Sumalatha

Quality 0.50 · 3 views · Updated 2 months ago

Indian actress and politician (born 1963)

title: "Sumalatha" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["living-people", "actresses-in-malayalam-cinema", "actresses-in-tamil-cinema", "actresses-in-telugu-cinema", "actresses-in-kannada-cinema", "indian-film-actresses", "actresses-from-chennai", "20th-century-indian-actresses", "21st-century-indian-actresses", "1963-births", "india-mps-2019–2024", "women-members-of-the-lok-sabha", "indian-actor-politicians", "actresses-in-hindi-cinema", "telugu-people", "people-from-guntur-district", "independent-politicians-in-india", "lok-sabha-members-from-karnataka", "21st-century-indian-women-politicians", "nandi-award-winners"] description: "Indian actress and politician (born 1963)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumalatha" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Indian actress and politician (born 1963) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

FieldValue
partyBharatiya Janata Party (2024–present)
otherpartyIndependent (2019–2024)
nameSumalatha
imageSumalatha (cropped).jpg
captionSumalatha in 2019
officeMember of Parliament, Lok Sabha
constituencyMandya
term_start23 May 2019
term_end4 June 2024
predecessorL. R. Shivarame Gowda
successorH.D.Kumaraswamy
birth_date
birth_placeMadras, Madras State (present-day Chennai, Tamil Nadu), India
occupation
spouse
childrenAbhishek Gowda
::

| party = Bharatiya Janata Party (2024–present) | otherparty =Independent (2019–2024) | name = Sumalatha | image = Sumalatha (cropped).jpg | caption = Sumalatha in 2019 | office = Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | constituency = Mandya | term_start = 23 May 2019 | term_end = 4 June 2024 | predecessor = L. R. Shivarame Gowda | successor = H.D.Kumaraswamy | birthname = | birth_date = | birth_place = Madras, Madras State (present-day Chennai, Tamil Nadu), India | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = | spouse = | children = Abhishek Gowda

Sumalatha is the widow of Kannada actor-politician Ambareesh, with whom she has a son, Abhishek Ambareesh. In March 2019, she announced her candidacy for the Mandya Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka. Contesting as an independent, she won the election, defeating Nikhil Kumaraswamy by a margin of over 1.25 lakh votes. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/0I5B1233.jpg" caption="Sumalatha Received Honorary Doctorate from United Technological Research University of America"] ::

Career

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Sumalatha.jpg" caption="Sumalatha during [[60th Filmfare Awards South]] in 2013"] ::

Sumalatha did her schooling at St. Joseph's Convent School, Brodipet, Guntur. She began acting at age 15, after winning an Andhra Pradesh beauty contest in 1979. After her pictures began circulating in the magazines, film producer D. Ramanaidu expressed interest in casting her in his film and offered her a signing amount of 1,001 in 1979. However, she made her film debut in Tamil with Thisai Maariya Paravaigal (1979). She was named the Best New Face following the film.

She entered the Telugu film industry with Samajaniki Saval (1979). She made her Kannada debut with Ravichandra (1980) opposite Dr. Rajkumar her Malayalam debut with Moorkhan (1980). She was Rajinikanth's heroine along with Rati Agnihotri in films like Murattu Kaalai and Kazhugu. She was the heroine of legendary Malayalam actor Jayan's last film Kolilakkam (1981).

Sumalatha reportedly speaks six languages, and has acted in five appearing in many Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada films and a few in Tamil and Hindi. Her most memorable Malayalam films include Thazhvaram, Isabella, Nirakkoottu, Dhinarathrangal, Thoovanathumbikal, Parampara and New Delhi. Her popular Kannada movies include Aahuti, Avatara Purusha, New Delhi, Taayi Kanasu, Karna, Hong Kongnalli Agent Amar, Taayiya Hone and Kallarali Hoovagii.

She received the best actress Nandi Award for her role in Shrutilayalu in 1987.

She is a close friend of actress Suhasini Maniratnam. The friendship between the two provided the material for a candid scene in the film, when director Kodandarami Reddy noticed Suhasini combing Sumalatha's long hair on a train journey to the film set. Reddy had asked his cameraman, Ashok Reddy, to film the two and added the scene to the movie's final cut.

Personal life

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/The_Minister_of_State_for_Information_&_Broadcasting_Shri_M._H._Ambareesh_and_his_wife_Smt.Sumalatha_calls_on_the_Union_Minister_for_Information&_Broadcasting_and_Parliamentary_Affairs,_Shri_Priyaranjan_Dasmunsi.jpg" caption="Sumalatha with husband [[Ambareesh"] ::

Sumalatha married Kannada actor and politician Ambareesh on 8 December 1991 and their son Abhishek Gowda was born in the year 1993. She starred alongside Ambareesh in movies like Aahuti, Avatara Purusha, Kallarali Hoovagi, New Delhi and Sri Manjunatha. Kallarali Hoovagi went on to win a National Film Award.

