Bhanu Priya

Bhanu Priya or Manga Bhama is a popular Indian TV and film actress. From 1983 – 1993, she appeared in various Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam films and acted in some of the Bollywood movies as well. She was the sister of the actress, Shantipriya. Bhanu was born on the 15th of January 1966 in Rangampeta village, near Rajamundry, Andhra Pradesh. Then her family permanently shifted to Chennai, Tamil Nadu. She studied at Saraswati Vidyalaya. When she was studying, she attended dance and music classes after school hours. Bhanu is good in classical dance Bharatha Natyam, and also sings well.

Bhanu was married to Adarsh Kaushal Adarsh Kaushal is a famous Graphic Designer and Ed >> Read More... and gave birth to a daughter named Abhinaya. She got divorced in 2004.
Director Bhagya Raja went to a certain dance show as one of the judge, and he saw Bhanu and asked to do a screen test for the film, “Thoral Ninnu Pochu”. But Bhanu refused since she was only 14 years old at that time. Then, in her teenage years, she met the veteran actress, Shoukaar Janaki in another dance competition. Bhanu was asked if she is interested in doing films. She decided to accept the offer and dropped out from school. She has acted in about 150 films across different languages. She started acting when she was 17 years old and her first appearance was in the Tamil movie, “Mella Pesungal” in 1983, and performed in over 40 films. In Telugu, her debut film was “Sitaara” and later acted in over 80 films. She also did 15 Hindi films and some in Kannada and Malayalam Languages.

Because Bhanu was trained in classical dance, all her popular movies were based on it, such as “ Sitara Bio Coming Soon... >> Read More... ” and “Swarnakamalam”. She also appeared in the stage show “Netru, Indru, Naalai” by Mani Ratnam Mani Ratnam is an Indian filmmaker deeply rooted t >> Read More... .

Sivaji Ganesan The Honorable Mr. Ganesan was the second son in hi >> Read More... , actor from Tamil Cinema, says Bhanu is the only one from her generation that has the ability to act like Savithri and Padmini. Bhanu also appeared on the TV serial “ Shakti Click to look into! >> Read More... ” in Sun Networks, “ Vishwamitra Vishwamitra belonged to the mythological genre. It >> Read More... ” in Doordashan, “ Penn Penn is a Tamil drama serial under the production >> Read More... ” and more. She became popular for doing the expressions with her eyes, which also led her to do the modeling job. She did the Eyetex ad. Bhanu is one of the most gorgeous and photogenic face among other Indian actresses.
Some of her famous films were” Jamesbond 999”, “ Rowdy Click to look into! >> Read More... ”, “ Jhansi Rani Jhansi Rani is a Tamil serial that was aired in Ze >> Read More... ”, “Kashmora”, “Prema Samrat”, “ Bhabhi Bhabhi was a drama serial which was telecasted by >> Read More... ”, “People’s Encounter”, “ Bharathan Born on 14th November 1946, Bharathan was an India >> Read More... ”, “My Name is Amruta”, “ 3 Click to look into! >> Read More... ”, “Dhammu”, “Avathaaram:, ”Chatrapathi” and a lot more. She got “Nandi Award for Best Actress” in 1988 and some other major awards that add to her fame and success.

Another version of this story...

Bhanu Priya (born Manga Bhama) is a south Indian cine and TV serial actress. She appeared in all south Indian languages as lead heroine for about 2 decades and did a few Hindi movies as well. She is a professional dancer, who learnt dance right from her childhood.

Bhanupriya was introduced to the Telugu Industry with the movie “Sitara”, directed by Vamshi, which took her to the level of a sensation virtually overnight. She starred in Bharathiraja’s “Mella Pesungal”. Since then, there was no catching the sensation as she was very busy in all 4 languages down South. 

Bhanupriya is especially known for her dancing skills and her expressions which made her surpass all the actresses of her era. Sivaji Ganesan compared her with the legendary actresses Padmini and Savithri. Chiranjeevi mentioned that he saw her as a competitor, rather than a co-star.

Her enacting of the role in “Aararo Aariraro” awed millions including Kushboo, who was a competitor to her in the cine industry. S.P.Balasubramaniam praised her dance to be one of the best he has witnessed. Cinematographer P.C.Sreeram described her as having the most beautiful eyes and a photogenic face.

Bhanupriya entered the small-screen through the serial “Shakti” and subsequently acted in “Vazhkai” and “Porandha Veeda Puguntha Veeda”. She also has been the judge for several dance shows in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. 

Bhanupriya had rhinoplasty surgery to alter the appearance of her nose in 1989. Since her eyes are gorgeous, she was the model for Eyetex, an eyeliner company for many years. She has a daughter with Adarsh Kaushal, whom she married and later divorced. She now lives in US with her daughter and teaches dance.

She won 2 Filmfares, 2 Nandi awards, 2 Tamil Nadu state awards and 1 screen Videocon award for the serial “Shakti”.

DOB: 15th January, 1966

Movies acted: about 200 films

Serials acted: Vishwamitra, Penn, Shakti, Vazhkai, PoranthaVeeda PugunthaVeeda.

The Bhanupriya Family Tree (Infographic Family Tree)