Soundarya

Soundarya (July 17, 1971 - April 17, 2004) was a film actress in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam films. She had a successful career of 12 years as heroine in films until her death in a plane crash near Bangalore. She acted in more than 100 films.

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She was born Soumya in Bangalore. Her father Satyanarayana was a producer and director in Kannada films. Soumya acted in her first film while she was at high school. She was offered a role in the film Gandharva (1992) by her father's friend, while she was studying in her first year of MBBS. She discontinued her studies after the film became successful.

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She moved onto Telugu films where she achieved popularity and success. She has also acted in Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi films.

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She also produced and acted in a Kannada film Dweepa, with Girish Kasaravalli as director. The film won Karnataka state awards for Best Actress, Best Film and Best Cinematography and was featured in five international film festivals.

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Soundarya married her maternal uncle in April, 2003.

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Soundarya died on April 17, 2004 when the four-seater plane Cessna 180 caught fire immediately after take off. She was on her way to Andhra Pradesh to campaign for the Bharatiya Janata Party for the elections. Her brother, a producer of Kannada films, Amarnath, also died in the accident. Her last film was the immensely successful Kannada film, Aptha Mithra.

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July 17: July 17 is the 198th day (199th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 167 days remaining....

1971: 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar)....

2004: 2004(MMIV) is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. It was designated the:...