Anu Prabhakar

Anu Prabhakar
Anu in TeachAids interview, 2013
Born
Annapurna Prabhakar

(1980-11-09) 9 November 1980
Bangalore, Karnataka, India
OccupationActress
Years active1989–present
Spouses
Krishna Kumar
​
​
(m. 2002; div. 2014)​
​
(m. 2016)​
Children1

Annapurna Prabhakar (born 9 November 1980)[1][2] is an Indian actress, who predominantly appears in Kannada-language films.

Early life

Anu was born in Bangalore on 9 November 1980 to M. V. Prabhakar (died 2003),[2] an engineer with Bharat Heavy Electricals, and Gayathri, a dubbing artiste and actress. Anu grew up in the Malleswaram suburb of Bangalore, and studied in the Nirmala Rani High School. She appeared as a child artiste in Kannada films, and an English television series titled The Mysteries of the Dark Jungle (1990). She dropped out of college when her career as a lead actress took off.[3] She later went on to pursue a master's degree in sociology from Karnataka University through correspondence.[3][4]

Career

Anu received her first acting offer in 1989 to appear in Chapala Chennigaraya (1990). After working for four years in other films such as Swarna Samsara (1990), Shanti Kranti (1991) and Obbarigintha Obbaru (1992), she enrolled in Mount Carmel College, Bangalore, to study commerce. At this stage, Anu aspired to become an airhostess. However, she was cast as lead opposite Shiva Rajkumar in Hrudaya Hrudaya (1999), produced under the banner Sri Vaishnavi Combines. The film emerged as a commercial success, as was her other release of the year, Snehaloka.[5] Reviewer Srikanth Srinivasa of Deccan Herald, while writing that she needed improvement in her dialogue delivery and diction, wrote that she "comes a whiff of fresh air to the Kannada film industry".[6] On her portrayal as the love interest of Ramesh Aravind's character in Snehaloka, Srinivasa stated that she was "a sweet delight to watch."[7]

Anu would go on to form a popular pair with Ramesh Aravind. She has co-starred with Vishnuvardhan in several films like Soorappa, Jamindarru, Hrudayavantha, Sahukara and Varsha. Anu has acted in a few Tamil movies as well. In 2009, she gave her voice to an HIV/AIDS education animated software tutorial created by nonprofit organisation TeachAids.[8] In her yet-to-release film based on the life of 12th-century Kannada poet Akka Mahadevi, she played a dual role: one of the poet and the other of Jyothi, a girl who pursues PhD on the poet.[9]

Personal life

Anu first married Krishna Kumar, an engineer with the telecommunication department, and son of actress Jayanthi,[10] in March 2002. After 12 years of marriage, the couple applied for a divorce by mutual consent in January 2014.[11][12] On 25 April 2016, Anu married model-turned-actor Raghu Mukherjee.[13] They have a daughter named Nandana.[14]

