# Amala Akkineni

Amala Akkineni (née Mukherjee) (born 12 September 1967) is an Indian actress, Bharatanatyam dancer, and activist. She has predominantly worked in Tamil films, in addition to Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada-language films. She was a leading actress in the Tamil film industry from 1986 to 1992 and has appeared in many blockbusters in Tamil and other languages. She has won two Filmfare Awards South, namely Best Actress – Malayalam for the 1991 film Ulladakkam and Best Supporting Actress – Telugu for the 2012 film Life Is Beautiful. Amala is the co-founder of Blue Cross of Hyderabad, a non-government organisation (NGO) in Hyderabad, India, which works towards the welfare of animals and preservation of animal rights in India.

## Early life

Amala was born in Calcutta (present-day Kolkata) to a Bengali Indian Navy officer and an Irish mother. Their family soon shifted to Madras (present-day Chennai) where she was brought up. She has a brother.
Amala holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Bharatanatyam from Kalakshetra college of fine arts, Madras now Chennai. She gave many live performances worldwide. She is fluent in English, Telugu, and Tamil, and can understand Bengali.

## Personal life

Amala married Telugu actor Nagarjuna on 11 June 1992 and the couple has a son, actor Akhil Akkineni born in 1994. She is the step-mother of actor Naga Chaitanya. They currently live in Hyderabad.

## Career

She was persuaded to join films by T. Rajendar, who visited her home with his wife Usha and convinced her mother to let her act in the film, which would be a classical film featuring her Bharatanatyam dancing. That film was Mythili Ennai Kaathali (1986) which was a box office hit. After the film's success, she acted in several Tamil films such as Mella Thirandhathu Kadhavu (1986), Panneer Nadhigal (1986) and Velaikkaran (1987). She acted with her future husband Akkineni Nagarjuna in hits such as Nirnayam and Siva. She garnered acclaim for her role in the film Ulladakkam (1991).
She quit acting in 1992 following her marriage to Nagarjuna. After a hiatus of 20 years she made a comeback in 2012 with the Telugu film Life is Beautiful. She received a CineMAA Award for Best Outstanding Actress and Telugu category Filmfare Award for best supporting actress in 2013 for her portrayal.
She returned to Malayalam cinema with C/O Saira Banu after a gap of 25 years, since Ulladakkam.

## Filmography

Key :
| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |

### Tamil

| Year | Title | Role | Note |
| 1986 | Mythili Ennai Kaathali | Mythili | Tamil film debut Nominated - Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil |
| 1986 | Mella Thirandhathu Kadhavu | Noorjahan | |
| 1986 | Panneer Nathigal | Meera | |
| 1986 | Kanne Kaniyamuthe | Kavita | |
| 1986 | Unnai Ondru Ketpen | Gita | |
| 1986 | Oru Iniya Udhayam | Anju | |
| 1987 | Velaikaran | Kaushalya | |
| 1987 | Poo Poova Poothirukku | Mary | |
| 1987 | Koottu Puzhukkal | | |
| 1987 | Vedham Pudhithu | Vaidehi | Nominated — Filmfare Award for Best Actress — Tamil |
| 1987 | Kavithai Paada Neramillai | | |
| 1987 | Idhu Oru Thodar Kathai | Sumathi | |
| 1988 | Agni Natchathiram | Anjali | |
| 1988 | Kodi Parakkuthu | Aparna | |
| 1988 | Sathyaa | Geetha Nair | |
| 1988 | Jeeva | Geetha | |
| 1988 | Illam | Saradha | |
| 1988 | Kaliyugam | | |
| 1988 | Nethiyadi | Amala | Guest appearance |
| 1989 | Mappillai | Geetha | |
| 1989 | Varam | | |
| 1989 | Naalai Manithan | Prabhu's girlfriend | |
| 1989 | Uthama Purushan | Rekha | |
| 1989 | Vetri Vizha | Lalitha | |
| 1990 | Pudhu Padagan | Devi | |
| 1990 | Mounam Sammadham | Hema | |
| 1991 | Vaasalil Oru Vennila | Kamal | |
| 1991 | Karpoora Mullai | Maya Vinodini | |
| 2022 | Kanam | Adhi's mother | Shot simultaneously in Telugu |

