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Ambika
Born	(1962-08-24) 24 August 1962 (age 56) Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Years active	1978–1989 1997–present
Spouse(s)	Shinu John (m.1988-1997) (divorced) Ravikanth (m.2000-2002) (divorced)
Family	Radha (sister)
Awards	Kalaimaamani, Cinema express, film critics

Ambika (born 24 August 1962) is an Indian film actress known for her works predominantly in Malayalam, Tamil
and Kannada films. She also did a few Telugu and English films. She was one of the top south Indian heroines for a decade from 1978 to 1989. Her younger sister Radha, was also an actress. They acted together in a number of south Indian films and during the peak of their careers,

Personal life

Ambika was born in 1962 to Kunjan Nair and Sarasamma at Kallara village, located in Thiruvananthapuram district.^[1] Her mother Kallara Sarasamma was Mahila Congress leader during 2014.^[2] She has two younger sisters, Radha and Mallika, and two younger brothers, Arjun and Suresh. Ambika got married to NRI Shinu John in 1988. They have two sons and settled in America. After they divorced in 1997 she then got married again to actor Ravikanth in 2000 which also got divorced in 2002. She is currently settled in Chennai along with her sons.^[3]

Career

Ambika started her career as a child artist and later as main heroine and acted in more than 200 South Indian films. Her career as a heroine started with the Malayalam movie Seetha, which only released very late in her career. But with films such as Neelathaamara (which was made again in 2009) and Lejjavathi, she became a busy actress within a few years not only in Malayalam,^[4] but also in Tamil and Kannada.^[5]

K. Bhagyaraj introduced Ambika in his movie Antha Ezhu Naatkal. She has been cast alongside Kamal Hassan and Rajinikanth in many movies and appeared in glamorous roles in movies such as Kaakki Sattai, Vikram, Kadhal Parisu, Padikkadhavan and Maaveeran. Most of her films have been with actors such as Rajinikanth, Shankar, Mohanlal, Ambarish, Vishnuvardhan, Rajkumar, Mammootty and Vijayakanth.^[6]

She had a very successful career in Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam movies throughout the 1980s. In Tamil and Malayalam, she took on a few bold roles that showcased her versatility and talent. In Kannada, however, she appeared in many roles and songs that were characteristic by being erotic yet understated. Her hot rain songs with Vishnuvardhan are shown frequently on the TV program Midnight Masala and are considered groundbreaking in terms of being bold, stunning and revealing in an otherwise conservative industry.^[7]

In Tamil, Ambika shot to fame with the movie Kakki Chattai. In the zenith of her career she was paired in the same movie with her sister Radha in Kadhal Parisu, where both actresses demonstrated their acting prowess by taking on roles of two young, beautiful sisters, who had strong, yet conflicting personalities.

After she got divorced, she returned to India from U.S later in 1997 and started acting again in films such as Periyamanushan, with Sathyaraj in a glamorous role, Maa Naanaki Pelli in Telugu and with Krishnam Raju and Simmadamari in Kannada. She acted as heroine in Vikaraman’s project Mariyathai, in which Vijayakanth acted in father and son roles along with Meena and Meera Jasmin. She acted in Malayalam films such as Angel John with Mohanlal, Thanthonni and Sadgamaya and is currently^[when?] more active doing TV serials.^[8]

She has acted in many advertisements. She is a designer too. She has judged many reality shows also. In a film called Medulla Oblangatta (2014) she has done lyrics work too.

Awards

• 1984 Kalaimaamani Award- Vaazhkai (film)
  


• Cinema Express


• Film critics Award Enkeyo Ketta Kural
  

Filmography

In order of languages in which she acted the most to least number of films.

Malayalam

Tamil

Kannada

Telugu

Television

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ambika (actress).

• 
  Ambika on IMDb


• Ambika at MSN