Website : www.soundarya.8m.com  

Film career

Soundarya, the daughter of Kannada Film producer and writer K. S. Satyanarayan, was born and raised in Bangalore. She acted in her first film while she was studying in her first year of MBBS, when she was offered a role by a friend of her father's in the Kannada film Gandharva (1992). She discontinued her studies after the successful film Ammoru (1995).

She described her roles in Kannada films as "insignificant" and moved onto Telugu films, where she achieved greater popularity and success. The majority of her career was spent in the Telugu Film industry.

Soundarya also acted in one Hindi film, Sooryavansham. She produced and acted in the Kannada film Dweepa, with Girish Kasaravalli as director. The film won a host of National awards including Swarna Kamal, which is given for best film of the year. It also won the Karnataka state awards for Best Actress, Best Film and Best Cinematography, and was featured in five international film festivals.

Personal life

Soundarya was born in the village of Ashtagrama. She was an Iyer. She married her maternal uncle and childhood friend, software engineer G. S. Raghu, on 27 April 2003. She planned on promoting public welfare during her lifetime. At the time of her death, she was about to produce and act in a film titled 'Kamli', directed by K. N. T Sastry. Her wishes of funding welfare activities are being fulfilled by her husband and sister-in-law through the Amara Soundarya Social and Educational Trust [ASSET]. She developed the entire village of Gangigunte in the Kolar district of Karnataka. Soundarya maintained an orphanage. Presently, it is being maintained by her relatives. The school, Amara Soundarya Vidyalaya, is maintained by her trust and her own home is now being used as a school. She had also provided funds for a number of educational institutions. She was two months pregnant at the time of her death.


Death

She cannot die....she lives in hearts of the audience.. Soundarya died on April 17, 2004, in an airplane crash near Bangalore, 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 coming elections. Her brother, Amarnath, a producer of Kannada films, also died in the accident. She was awarded with a Karnataka State Award posthumously.