Madhavi was a famous South Indian film actress. She played the heroine role for 17 years in five languages: Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi.
Madhavi was born on 14 th September, 1962 in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. Her parents are Sasirekha and Govinda Swamy. She has a brother and a sister.
She started dancing when she was eight years old. She became a well-known Bharat Natyam dancer and has given more than a thousand performances.
She had appeared in small roles in films as a child actress. While studying in eighth grade at Stanley Girls High School in Hyderabad, she was discovered by famous film director Dasari Narayana Rao who cast her in the leading role in the Telugu film “Thoorpu Padamara,” which was a huge success, and catapulted her to stardom.
The film became a huge hit. Then the director K. Balachander then cast her in a supporting role in his hit Telugu film Marocharithra (1979). She repeated her role in the Hindi remake Ek Duje Ke Liye (1981), which became the top grossing film of 1981. In both films, she showed remarkable sensitivity as a lonely wealthy woman who falls in love with Kamal Haasan. She earned a Filmfare nomination as Best Supporting Actress.
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| Bikini Aunts: Radha, Swapna and Madhavi with Kamalahassan |
Although she gained a reputation as a serious artiste because of her sensitive performance in “Ek Duje Ke Liye” (1982), she has had no problem exhibiting a fun, sexy image by donning a bikini in the Tamil film “Tik Tik Tik” (1981) or sporting a blonde look in her personal life in 2006.
Director K. Balachander was so impressed with her performance in his films (Marocharithra and Ek Duje Ke Liye) that he introduced her to the Tamil film industry in the film Thillu Mullu released in 1981 with Rajinikanth. By the end of the decade, she was starring opposite superstar Amitabh Bachchan in the Hindi film Agneepath in1990.
Madhavi later acted alongside Kamal Haasan in Raja Paarvai, Tik Tik Tik, Kaakki Chattai and Mangamma Sabadham appearing in a swimsuit in all the films. Other films with Rajinikanth included Garjanai and Thambikku endha ooru.
She acted in number of films with Telugu star hero Chiranjeevi. Her first movie with chiranjeevi was Intlo Ramaiah Veedhilo Krishnaiah in 1982. Later she acted agiain with Chiranjeevi in block bluster movie Khaidi. Her last movie in Telugu was Big Boss as a character artist and Chiranjeevi as lead role.
She acted in number of Kannada movies which have been a big success. She acted with many popular Kannada heroes including Dr. Raj Kumar, Vishnu Vardhan, Anant Nag and Ambareesh.
She also donned many roles in Malayalam movies with superstars like Mammootty and Mohanlal. Her beautiful portrayal of the legendary “Unniyaarcha” in the national award winning movie “Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha” was well appreciated. Also a very notable film was “Aakashadooth” in which she had done a very popular mother role who met her end with lukeamia.
After going through many difficulties including caught for immoral activities, in 1996, her spiritual teacher ‘Swami Rama’ arranged her marriage to one of his disciples, a Pharmaceutical businessman Ralph Sharma who is half Indian and half German in 1996. She moved to New Jersey, USA and assists her husband in the pharmaceutical business. They have three children: Tiffany, Priscilla, and Evelyn.
She has appeared in more than three hundred films. She ended her seventeen-year career as a leading lady after her marriage she retired from films, but she has indicated that she still feels the urge to act when she sees good films. She has a strong faith in her Hindu religion and makes regular pilgrimage trips to India.