In an interview with TV9 Kannada, the couple revealed that they first met each other on the sets of the movie Aahuti. In the course of the interview, Sumalatha expressed that Ambareesh was extroverted and gregarious in nature where as she leaned more towards an introverted and conscientious personality on the sets. She shared memories of Ambareesh giving her friendly advice to mingle with other co-stars on set by involving herself in group activities; else it could lead to misunderstandings. She revealed that it was Ambareesh's bold, and carefree personality that made him memorable and attractive to her.

On 24 November 2018 Ambareesh died due to a cardiac arrest. Sumalatha shared an emotional letter addressed to late Ambareesh on 8 December 2018, their 27th wedding anniversary. On 6 July 2020, it was reported that Sumalatha tested positive for COVID-19 and had placed herself in home quarantine.

Political life

In March 2019, Sumalatha announced that she would be contesting as an independent candidate in the 2019 Indian general election in Karnataka (Lok Sabha) from Mandya. She was backed by big stars from the Kannada film industry like Darshan, Yash, Rockline Venkatesh, Doddanna. Bharatiya Janata Party decided not to field a candidate in Mandya in efforts to support her. Some of the Congress Party workers supported her indirectly due to the history of traditional rivalry between JDS - Congress rivalry in Mandya which was a tricky situation for congress. She won, defeating Nikhil with a margin of 128,876 votes. She is the first Independent woman Member of parliament from Karnataka.

Sumalatha joined BJP ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha Elections on 05 April 2024 in the presence of Former Chief Ministers B S Yediyurappa & D V Sadananda Gowda, State President B Y Vijayendra, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly R Ashoka, national General Secretary in-charge of elections in Karnataka Radha Mohan Das Agarwal.

Awards

  • Devar's Best New Face Award: Thisai Maariya Paravaigal (1979) (Tamil)
  • Special Jury Nandi award (Best Actress): Sruthilayalu (1987) (Telugu)
  • Film Fans Award for Best Actress: Sruthilayalu (1987) (Telugu)
  • Kerala Film Critics Award for Best Actress: New Delhi and Thoovanathumbikal (1987) (Malayalam)
  • Lux Award for Best Actress: New Delhi (1987) (Malayalam)
  • Film Fans Award for Best Actress: New Delhi (1987) (Hindi)
  • Kerala Film Critics Award for Best Actress: Isabella (1988) (Malayalam)
  • Honorary doctorate by the United Technological Research University of America in Hyderabad (2024).

Filmography

Telugu

Malayalam

Kannada

Tamil

Hindi

References

References

  1. "Parliament of India biodata".
  2. (2019). "Sumalatha Ambareesh". news18.com.
  3. "Sumalatha Ambareesh(Independent(IND)):Constituency- MANDYA(KARNATAKA) - Affidavit Information of Candidate".
  4. (27 March 2015). "On the road of flowers". The Hindu.
  5. (Aug 14, 2013). "Nostalgia".
  6. "Archived copy".
  7. (11 August 2009). "Rebel-Star ಅಂಬರೀಶ್Sumalatha ,PRAMAPALLAVI".
  8. "personal".
  9. Gejji, Anil. (25 November 2018). "Ambareesh death: Kannada actor, former Union minister Ambareesh died in Bengaluru hospital".
  10. "Sumalatha Amarnath".
  11. (18 March 2019). "Sumalatha to contest Mandya LS polls as an independent".
  12. (18 March 2019). "It's official. Sumalatha to contest as Independent from Mandya". The Hindu.
  13. (23 March 2019). "Actor Ambareesh's Wife Sumalatha Gets BJP Backing In Karnataka's Mandya". NDTV.com.
  14. (23 May 2019). "Karnataka Lok Sabha Election Results: Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil loses in Mandya".
  15. Yasmeen, Afshan. (25 May 2019). "Two women from State heading to Lok Sabha this time". The Hindu.
  16. (5 April 2024). "Karnataka Independent MP Sumalatha Ambareesh Joins BJP Ahead Of Polls".
  17. (5 April 2024). "Mandya MP Sumalatha Ambareesh joins BJP in Karnataka".
  18. "Biodata".
  19. (20 January 2024). "ఘనంగా డాక్టరేట్స్ ప్రదానం.. మీడియా పార్టనర్ గా 'రాష్ట్ర'".
  20. "PRALAYA SIMHAM (1984)".
  21. ETV Cinema. (2024-09-09). "Intiko Rudramma Full Movie {{!}} Bhanuchander,Sumalatha,Ranganath,Sharada,Sujatha,Giribabu {{!}} ETV Cinema".
  22. "Intiko Rudramma (1985) - S.A. Chandrashekhar {{!}} Cast and Crew {{!}} AllMovie".
  23. "Varadanayaka: Khakhi Power".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

living-peopleactresses-in-malayalam-cinemaactresses-in-tamil-cinemaactresses-in-telugu-cinemaactresses-in-kannada-cinemaindian-film-actressesactresses-from-chennai20th-century-indian-actresses21st-century-indian-actresses1963-birthsindia-mps-2019–2024women-members-of-the-lok-sabhaindian-actor-politiciansactresses-in-hindi-cinematelugu-peoplepeople-from-guntur-districtindependent-politicians-in-indialok-sabha-members-from-karnataka21st-century-indian-women-politiciansnandi-award-winners