Mamta Mohandas
Mamta was born on 14 November 1984 to Mohandas and Ganga into a Malayali family which originally hails from Kannur. She attended the Indian School, Bahrain until 2002 and is an alumna of the school. She pursued a bachelor’s degree in computer science 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 Karnatic and Hindustani music.
Mamta debuted in the 2005 Malayalam film Mayookham, directed by Hariharan. Although the film did not do well at the box office, she 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, which turned out to be an average grosser.
In 2007 she acted with Mammootty in the 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, playing the lead female role, which did not do 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 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. The film Passenger, in which she played the role of a television reporter, became a turning point in Mamta’s career. She was initially approached to play the lead role in the 2009 Telugu dark fantasy Arundathi. She refused the offer, and the movie went on to become one of the highest grossers that year. In 2010, she worked with Jayaram in the critically acclaimed Kadha Thudarunnu directed by Sathyan Anthikkad, for which she won her first Best Actress Award from Filmfare. This film also won her the Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actress, the Vanitha award for best actress – Malayalam, the Mathrubhumi award for best actress – Malayalam and the Asianet award for the best actress- Malayalam. Other projects in 2010 included Musafir with Rahman, Anwar with Prithiviraj, and Kedi with Nagarjuna. Mamta’s first film in 2011 was the Malayalam film Race, in which she played the role of Niya, wife of a cardio surgeon Abey (Kunchacko Boban). The film failed to do well at the box office. Her next release in Malayalam was Naayika. In 2012, she appeared in her third Tamil film, Thadaiyara Thaakka, directed by Magizh Thirumeni. In 2013 she starred in Paisa Paisa with Indrajith. In 2014 she starred in To Noora with Love as a Muslim character.
She made a comeback to Malayalam movie industry with Ranjith Shankar’s Mammooty starrer Varsham. She shared her screen space again with Dileep in Two Countries after doing a box office hit movie with him named My Boss.
In 2016, she starred opposite Mammootty in Thoppil Joppan, and she also signed the movie Baby Sitter alongside Biju Menon. In early 2017, she signed Crossroad, an anthology film in which she plays an orthodox Muslim. She also appeared in an extended cameo in Udaharanam Sujatha with Manju Warrier. In mid-2017, she signed Detroit Crossing aka Ranamopposite Prithviraj, but had to opt out because she did not have fresh dates to allocate for the project.
In 2020 Mamta was seen alongside Tovino Thomas in the movie Forensic (crime suspense movie) in which she played the role of Rithika Xavier IPS who is the ACP of Thiruvananthapuram.
Singing
Mamta is an acclaimed playback singer in Indian films as well. She is trained in Carnatic and Hindustani music, and first sang playback in the Telugu film Rakhi, singing the title song under Devi Sri Prasad‘s direction, making her debut in the Telugu film industry as a singer before making her acting debut in Telugu. She went on to win the 2006 Filmfare Best Female Playback Singer Award for that song.
Subsequently, she was asked to sing several songs for composer Devi Sri Prasad, including the chart buster “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 film 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 film Thriller. In the film ‘Mohabath’, she sang a duet with Hariharan. She sang “Iravil Viriyum” in her 2012 film Arike. She sang “Karuppana Kannazhagi” in the film Aadupuliyattam.
Personal life
Mamta got engaged to Prajith Padmanabhan, a Bahrain-based businessman, on 11 November 2011. They got married on 28 December 2011 in Thalassery. On 12 December 2012, the couple applied for divorce.
Mamta is a cancer survivor, and has battled Hodgkin lymphoma from 2010. In April 2013, she had a relapse of the cancer and underwent treatment. As of 2014 she resides in Downtown Los Angeles as a part of her cancer treatment.
Other work
In 2012, Mamta started working in television, hosting the quiz show Kayyil Oru Kodi on Surya TV, which was later cancelled. She also judged the popular show D 4 Dance.
She was the brand ambassador of 2011 Kochi International Fashion Week (KIWF).
Mamta was the brand ambassador along with actress Bhavana for the team Kerala Strikers for the Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) held in 2013, captained by Mohanlal, who is also one of the owners of the team, and vice-captain Indrajith Sukumaran. On November 14, 2020, Mamta launched her own production company Mamta Mohandas Productions.
Awards
- 2010: Second Best Actress – Kadha Thudarunnu
- 2010: Best Popular Actress – Kadha Thudarunnu
- 2010: Nominated – Best Actress – Kadha Thudarunnu
- 2013: Best Popular Actress – My Boss
- 2006: Won- Best Female Playback Singer in Telugu – Rakhi
- 2009: Nominated- Best Actress – Passenger
- 2010: Won- Best Actress – Kadha Thudarunnu
- 2008: Nominated- Best Supporting Actress – Yamadonga
- 2013: Nominated- Best Actress – Arike
- 2013: Nominated- Best Playback Singer – Female – Arike
- 2014: Nominated- Best Actress – Celluloid
- 2016: Nominated- Best Actress – Two Countries
- 2010: Best Actress – Kadha Thudarunnu
- 2016: Best Star Pair – Two Countries
- 2020: Special Performance Female – Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel,9
- Nominated – 2017: Best Playback Singer – Female –Aadupuliyattam
- Nominated – 2013: Best Actress –Celluloid, My Boss
- Won – 2016: Woman of the Year
- Won – 2017: Pride of South India
- Nominated – 2013: Best Female Playback Singer – Arike
- 2016: Nominated- Best Actress – Two Countries
- Mathrubhumi-Kalyan Silks Chalachitra awards
- 2010: Best Actress – Kadha Thudarunnu
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