From Nandini Bhaktavatsala to Sruthi Hariharan: A look at women who won National Awards for their performances

The Indian film industry was largely male dominated in the early days of cinema. However, with changing times, women have been playing pivotal parts in the plots of movies as well as in the process of filmmaking. And not just that, their skills have been recognized by the fraternity to encourage them to continue their work. Similar is the case in the Kannada film industry where several women have wo national and international awards for their outstanding performances in various films. Here, we take a look at four women who won hearts and recognition by being presented with the National Award with their extraordinary acting in feature films.

Nandini Bhaktavatsala, who was the daughter of Prof. OK Nambiar, completed her education in Bangalore. Nandini Bhaktavatsala made her debut in the Kannada film industry with the movie ‘Kaadu’ directed by Girsh Kasaravalli. This film was based on the novel by the same name, written by Srikrishna Alanahalli. She also won the National Film Award for Best Actress in 1973 for the film. Nandini played the role of Kamali in the movie, where the character gets abandoned by her husband for another woman. Her innocent acting in the movie was well appreciated by the audience and it even won her a National Film Award.

Tara is one of the most prominent actresses in Kannada film industry. She made her debut with the Tamil movie ‘Ingeyum Oru Gangai’, and her Kannada debut was with ‘Thulasidala’. Tara has acted in many successful movies like ‘Cyanide’, ‘Ee Bandhana’, ‘Krama’, ‘Kanooru Heggadithi’ and others. The movie ‘Hasina’, where she played the lead role, fetched her National Film Award for Best Actress in 2004. Tara acted as a Muslim woman who is the mother of three kids and also pregnant. The character is later abandoned by her husband after she gives birth to a baby girl. ‘Hasina’ was another movie directed by Girish Kasaravalli and Tara won many other awards for this movie.

Umashree, who has been active in the Kannada film industry from 1984, has acted in more than 400 films. She made her acting debut with the movie ‘Anubhava’ along with actor and director Kashinath. Comic roles were the biggest strength of Umashree, which made her play an innocent and comic role in the movie ‘Gulabi Talkies’ directed by Girish Kasaravalli. She also won the National Film Award for Best Actress for this film in 2007. Umashree played the role of a Muslim woman (Gulabi) in the movie, who is obsessed with movies, and gets a gift from a rich family. When there is a clash between religions in the village, after Gulabi’s friend Netra disappears, the village people decide to kick out Gulabi from the village. Umashree acted like an old woman, and her performance was mind-blowing. Umashree is not only an actress but also a politician who fights for women’s rights in Karnataka today.

Sruthi Hariharan is a multi-language actress who has acted in Tamil, Malayalam but mostly Kannada films. She made her acting debut with the Malayalam movie ‘Cinema Company’, and ‘Lucia’ was here first Kannada movie which gained world popularity. ‘Nathicharami’ is one of the best movies in her career, which won the National Film Award - Special Mention for Best Actress in 2018. Even though she acted in many commercial movies, Sruthi didn't lose her passion towards feature films. In ‘Nathicharami’, Sruthi played the role of a widow, who is faithful to her late husband even though society suggests getting remarried.