Roja

Roja was born to Kumaraswamy Reddy, a native of Chittor district. Later the family moved to Hyderabad. She did her Masters degree in Political Science from Nagarjuna University. She learnt Kuchipudi, a dance form, for a few years. Her voice as a child was rough, so manydiscouraged her from hoping to act in films.

Film career

She entered the cinema industry from Telugu films. She was first introduced in the Tamil film by director R.K. Selvamani in his film Chembaruthi paired with actor Prashanth. The movie was a hit and paved the way for her in the Tamil cinema industry. She became popular with her songs such as Veloor Maman in the film Engal Aiyyah with Mamooty and Mastana Mastana in Rasaiyya with Prabhu Deva. She became popular acting in films with actors such as Rajnikanth in Veera, and Arjun Sarja in Ayudha Poojai. Selvamani's career breakthrough was in the film Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen, directed by Vikraman. Selvamani's 100th movie was Pottu Amman. Selvamani appeared in supporting roles in Arasu (2001) and in Parijaatham (2006).

Personal life

She is married to the director R.K. Selvamani, the director of her first movie, and has moved into Andhra politics. Her hobbies are costume designing and hairstyling. Selvamani had a penchant for hairdressing and it was seen as when she is in the sets, she is seen hairdressing her co-heroines like Devayani, Kushboo, Ranjitha, 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 own make-up. Actress Mumtaz in an interview has praised Roja's willingness and egoless attitude when Roja did her hair and make-up during a Singapore Film show in 2003. She is currently actively involved in AP politics. She is the woman wing president of Telugu Mahila of the TDP party in the 2009 state elections and 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 thinking to joining Congress Party. Her political career is blink now.