### Telugu

| Year | Title | Role | Note |
| 1987 | Kirayi Dada | Lata | Telugu film debut |
| 1988 | Chinababu | Madhu | |
| 1988 | Raktha Tilakam | Radha | |
| 1989 | Siva | Asha | |
| 1990 | Prema Yuddham | Latha | |
| 1990 | Raja Vikramarka | Rekha | |
| 1990 | Aggiramudu | Manasa | |
| 1991 | Nirnayam | Geetha | |
| 1991 | Aagraham | Chitra | |
| 2012 | Life Is Beautiful | Amma | |
| 2014 | Manam | Dance Teacher | Cameo appearance |
| 2022 | Oke Oka Jeevitham | Adhi's mother | Shot simultaneously in Tamil |

### Hindi

| Year | Title | Role | Note |
| 1988 | Dayavan | Sarita | Remake of Nayakan (1987) |
| 1988 | Kab Tak Chup Rahungi | Geeta | |
| 1989 | Dost | Pooja | |
| 1989 | Jurrat | Renu | |
| 1990 | Shiva | Asha | |
| 2013 | Listen... Amaya | Sujata | |
| 2015 | Hamari Adhuri Kahani | Rohini Ruparel | Cameo appearance |
| 2018 | Karwaan | Tahira | |
| 2023 | Tumse Na Ho Payega | Pooja | |

### Kannada

| Year | Title | Role | Note |
| 1987 | Pushpaka Vimana | Magician's daughter | Silent film Kannada film debut |
| 1990 | Bannada Gejje | Menaka | |
| 1991 | Agni Panjara | | |
| 1992 | Ksheera Sagara | | |
| 1992 | Belliyappa Bangarappa | Mutthamma | |

### Malayalam

| Year | Title | Role | Note |
| 1991 | Ente Sooryaputhrikku | Maya Vinodini | Malayalam film debut |
| 1991 | Ulladakkam | Reshma | |
| 2017 | C/O Saira Banu | Adv. Annie John Tharavadi | |
| 2021 | The Fall into Spring | Sulochana Ramachandran | Short film |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Language | Network |
| 1991 | Penn | | Tamil | Doordarshan |
| 1992 | Sangursh | | Hindi | Doordarshan |
| 2010 | Super mother | Judge | Tamil | Star Vijay |
| 2014–2015 | Uyirmei | Dr. Kavitha Sandeep | Tamil | Zee Tamil |
| 2019 | High Priestess | Swathi Reddy | Telugu | ZEE5 |
| 2020 | The Forgotten Army - Azaadi Ke Liye | Maya's mother | Hindi | Amazon Prime Video |

## Awards and honours

| Year | Award | Award Category | Work | Result |
| 1989 | Cinema Express Awards | Cinema Express Award for Best Actress Special Jury | Illam Agni Natchathiram | Won |
| 1991 | Filmfare Awards South | Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Malayalam | Ulladakkam | Won |
| 2013 | Filmfare Awards South | Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress – Telugu | Life Is Beautiful | Won |
| 2013 | CineMAA Awards | CineMAA Awards for Best Outstanding Actress | Life Is Beautiful | Won |
| 2013 | SIIMA | SIIMA Award for Best Supporting Actress – Telugu | Life Is Beautiful | Nominated |
| 2023 | SIIMA | SIIMA Award for Best Supporting Actress – Telugu | Oke Oka Jeevitham | Nominated |
| 2024 | Filmfare Awards South | Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress – Telugu | Oke Oka Jeevitham | Nominated |