Ramya (actress)

Divya Spandana (born 29 November 1982), better known by her screen name Ramya, is an Indian actress, producer and politician.

She served as the Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Mandya, Karnataka.

She primarily works in Kannada, and Tamil language films.

Ramya was the recipient of two Filmfare Awards South, an Udaya Award, and a Karnataka State Film Award.

Ramya was born in Bangalore, Karnataka, on 29 November 1982.

Her parents are from Mandya; mother Ranjitha is a senior member of the Congress Party in Karnataka while her foster father, R. T. Narayan, was an industrialist.

She had taken part in ramp shows and was crowned Miss Country Club in 2001.

Around this time, film offers came her way, and was considered for Ninagagi, Dumbee and Appu, before being cast opposite Puneeth Rajkumar in Abhi.

It was here that she was given the screen name Ramya by the film's producer Parvathamma Rajkumar.

Ramya made her acting debut in the 2003 Kannada-language film Abhi.

Although she has sporadically worked in Tamil and Telugu films her work in Kannada film industry garnered her greater attention.

Ramya made her feature film debut with Puneeth Rajkumar's 2003 Kannada film Abhi.

In 2004, Ramya claimed that she was the granddaughter of politician and former Chief minister of Karnataka S. M. Krishna.

Ramya studied at St. Hilda's School, a residential school, in Ooty, and at Sacred Heart School (Church Park), Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

Ramya was pursuing a career in modeling and hoped to join Mumbai-based Sheetal Designer Studio after completing her graduation with a bachelor's degree in commerce from St. Joseph's College of Commerce, Bangalore.

She made her first appearance in the Tamil film industry with the stage name Ramya, with the 2004 film Kuththu.

The film had a successful run at the box office, as did her next Tamil film, Giri.

Her debut film, however, gave her the name 'Kuthu' Ramya, by which she was then popularly known in Tamil Nadu, she had major box-office success with three Kannada films – Aakash, Gowramma and Amrithadhare – garnering critical acclaim for her performances and establishing her as a leading actress.

She won the Udaya Award and Filmfare Award for Best Actress for the Amrithadhare (2005) and Tananam Tananam (2006) respectively.

In 2006, she starred in Julie, a remake of the 1975 Hindi-language film, but it failed to attract audiences.

After her following release, Datta, her next Kannada release, Jothe Jotheyali, was a successful venture in spite of unfavorable reviews by critics.

Her final 2006 release, Tananam Tananam, an average performer that released to mixed reviews, gained Ramya her first Filmfare Award for Best Actress.

She had described her role in the film as "little complex" and "challenging".

In 2007, Ramya starred in three feature films; the first of these, Arasu, was a huge hit.

She then appeared as a sex worker in a film made to create awareness about AIDS as part of Mira Nair's AIDS Jaago project.

Her last 2007 film was Polladhavan, released during Deepavali; it was considered a commercial success and her breakthrough in Tamil.

Rajinikanth was all praises for the entire crew of Polladhavan.

Her first 2008 release, the Kannada film Mussanjemaatu, was a big hit, and gained her a nomination for a Best Actress Award at the 56th Filmfare Awards South.

She followed this with the Tamil film Thoondil.

Ramya later stated that she regretted accepting the film.

Later that year, she starred in the films Bombaat and Anthu Inthu Preethi Banthu, the former performing well at the box office.

Her final release in 2008 was Gautham Vasudev Menon's Vaaranam Aayiram, which also won that year's National Award for the best feature film in Tamil.

She was credited as Divya in Vaaranam Aayiram.

She dubbed her own voice for this film, which became a critical and commercial success.

She did not have any releases in 2009, since both her films, Bhimoos Bang Bang Kids and Jothegaara, were delayed due to financial problems.

Her performance as the eponymous heroine in the 2011 romantic drama Sanju Weds Geetha garnered her further critical success and a Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress.

Ramya has also starred in the 2011 blockbuster fantasy film Katari Veera Surasundarangi and other commercially successful films including the 2016 epic-fantasy Nagarahavu.

After a brief hiatus from acting, she made a comeback to films by producing the film Swathi Mutthina Male Haniye in 2023 under the "AppleBox Studios" banner.

Ramya joined the Indian National Congress in 2012 as a member of its youth wing; she later won a 2013 by-election to become a Member of Parliament for Mandya constituency in Karnataka, but was defeated in the general elections the following year.

He fostered her since she was five and died in 2013.