Mamta Mohandas

Born	14 November 1985 (1985-11-14) (age 25) Manama, Bahrain
Occupation	Actress, Playback singer
Years active	2005 — present
Religion	Hindu

Mamta Mohandas is an Indian film actress and playback singer. She has mainly acted in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada

 Background

Mamta was born on 14 November 1985 in Bahrain into a Malayali family. She attended the Indian School, Bahrain until 2002. She pursued a Bachelor's degree at Mount Carmel College Bangalore. She modeled for print ads for companies such as IBM and Kalyan Kendra and modeled on the ramp for the Mysore Maharajah and Raymonds. Mamta is trained in Carnatic and Hindustani music.

Career

Acting

Mamta débuted in the 2005 Malayalam film Mayookham, directed by Hariharan. Although the film did not do well at the box office, Mamta attracted attention for her sensitive portrayal of Indira.
Subsequently, she acted alongside Mammootty in Bus Conductor, with Suresh Gopi in the films Adbutham (2006) and Lanka (2006), and alongside Jayaram in Madhuchandralekha (2006). She also played the female lead in Baba Kalyani with Mohanlal. Later that year, she débuted in the Tamil film industry, starring in the Karu Pazhaniappan-directed film Sivappathigaram opposite Vishal Krishna, which turned out to be an average grosser.
In 2007 she acted with Mammootty in the blockbuster film Big B. She eventually stepped into the Telugu film industry as well, when she appeared in a supporting role in the film Yamadonga, directed by SS Rajamouli. The film became one of the biggest hits of the year. She had lent her voice for a couple of songs in this film too. In 2008, she appeared in 7 films, predominantly in Telugu-language films. Her first release was her début Kannada film Gooli. She then starred in the film Krishnarjuna, essaying the lead female role, which did not well at the box office. Victory was her next assignment as lead actress, but that film also failed at the box office, following which she appeared in a cameo role in her only Tamil release that year, Kuselan, alongside Tamil superstar Rajinikanth. Three more Telugu releases featured Mamta, including Homam, directed by JD Chakravarthy and Srinu Vaitla's King (2008 film) opposite Nagarjuna. In both these films she also performed as a playback singer in several songs.
In 2009, she starred in the comedy film Guru En Aalu alongside Madhavan, and the thriller Passenger, sharing screen space with Dileep and Sreenivasan, respectively. While the former had an average run at the box office, the latter was declared a surprise sleeper hit in Malayalam. In 2010, she worked with Jayaram in the critically acclaimed Kadha Thudarunnu directed by Sathyan Anthikkad. Other projects in 2010 included Musafir with Rahman, Ragupati Raghava Raja Ram and Anwar with Prithiviraj, and Kedi with Nagarjuna. Mamta's first film in 2011 was the Malayalam movie Race, in which she plays the role of Niya, wife of a cardio surgeon Abey (Kunchacko Boban). The film failed to do well at the box office.

Singing

Mamta is as an acclaimed playback singer in Indian films as well. Mamta, who is trained in Carnatic and Hindustani music, first sang playback in the Telugu film Rakhee, singing the title song under Devi Sri Prasad's direction, making her début in the Telugu film industry as a singer before making her acting début in Telugu. She went on to win the 2007 Filmfare Best Telugu Female Playback Singer Award for that song.
Subsequently, she was asked to sing several songs for composer Devi Sri Prasad, including the chartbuster "Akalesthe Annam Pedtha" for the Chiranjeevi-starrer Shankardada Zindabad (later dubbed as Daddy Mummy in the Tamil film Villu), "36-24-36" for the film Jagadam, "Mia" for Tulasi, and "Ghanana (Funny)" and the title song for the film King. Other music directors she has worked with include M. M. Keeravani (for her own films Yamadonga and Krishnarjuna, also Chandamama), R. P. Patnaik (for Andamaina Mansulo), Chakri (for Victory), Nithin Raikwar (for her own movie Homam) and Thaman (for Jayeebhava).
In Tamil, she sang "Kaalai Kaalai" in the film Kaalai, which starred Silambarasan in the lead role. She sang "Idai Vazhi" for the comedy film Goa under noted composer Yuvan Shankar Raja's direction. Both songs featured her singing alongside Benny Dayal. She was heard for the first time in her mother tongue, Malayalam, in the 2010 film Anwar. She has also recorded a song for her recent film Thriller.

Personal life

Mamta is a cancer survivor. She battled Hodgkin's lymphoma with positive energy and confidence. She had to cut her hair off for chemotherapy sessions. In some parts of her movie Anwar, she managed to conceal the difference with wigs. Not many were aware of this situation until late 2010.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Language	Notes
2005	Mayookham	Indira	Malayalam
2006	Bus Conductor	Celina	Malayalam
	Adbutham	Maria	Malayalam
	Lanka	Lanka Lakshmi	Malayalam
	Madhuchandralekha	Indulekha	Malayalam
	Sivappathigaram	Charulatha	Tamil
	Baba Kalyani	Madhumitha Ashokan	Malayalam
2007	Big B	Rimi	Malayalam
	Yamadonga	Dhanalakshmi	Telugu
2008	Gooli	Ramya	Kannada
	Krishnarjuna	Sathya	Telugu
	Victory	Janaki	Telugu
	Kuselan	Mamta	Tamil	Cameo appearance
	Homam	Dr. Lakshmi	Telugu
	Chintakayala Ravi	Lavanya	Telugu
	King	Swapna/Pooja	Telugu
2009	Guru En Aalu	Seema	Tamil
	Passenger	Anuradha	Malayalam	Nominated, Filmfare Award for Best Actress (Malayalam)
2010	Kedi	Janaki	Telugu
	Kadha Thudarunnu	Vidya Lakshmi	Malayalam	Winner, Asianet Most Popular Actress Award Winner, Filmfare Award for Best Actress (Malayalam)
	Nirakazhcha	Shilpa	Malayalam
	Anwar	Ayesha Begum	Malayalam	Winner, Asianet Most Popular Actress Award
	The Thriller		Malayalam	Special appearance
	Karayilekku Oru Kadal Dooram	Gaadha	Malayalam
2011	Race	Niya	Malayalam
	Musafir	Anu	Malayalam	Filming
	Leela	Leela	Malayalam	Filming
	Nayika		Malayalam	Filming
	Mathilukalkappuram	Narayani	Malayalam	Pre-production
	Singaravelan		Malayalam	Pre-production