1986-2000: Debut as a lead and success
Sudha was noticed by producer Parvathamma Rajkumar in a thread ceremony video when she was 12 and was selected to play the lead role in the film Anand in 1986 opposite Shiva Rajkumar. The film turned out to be a major commercial success establishing the careers of both the lead actors. [4] They became a popular pair and were cast in more films such as Mana Mechchida Hudugi (1987), Ranaranga (1988), Aasegobba Meesegobba (1990), Midida Shruthi (1992) and Samara (1995). In 1988, she played daughter to Dr. Rajkumar in Devatha Manushya . She reprised her role played in Mana Mechchida Hudugi in her Tamil debut, Annakili Sonna Kathai (1989), paired opposite Sathyaraj.
Few other films where Sudha's performance was noted during this period include Kashinath starrer Avane Nanna Ganda , Dwarakish directorial Krishna Nee Kunidaga (both 1989) and Panchama Veda (1990) which earned her first Karnataka State Film Award, the Telugu film, Master Kapuram (1990), where she was credited as Gayatri and the Tamil films, Vasanthakala Paravai (1991) and Thangakkili (1993), credited as Shali. In 1992, she featured in a lead role in K S Narasimha Swamy's poetry collection film, Mysore Mallige , directed by T. S. Nagabharana. She played the role of Padma who falls in love with a poet and entangles in the village's feudal structure. The film won several awards upon release including Sudha's maiden Filmfare Award and second Karnataka State Film Award.
After Shiva Rajkumar, her next successful pairing was with Ramesh Aravind. They both went on to star in over eight films, including Panchama Veda (1990), Vasanthakala Paravai (1991), Mouna Mozhi (1992), Srigandha , Aragini , Anuraga Sangama (all 1995), Ganda Mane Makkalu, Varagala Bete, Balondu Chaduranga and Accident. Her other successful pairing were with Ambareesh ( Saptapadi , Mannina Doni , Munjaneya Manju , Mr. Abhishek), V. Ravichandran ( Mane Devru ), Shashikumar ( Swathi ), Anant Nag (Nanenu Madlilla), Devaraj and Ramkumar ( Kavya , Mahakshathriya ). With actor Vishnuvardhan, she appeared, although not opposite role, in Mahakshathriya (1994) and Kona Edaithe (1995).
In 1995, she expanded to Malayalam films with Aadyathe Kanmani playing the lead role opposite Jayaram. She ended the decade with her comeback film after a brief hiatus of three years with a lead role in Sunil Kumar Desai's Sparsha (2000). She received her second Filmfare Award for her performance in the film.
2001-till date: Supporting roles
After 2000, Sudha took up supporting roles with minimum screen space since she had to cater to her family responsibilities. She began this with a cameo appearance in K. Raghavendra Rao's Kannada-Telugu bilingual hagiographical film, Sri Manjunatha . Her next notable role came with Kavita Lankesh's Preethi Prema Pranaya (2003) which showcased three generations of couple life with Sudha pairing opposite Prakash Raj. Her performance as a sister-in-law to Puneeth Rajkumar in Namma Basava (2005) was praised by critics. Some other note worthy roles came with Auto Shankar . Magic Ajji (both 2005), Thirupathi (2006), Mr. Garagasa , Navashakthi Vaibhava (both 2008), Ghauttham (2009), Dandupalya (2012) and Bharath Stores (2013). The satire comedy film Vaastu Prakaara (2015) earned her critical praise and won her Filmfare Best Supporting Actress award. She made a comeback to Tamil cinema with Nibunan which was simultaneously shot in Kannada under the title Vismaya in 2017. She took up lead actor mother roles in films such as Padde Huli , Amar and Geetha , all released in 2019. She wound up the decade playing Police Commissioner role in Kannad Gothilla (2019).
Sudha continued to feature in several films playing supporting roles in 2020s. These include Yuvarathnaa (2021), Avatara Purusha , Thurthu Nirgamana (both 2022), Yuva , Krishnam Pranaya Sakhi , Bagheera (all 2024) and the Kannada-Telugu bilingual Junior (2025).