Filmography

  • Note: all films are in Kannada, unless otherwise noted.
YearFilmRoleNotes
1990Chapala ChennigarayaAnuUncredited
Swarna SamsaraMunniCredited as Baby Annapurna
1991Shanti KrantiYoung JyothiUncredited
1992Obbarigintha ObbaruMalaCredited as Baby Annapurna
1999Hrudaya HrudayaUshaDebut as lead actress
SnehalokaPriya
2000SoorappaSpecial appearance
Shrirasthu ShubhamasthuSwapna
Yaarige Saluthe SambalaKusuma
2001Hoo Anthiya Uhoo AnthiyaChandana
Anjali Geetanjali
ShaapaKaveriKarnataka State Film Award for Best Actress[15]
Mr. HarishchandraPallavi
KanasugaraSpecial appearance
Vishalakshammana GandaVishalakshi
ShivappanayakaGirija
2002JamindaarruAnusuya
Annayya TammayyaAnu
ArputhamPriyaTamil film
Thavarige Baa ThangiGowri
Olu Saar Bari OluRoja
2003Shri KalikambaEeswariSimultaneously shot in Tamil as Annai Kaligambal
Nan Hendthi MaduvePriya
Neenilde Nanu Illa KaneJyoti / Deepa
Preethi Prema PranayaKavya
HrudayavanthaGouthami
ArdhangiMahadevi
2004Bisi BisiRadha Ramesh
Ok Saar OkDivya
Preethi Nee Illade Naa HyagiraliChandramathi
KanakambariShanti
SahukaraAnjali
2005UdeesSeetha
VarshaRoopa
MajaaSelviTamil film
2006Mohini 9886788888Sumanna
Saavira MettiluSpecial appearance
2007Sri Dhanamma DeviSri Dhanamma Devi
No 73, Shanthi NivasaNeetha
PrarambhaMotherShort film
2008Navashakthi VaibhavaGoddess Annapurneshwari
MussanjemaatuShwethaNominated, Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress (Kannada)
2009GubbaachigaluGayathri
Bhagyada Balegara
2010Banashankari Devi Mahatme
PareeksheBangariKarnataka State Film Award for Best Actress
2011Ko Ko
2012Sri Kshetra Adichunchanagiri
Samsaradalli GolmaalRagini
2013Garbhada GudiTeresa
SakkareSneha
Kariya Kan BittaSpecial appearance
2014Fair & Lovely
2015AatagaraSandhya Ramagopal
2016Shivayogi Sri Puttayyajja
2017Once More Kaurava
2018TunturuSandhya
2019AnuktaAnupama Shetty
2021Rathnan PrapanchaTabassum
2022JamesVijay Gayakwad's wife
2023AgentP. LakshmiTelugu film
Melody DramaIndirakka
2024BhairadeviShalini
TBAAkkaAkka Mahadevi / JyotiFilming

Television

References

  1. ↑ "Kannada Movie Actress Anu Prabhakar Biography". Nettv4u. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  2. 1 2 Anu Prabhakar - Cinema, Wife & Motherhood, Money, Divorce, Ups & Downs of life (Interview) (in Kannada). Rapid Rashmi. 29 July 2024. Event occurs at 6:49. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  3. 1 2 Prabhakar, Anu. TV9 Mareyalaare: Actress Anu Prabhakar Shares Sweet Memories of Her Life Time - Full (in Kannada). Bangalore, India: TV9 Kannada. Event occurs at 15:00. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  4. ↑ "Anu Prabhakar mum on her separation from her husband". The Times of India. 1 August 2014. Archived from the original on 5 August 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  5. ↑ "Iam here to stay - Anu Prabhakar". Indiainfo. Archived from the original on 30 September 2000. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  6. ↑ Srinivasa, Srikanth (19 September 1999). "Hrudaya...Hrudayaa! (KANNADA)". Deccan Herald. Archived from the original on 8 March 2000. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  7. ↑ Srinivasa, Srikanth (26 December 1999). "SNEHALOKA (Kannada), Reviewer: Srikanth Srinivasa". Deccan Herald. Archived from the original on 5 June 2000. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  8. ↑ "Kannada actress, Anu Prabhakar, plays role in TeachAIDS production". TeachAids. 25 September 2009. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
  9. ↑ "I try to keep my characters alive". Deccan Herald. 7 October 2014. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  10. ↑ "YEE HRUDAYA K.KUMARGAGI Wedding Bells For Young Actress Anu". Chitraloka. 4 July 2001. Archived from the original on 10 July 2001. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  11. ↑ "It's splitsville for Anu Prabhakar and Krishna Kumar". The Times of India. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  12. ↑ "Actor Anu Prabhakar files for divorce". Deccan Herald. 30 January 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  13. ↑ "Actors Anu Prabhakar and Raghu Mukherjee tie the knot". The Hindu. 26 April 2016. Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  14. ↑ "Doting parents! Sandalwood stars strike a pose with their cute babies". The Times of India. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  15. ↑ "'Mussanje' bags best film award". The Hindu. 29 May 2001. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
Wikimedia Commons logo
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Anu Prabhakar.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.