Manju Bhargavi

Manju Bhargavi is an actress and dancer, best known for her performance in the Telugu blockbusters, Nayakudu Vinayakudu and Sankarabharanam (1980), which both released in the same year, just a day apart.

Early life Manju Bhargavi's parents originally hailed from Andhra Pradesh but settled in Madras. After marriage she settled in Bengaluru.

Career

She was trained as a classical dancer and performed at many dance shows. At one of these shows, filmmaker Prakash Rao saw her and cast her in a dance sequence for the Telugu film Gaalipataalu (1974). It led to dance numbers in the hit films Krishnaveni (1974), Soggadu (1975) and Yamagola (1977). She was also seen as a vamp in Nayakudu Vinayakudu opposite ANR and Jayalalithaa. She was then cast in the film President Peramma where she performed a dance number, and then the film's director K. Vishwanath asked her to submit some photographs where she wasn't wearing any make-up. She complied and he liked the results and cast her in the lead role as an unglamorous dancer in his next film Sankarabharanam (1979), a film that broke box office records and became a landmark in Telugu cinema. Besides the dubbed version of Sankarabharanam, she has acted in some landmark Malayalam movies too. She has done a Tamil movie song in BILLA in 1980 as well as a cameo in the famous classical dance sequence with Kamal Haasan in the movie Saagara Sangamam in 1983. Although she was very satisfied with the film as it gave her fame and respect, she didn't get many roles in films after that, her height being the reason, but she chose to concentrate on her dance programs and running the dance school. One of her disciples is Deepa Sashindran.

Family Her husband is the son of a retired IAS officer Vengopal Naidu. His family is also originally from Andhra Pradesh but later settled in Bangalore, which is where she currently lives. She had two sons, but one of her sons died of cancer in 2007. She runs a dance school in Bangalore, and because of that and her dance shows, she doesn't have much time to act in films, taking an occasional role when it fits into her busy schedule. In 2008, she made her Kannada film debut in Hatrick Hodi Maga playing Shivaraj Kumar's mother.

She acted as Subbulakshmi in the popular TV serial Thangam on Sun TV.

Filmography

Telugu Devi Lalithamba (1973) Gaalipataalu (1974) Krishnaveni (1974) Chaduvu Samskaram (1974) Yashoda Krishna (1975) Soggadu (1976) Yamagola (1977) Sahasavanthudu (1978) Anthuleni Vintha Katha (1979) as Lavanya Gandharva Kanya (1979) as Chatura Sri Tirupati Venkateswara Kalyanam (1979) Kothala Raayudu (1979) as Lily President Peramma (1979) Sankarabharanam (1980) Cinema Pichodu (1980) Kodallu Vastunnaru Jagratha (1980) Nayakudu Vinayakudu (1980) Patalam Pandu (1981) Amrutha Kalasham (1981) Prema Simhasanam (1981) Bala Nagamma (1982) Sagara Sangamam (1983) Yamaleela (1994) Mummy Mee Aayanochadu (1996) Jabilamma Pelli (1996) Ninne Pelladata (1996) Pournami (2006) as Pournami and Chandrakala's stepmother Bhageerathudu (2010) Shakti (2011) Kshetram (2011) Attack (2016) LAW : Love and War (2018) Guna 369 (2019) Angulika (2021)

Malayalam Devi Kanyakumari (1974) Pulivalu (1975) Njavalppazhangal (1976) Saritha (1977) Sathrathil Oru Raathri (1978)

Tamil Tripura Sundari (1978) Gandharva Kanni (1979) Devi Dharisanam (1980) Yamanukku Yaman (1980) Billa (1980) Bala Nagamma (1981) Mamiyara Marumagala (1982) Magane Magane (1982) Sringaram (2007)

Kannada Hatrick Hodi Maga (2009)

Hindi Rani Aur Lalpari (1975) Lok Parlok (1979)

Television Telugu Yamaleela - Aa Taruvatha (2020–2022) Ammaku Teliyani Koilamma (2021)

Tamil Thangam (2009-2013) Ganga (2018)