Mamilla Shailaja Priya

Mamilla Shailaja Priya
Born Mamilla Shailaja Priya
1978 (age 3637)
Bapatla, Andhra Pradesh, India
Residence Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
Other names Priyasakhi

Mamilla Shailaja Priya, popularly known as Priya in Telugu film & TV actress, was born in 1978. She appeared primarily in Telugu feature films and television soap operas and has also acted in other languages like Hindi and Tamil.

She made her acting debut in 1998 with the movie “Master” which featured “Megastar” Chiranjeevi. In the same year, she has started her television career with the lead role in the serial “Priya Sakhi” which also happened to be the first mega serial in Gemini channel directed by Vadderaju Lakshmi Sharat and produced by Dr.Vadderaju Sharat Kumar. This serial was a run away hit and was hugely popular among the young and the old alike. She came to be known as “Priya Sakhi” Priya following the huge success of her character in the serial. She has won the prestigious “Nandi Award” presented by the government of Andhra Pradesh for her role in this serial.

This followed with a string of soap operas in almost all the leading TV channels in Telugu, in which she has acted in a variety of roles. Apart from soap operas, she has acted in about 60 feature films in Telugu and Hindi with various co stars like Chiranjeevi, Pawan Kalyan, Venkatesh, Nagarjuna and also with the Super Star of Indian Cinema, Amitabh Bachchan.

Early life and career

Popularly known as Priya, Mamilla Shailaja Priya was born in 1978 in Bapatla town in Andhra Pradesh, India. Her parents are Shri Mamilla Venkateswar Rao and Smt Mamilla Kusuma Kumari. She is the third among the three sisters, and is the blue eyed and the most favorite child in the family. She has done her schooling in Hyderabad, and while in college has won the Miss College Pageant. She later started pursuing her acting career. Thereafter she has determinedly pursued her studies and completed her graduation in the discipline of Bachelor of Arts.

She started her acting career alongside the Megastar of Telugu film Industry, Padma Bhushan Chiranjeevi in the film “Master” in 1998. In the same year, she started her television career with the first mega serial on Gemini Television titled “Priya Sakhi”. This was a hugely popular serial and a runaway hit. She has carved a niche for herself among the Telugu viewers with a variety of roles in her later films and serials by portraying a range of different characters.

Family

Priya married MVS Kishore in 2002, they have a son MVS Nischay born in 2003. They are living a happy life together in Hyderabad.kp

Kishore, Nischay and Priya
Kishore and Priya celebrating Nischay's birthday with family and friends

Awards

She has been honored by the government of Andhra Pradesh with the prestigious “Nandi” Award[1] very early in her career. Thereafter she is the recipient of various awards like the Dasari Cultural Award, Swathi Cultural Award, & Vamsee Berkeley Award. She won the prestigious Cine Goers Award & Gemini Ugadi Puraskaram for her portrayal of the Character “Bhuvaneshwari” in Kotha Bangaaram.[2]

Television appearances

She has started her television career with the runaway hit “Priya Sakhi” in which she has portrayed the lead role which had different shades ranging from the young to the old. It was so popular that she is still identified as “Priyasakhi” Priya and the name stuck to her. The fact that she has acted in serials like “Priya Ninu Choodaleka” & “Priya O Priya” is proof enough for the huge popularity her first serial has given her. Later, she has acted in almost all the leading Television channels in Telugu. Her serials include Lady Detective, Sangarshana, Pelli Chesukundam & Jwaala for Etv, Dairy of Mrs Sharada & Kotha Bangaaram for Gemini, Maanasa for Maa TV, Vaidehi for Doordarshan, Chinna Kodalu for Zee TV, and Naagamma in Tamil for Sun TV. She has also done a Hindi serial titled “Yehi hai Zindagi”. Thus she has proven her versatility.

She is acting in a mega serial titled “Kotha Bangaaram” produced by the prestigious firm “Balaji Tele films” in Gemini TV. Her character in this serial is named Bhuvaneshwari and this character is the talk of every Telugu house hold. She is also featured in the mega serial “Chinna Kodalu” in Zee TV and another Tamil serial “Nagamma” in Sun TV.

Santoor top 10 was a program anchored by Priya which was a hugely popular show. This ran for 2 years in Gemini Channel and she had portrayed different characters in each episode of the show. Similarly, Geethanjali was another music based show anchored by Priya for Etv. This also was very popular and ran for a year. Endaro Mahanubhavulu is another show anchored by Priya which portrayed the achievements of various famous people in Andhra Pradesh from all walks of life.

Apart from this, she has compeered a lot of stage shows and anchored a lot of programs all around Andhra Pradesh. Her shows were very popular and she was the star attraction in almost all her shows.

She has appeared in commercials for prestigious brands like Chandana Brothers, Shakthi Gas, Til Sona Oil and Kanchan Mixer Grinder. She has been credited with the cover page of the most popular Telugu family magazine, “Swathi.”

Filmography

She started her acting career alongside the Megastar of Telugu film Industry, Padma Bhushan Chiranjeevi in the film “Master” in 1998. In the same year, she started her television career with the first mega serial on Gemini Television titled “Priya Sakhi”. This was a hugely popular serial and a runaway hit. She has carved a niche for herself among the Telugu viewers with a variety of roles in her later films and serials by portraying a range of different characters.

In all she has acted in about 60 feature films alongside almost all the leading stars of Telugu film industry like “Megastar” Chiranjeevi, Venkatesh, Mahesh Babu, Nagarjuna, Pawan Kalyan to name a few. She was a constant accompaniment to almost all the leading heroines in her movies. Some of her famous movies include Master & Annayya with “Megastar” Chiranjeevi, Gokulamlo Seetha with Pawan Kalyan, Chandra Lekha with Nagarjuna, Raja Kumarudu with Mahesh Babu, Jayam Manadera with Venkatesh and most importantly, Soorya Vamsham in Hindi with the Indian Super Star Amithabh Bachan.

Her other films include Taamboolalu, Pedda Manushulu, Maa Vidaakulu, Greeku Veerudu, Sakutumba Saparivara Samethamga, Velugu Needalu, Dongaata, Chiru Navvutho, Harishchandra, Madhuri, Manavudu Danavudu, Sambhavam, and Kathi Kantha Rao. In 2012 she appeared in Akkineni Nagarjuna's most acclaimed Dhamarukam. She also had a character of Mom of Richa Gangopadhyay in Prabhas's MIrchi. She has done Iddarammayilatho with Rao Ramesh, as mother of Catherine Tresa.

References

  1. The Hindu: Priya receiving Nandi Award 1998
  2. Sun TV Network Kotha Bangaaram

External links