which she gained 20 kilograms (44 lb) of weight. [30] Her only roles in 2016 were cameos in Soggade Chinni Nayana [31] and Oopiri (filmed in Tamil as Thozha). [32] [33] The following year, she appeared in Si3 (the third film in the Singam series), [34] the semi-biographical Om Namo Venkatesaya , where she played a character inspired by Andal, [35] and Rajamouli's Telugu film Baahubali 2: The Conclusion , where she reprised her role from its predecessor. [36] Her only release in 2018 was the Telugu-Tamil bilingual Bhaagamathie . [37] [38] She appeared in a cameo role of Jhansi Lakshmi Bhai in Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy which is her only release in 2019 . Later she appeared in Nishabdham which was an OTT Release. After a gap of few years she made her comeback with Miss Shetty Mr Polishetty in 2023, her portrayal as a master chef got her critical acclaim. She acted in Krish Jagarlamudi's Ghaati (2025). She is making her Malayalam debut with Kathanar alongside Jayasurya in Rojin Thomas' direction.