Radha Kumari

Radha Kumari Biography

Radha Kumari was a veteran south Indian actress who appeared in over 700 movies in a career spanning to 4 decades. She was equally verse in handling comic roles and character roles and has been one of the most sought actresses to play mother and grandmother roles onscreen. She shared screen space with her husband - actor Raavi Kondala Rao for several movies which included more than 100 movies as onscreen couple and their pairing was quite popular. In fact, Tene Manasulu (1965) was the debut movie of both these actors and they were paired for the first time in this movie. She has also been a versatile stage actress who has appeared on stage for more than 10,000 plays.

Radha Kumari was born into a middle class family in the year 1942 in Vizianagaram, Andra Pradesh. Ramana Murthy and Surya Prakasamma were her parents. She began her career as a stage actress at the age of 12.  She got good encouragement from her parents. Since then she has acted in more than 10000 plays during her life time. She made her debut in 1962 with the film 'Tene Manasulu' directed by Adurthi Subba Rao and produced by Sundaram. She played hero Krishna's mother in the movie. She was paired with another debutant Raavi Kondala Rao for the movie, whom she married later. Since then she donned over 700 character roles onscreen among which 'Bridavanam', 'Okarikiokaru', 'Chandamama', 'Bhairava Dweepam' and 'Oye' are the memorable ones.

She has acted with two generation of Telugu actors. She won ‘Nandi' award for her role in Mee Sreyobhilashi film in 2007. She passed away on March 8, 2012 in Hyderabad following a cardiac arrest. She was 70. Her husband was at Dubai when this incident took place and he returned. The couple had one son - RV Sashikumar.

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Updated: December 30, 2015