Actor · Telugu cinema
Jaya Prada
Jaya Prada movies: 58 Telugu films on file, 1974–2027. Earliest on file: Devadasu (1974). Latest release: Maharadhi (1 February 2007). Next: Fauzi (19 March 2027).
- Films on file
- 58 (58 as actor)
- Years on file
- 1974–2027
- Born
- 3 April 1962 · April birthdays (Wikidata)
- Selected films on file
- Saagara Sangamam, Anthuleni Katha, 47 Rojulu
- Record
- Q3518383 on Wikidata
Jaya Prada (born Lalitha Rani Rao) is an Indian actress and politician. She was a leading star of Telugu and Hindi cinema in the late 1970s and 1980s, and also worked in Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Bengali films. We have 58 Telugu titles on record for her, from Bhoomi Kosam (1974) to Fauzi. Her honours include two Nandi Awards for Best Actress and Filmfare Awards South, among them a Lifetime Achievement Award (2007).
She was born on 3 April 1962 in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh, according to Wikipedia and Wikidata. Her father was a Telugu film financier. A film director who saw her dance at a school function offered her a three-minute song in Bhoomi Kosam (1974), for which, according to Wikipedia, she was paid 10 rupees.
Career
K. Balachander’s Anthuleni Katha (1976) and K. Viswanath’s Siri Siri Muvva (1976) made her name. She won the Nandi Award for Best Actress for Anthuleni Katha and a Filmfare Special Award for both films. She starred opposite N. T. Rama Rao in K. Raghavendra Rao’s Adavi Ramudu (1977), which broke box-office records, and also appeared in Yamagola that year. Through the 1970s and 1980s she worked with Telugu’s leading men, including Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Krishna, Krishnam Raju and Sobhan Babu; she made the most films with Krishna. She also starred in Devadasu (1974). In Balachander’s 47 Rojulu (1981), made alongside the Tamil 47 Natkal, Chiranjeevi played her bigamist husband.
Her Hindi breakthrough was Sargam (1979). After learning Hindi she was relaunched by K. Viswanath in Kaamchor (1982), and she went on to hits such as Tohfa, Sharaabi and Maqsad (1984), often opposite Amitabh Bachchan and Jeetendra. In Telugu, Meghasandesam (1982) won her a second Nandi Award for Best Actress. Viswanath’s Saagara Sangamam (1983) brought the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu. She often acted with Sridevi; their Telugu hit Devatha (1982) was remade in Hindi as Tohfa.
From 1994 she reduced her film work for politics. Her later films include the Malayalam Devadoothan (2000) and Pranayam (2011), and the Kannada historical film Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna (2012). She also appears in Fauzi, the Prabhas war drama recorded for 3 December 2026.
Politics
She joined the Telugu Desam Party in 1994 at N. T. Rama Rao’s invitation and was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1996. She later joined the Samajwadi Party and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Rampur in 2004. She was expelled from that party in 2010. She joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on 26 March 2019 (News Nation).
Awards
- Nandi Award for Best Actress for Anthuleni Katha and Meghasandesam (Wikipedia winners list).
- Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu for Saagara Sangamam (list), a Filmfare Special Award for Siri Siri Muvva and Anthuleni Katha, and the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award – South in 2007.
- The ANR Achievement Award (2008) and the Uttam Kumar Award, according to Wikipedia.
Where to watch her films
Fauzi‘s digital rights are reported to be with Netflix (OTT details). No streaming record is on file for her older Telugu films; check each film page for updates.
Sources: Wikipedia and the references it cites (linked above), Wikidata, and Tollywood Desk’s film, release and OTT records.
Career on file
Jaya Prada appears in 58 Telugu films on file at Tollywood Desk, dated from 1974 to 2027. The earliest of them is Devadasu (1974), and the most recent release is Maharadhi (2007). One more film, Fauzi (2027), is dated for later. The most widely covered of these, counted by Wikipedia language editions, are Saagara Sangamam (1983), Anthuleni Katha (1976) and 47 Rojulu (1981). Other recent releases on file are Chandravamsam (2002), Samsaram (1988) and Vishwanatha Nayakudu (1987).
Kaikala Satyanarayana is the most frequent co-star, sharing 29 films with Jaya Prada, followed by Allu Rama Lingaiah (21) and Krishna Ghattamaneni (13). Among directors, Dasari Narayana Rao cast Jaya Prada most often, in 15 films; next are K. Raghavendra Rao (7) and Kovelamudi Bapayya (3). Music on 18 of them is by K. Chakravarthy, with K. V. Mahadevan (12) and Chellapilla Satyam (3) next. Suresh Productions produced four of them, more than any other banner on file. Across these films the credits on file name 28 different directors, 20 music directors and 70 other credited actors.
Runtime is on file for 34 of them; they average 146 minutes, and the longest is Chanakya Chandragupta at 178 minutes. By decade the list splits into 1970s (19), 1980s (36), 2000s (2) and 2020s (1). 1980 is the busiest single year, with nine films.
Figures come from the films on file at Tollywood Desk and change as records are added.