Malashri

Malashri (born Sridurga Pandey) is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Kannada cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Telugu and Tamil language films. In a career spanning three decades she has appeared in about 70 films. She began her career as a child artiste in the 1979 Tamil film Imayam. She made her debut as a adult in the 1989 Kannada-language film Nanjundi Kalyana. In the following years, she established herself as one of Kannada cinema's top heroines. She had been called, by the media and fans, "Kanasina Rani". She was popular for playing diverse roles in women-centric movies many of which were highly successful at the box-office. Her debut film Nanjundi Kalyana was a major box office success, which was her breakthrough. Throughout the '90s, she starred in several successful films like: Gajapathi Garvabhanga (1989), Policena Hendthi (1990), Kitturina Huli (1990), Rani Maharani (1990), Mruthyunjaya (1990), Hrudaya Haadithu (1991), Ramachaari (1991), Belli Kalungura (1992), Solillada Saradara (1993) and Gadibidi Aliya (1995) establishing herself as one of the top heroines of the Kannada film industry. In 1992, she starred in 19 films, breaking the 24-year-old record of highest releases in Kannada in a lead role in a single year, held by Dr. Rajkumar. She won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress in 1991 for her performance as a young woman inflicted with an incurable heart disease in the movie Hrudaya Haadithu. In 2015, she won her first Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress for her action-oriented role in Ganga. She was considered Hema Malini of Kannada cinema by Dr. Rajkumar.