Roja (actress)

Roja Selvamani (born Latha Reddy; 17 November 1972) is a South Indian actress and politician.^[1] She currently aligns with the YSR Congress party.^[2]

Early life[edit]

Roja was born as Sree Latha in 1972 to Nagaraja Reddy and Lalitha in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. She was the only girl child with two brothers. Later, the family moved to Hyderabad. She did her Bachelor Degree in Political Science from Nagarjuna University. Roja learnt Kuchipudi and was performing dance before she entered films.^[3]

Career[edit]

Film career[edit]

Roja entered the cinema industry with Telugu films. Her first movie was Prema Thapassu with acting legend Rajendra Prasad where the complete movie was shot in Tirupati.

She was introduced to the Tamil film industry by director R.K. Selvamani with Chembaruthi along with actor Prashanth. The movie was a hit and paved way for role in another success, Suriyan with Sarath Kumar. Both the films established her in Tamil cinema.^[4] She became popular with songs such as "Veloor Maman" in the film Makkal Aatchi withMammootty and "Mastana Mastana" in Raasaiyya with Prabhu Deva. Her performance in films with actors such as Rajnikanth in Veera, and Arjun Sarja in Ayudha Poojai were praised. Roja's major career breakthrough was in the film Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen, directed by Vikraman. Her 100th movie was Pottu Amman. Roja later appeared in supporting roles in films like Arasu (2001), Parijatham (2006), Kaavalan (2011) and Saguni (2012).

Political career[edit]

Roja joined Telugu Desam and was the woman wing president of Telugu Mahila Party.^[5] During the 2009 state elections, she was involved in confrontations and political antics with her rival opposition party leaders, which ultimately led to her defeat for the second consecutive time in the AP state Assembly elections. In August 2009, She quit TDP and joined Congress Party.^[5] She quit Congress party and is now with Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy's political party.^[6]

Trivia[edit]

Roja and Meena resembled each other when younger, and Meena acted as Roja’s younger sister in several movies. Roja had a penchant for hairdressing and it was evidently seen as whenever she is in the sets, she’s seen hairdressing her co-heroines like Devayani, Kushboo, Ranjitha and Mumtaz to name a few. According to Ramya Krishnan, her friend and co-star, Roja is one of the few artists who can do their make-up themselves. Actress Mumtaz in an interview praised Roja’s willingness and egoless attitude when she did her hair and make-up during a Singapore Film Show in 2003.^[7]

Personal life[edit]

Roja married popular director R. K. Selvamani who made her debut Tamil film, in August 2002. The couple have one daughter and one son.