Anushka Shetty is an Indian actress who appears in Telugu and Tamil films. She is often considered as one of the most influential actresses in history of Telugu cinema industry. With a cinematic career spanning over two decades, she has played pivotal roles in over 50 films. She made her acting debut in Puri Jagannadh's 2005 Telugu film Super, and appeared in Mahanandi, released later the same year. The following year, she had four releases, the first being S. S. Rajamouli's Vikramarkudu, which helped her gain recognition, followed by Astram (a remake of the 1999 Hindi film Sarfarosh), the Sundar C-directed Rendu, (which marked her debut in Tamil cinema), and a special appearance in AR Murugadoss' Telugu film Stalin. She had two releases in 2007: Lakshyam and Don. In 2008, she appeared in six films, including Okka Magaadu, Swagatam and Souryam. In 2009, Shetty played two roles in the fantasy Arundhati. She went on to win the Nandi Special Jury Award and the Filmfare Best Telugu Actress Award for this film. Her next release that year was Billa, a Telugu remake of the 1978 Hindi film of the same name. Her final release in 2009 was her second Tamil feature film, the masala film Vettaikaaran, where she appeared as a medical student.
Shetty had a string of releases in 2010. She portrayed a prostitute in Krish's Vedam, which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Telugu Actress. Despite critical acclaim, the film failed at the box office. None of her other releases in 2010 succeeded commercially, except for her sole Tamil release of the year, the masala Singam. The following year, Anushka had two releases, both in Tamil. She reprised her Vedam role in its remake Vaanam, then appeared as an advocate in the A. L. Vijay-directed Deiva Thirumagal, a loose adaptation of the American film I Am Sam (2001). The following year, she also had two releases: Thaandavam in Tamil, and Damarukam in Telugu. Her first release in 2013 was Suraj's Tamil masala Alex Pandian, a critical and commercial failure. This was followed by Mirchi in Telugu, Singam II (where she reprised her role from Singam), and Selvaraghavan's Tamil romantic fantasy Irandaam Ulagam where she played three distinct roles. Her sole release of 2014 was K. S. Ravikumar's Lingaa.
In 2015, Shetty appeared in Gautham Vasudev Menon's Yennai Arindhaal, followed by Rajamouli's Telugu-Tamil bilingual Baahubali: The Beginning, where she played a queen named Devasena. Her performance as Rudrama Devi, a monarch of the Kakatiya dynasty in the eponymous film won her the Filmfare Award for Best Telugu Actress. She then appeared in the Telugu romantic comedy Size Zero (filmed simultaneously in Tamil as Inji Iduppazhagi), in a role for which she gained of weight. Her only roles in 2016 were cameos in Soggade Chinni Nayana and Oopiri (filmed in Tamil as Thozha). The following year, she appeared in Si3 (the third film in the Singam series), the semi-biographical Om Namo Venkatesaya, where she played a character inspired by Andal, and Rajamouli's Telugu film Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, where she reprised her role from its predecessor. Her only release in 2018 was the Telugu-Tamil bilingual Bhaagamathie. She appeared in a cameo role of Jhansi Lakshmi Bhai in Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy which is her only release in 2019 . Later she appeared in Nishabdham which was an OTT Release. After a gap of few years she made her comeback with Miss Shetty Mr Polishetty in 2023, her portrayal as a master chef got her critical acclaim. She acted in Krish Jagarlamudi's Ghaati (2025). She is making her Malayalam debut with Kathanar alongside Jayasurya in Rojin Thomas' direction.
Films
Year Title Role(s) Language Notes 2005 Super Sasha Telugu Mahanandi Nandini2006 Astram Anusha Vikramarkudu Neeraja Goswami Stalin Herself Special appearance in the song "I Wanna Spider Man" Rendu Jyothi Tamil 2007 Lakshyam Indu Telugu Don Priya 2008 Okka Magaadu Bhavani Swagatam Sailaja (Sailu) Baladoor Bhanu Souryam Swetha Chintakayala Ravi Sunitha King Herself Special appearance in the song "Nuvvu Ready Nenu Ready" 2009 Arundhati Arundhati / Jejamma Billa Maya Vettaikaaran Susheela (Susi) Tamil 2010 Kedi Herself Telugu Special appearance in the song "Kedigaadu" Singam Kavya Mahalingam Tamil Vedam Saroja Telugu Panchakshari Panchakshari / Honey / Goddess Durga Khaleja Subashini Thakita Thakita Herself Cameo appearance Nagavalli Chandramukhi (Nagavalli) Ragada Sirisha 25th Film 2011 Vaanam Saroja Tamil Deiva Thirumagal Anuradha Raghunathan 2012 Saguni Inspector Anushka Cameo appearance Thaandavam Dr. Meenakshi Shiva Kumar Damarukam Maheshwari (Mahi) Telugu 2013 Alex Pandian Divya Tamil Mirchi Vennela Telugu Singam II Kavya Mahalingam Tamil Irandaam Ulagam Ramya / Varna / Anushka 2014 Lingaa Lakshmi 2015 Yennai Arindhaal Thenmozhi Baahubali: The Beginning Devasena TeluguBilingual filmDevasenai Tamil Rudhramadevi Rudrama Devi (Rudradeva Maharaja) Telugu Size Zero Soundarya (Sweety)Bilingual film Inji Iduppazhagi Tamil 2016 Soggade Chinni Nayana Krishna Kumari TeluguCameo appearance Oopiri Nandini Bilingual film; cameo appearance Thozha Tamil 2017 Si3 Kavya Durai Singam Om Namo Venkatesaya Krishnamma Telugu Baahubali 2: The Conclusion Devasena Partially reshot in Tamil 2018 Bhaagamathie Bhaagamathie / Chanchala TeluguBilingual film Bhaagamathie / Sanchala Tamil 2019 Sye Raa Narasimha ReddyRani Lakshmi BaiTelugu Cameo appearance 2020 Nishabdham SakshiPartially reshot in Tamil 2023 Miss Shetty Mr PolishettyAnvitha Ravali Shetty 2025GhaatiSheelavathiBaahubali: The Epic DevasenaCombined re-release version of The Beginning and The Conclusion 2026 scope="row" NilaMalayalam 50th Film Post-production
Television Year Title Role(s) Language Network Notes 2007 Yuva Naga Lakshmi Telugu Star Maa Episode 86; Special Appearance 2026 Baahubali: The Torchbearer Herself Telugu Netflix Documentary Mini Series
Music videos Year Title Role Language Performer Album Notes 2012 "Sachin Anthem" Herself Tamil Dhanush - Promotional tribute video for cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, made in association with Boost.
See also
List of awards and nominations received by Anushka Shetty
Notes
References
External links