Radha (actress)

Tamil cinema

Radha started her career in 1981 starring as the protagonist in director Bharathiraja's Alaigal Oivathillai alongside debutant Karthik. The movie was a runaway hit and is regarded as a cult classic. The on-screen chemistry that she shared with Karthik was highly successful and led to many movies such as Pakkathu Veetu Roja, Valibamey Vaa Vaa and Ilanjodigal. In the same year, Radha played a small role in the movie Tik Tik Tik, which also starred Kamal Haasan. Tik Tik Tik played a significant role in her career. Later, she starred alongside Kamal Hassan in movies such as Oru Kaidhiyin Diary, Thoongadhey Thambi Thoongadhey, Kadhal Parisu and Jappanil Kalyanaraman.

Ambika and Radha shared screen space in films such as Enkeyo Ketta Kural, Kadhal Parisu, Anna Nagar Mudhal Theru, Idhaya Kovil and Vellai Roja. The two sisters were at the zenith of their fame when they acted in Kadhal Parisu, in which they played the roles of very glamorous, highly desirable women. Ambika and Radha managed their careers very carefully, and after attaining success, they were very selective about taking up roles in Tamil movies and only performed with top actors and directors. It was very rare to see both the sisters in the same movie after their early years in the Tamil film industry.

Telugu cinema

She acted in her first Telugu film with Shoban Babu in Mr. Vijay . Her notable films in Telugu include Yamudiki Mogudu, State Rowdy, Raamudu Bheemudu and Agni Parvatam. She has acted in about 16 films with Chiranjeevi, 6 films with Balakrishna and worked with all major heroes such as NTR, ANR, Krishna, Shoban Babu and many more. Her glamour roles were brought out by K. Raghavendra Rao and A. Kodandarami Reddy.

Kannada cinema

Radha has done 4 Kannada films. She acted with veteran Vishnuvardhan and actress Lakshmi in Soubhagya Lakshmi, a remake of the Hindi film Maang Bharo Sajana. It in turn is a remake of a Telugu movie. She has done films with Ravichandran. In 1991, she did the movie Ranachandi, with co-actors Sharat Babu, Ramesh Bhat, Mukhyamantri Chandru and Sudhir. In the film, she played a cop with Sharat Babu as her husband and Mukhyamantri Chandru as the villain. She had many stunts and fight sequences. It was a big hit in Kannada and is still remembered by Kannada movie-goers.

Malayalam cinema

Though hailing from Kerala, Radha did not enjoy success in Malayalam, unlike Ambika, who had an equally successful career in both Tamil and Malayalam. Radha acted only in six Malayalam films. Her most notable role was in K. G. George's state award-winning film Irakal (1986); her portrayal of the character Nirmala is widely regarded as the best in her career. Her other significant roles was in Sathyan Anthikad's Revathikkoru Pavakkutty (1986), where her costars were Gopi, Mohanlal and Menaka. She also produced a film Ayitham (1987), in which she played one of the lead characters, along with Ambika, Sukumaran, and Mohanlal.

Her other Malayalam movies went unnoticed: Mortuary (1983), Umanilayam (1984), and Innathe Programme (1991).

Tamil films

Telugu films

Malayalam films

Kannada films