Sheela | |
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 Sheela in 2017 | |
| Born | (1945-03-24)24 March 1945 (age 80) |
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| Children | George Vishnu |
Sheela Celine (born 24 March 1945) is an Indian actress and director who appears predominantly inMalayalam cinema. Paired withPrem Nazir, they hold theGuinness World Record for acting in the largest number of films (around 105) together as heroine and hero. She had also appeared in another 20 films with Prem Nazir, even as his mother in a film.[1][2] Sheela is a four-time winner ofKerala State Film Award. She came back to acting in 2003 throughManassinakkare after 22 years. In 2005, she won theNational Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the Malayalam filmAkale. In 2019, Sheela was honoured with theJ C Daniel Award, theKerala government's highest honour for outstanding contribution to Malayalam cinema. She was also one of the highest paid actresses, reportedly paid more than her male counterparts, of her time.[3]
Sheela was born in aMalayali family, to Kanimangalam Antony, a Railway officer and Gracy atThrissur,Kingdom of Travancore (nowKerala). She was brought up inOoty.[4] Since her father was working with the railways, she was brought up in different places before finally settling down atChennai. As a result, she had her primary education at various places, includingThiruvananthapuram,Thrissur,Ooty,Tiruchirappalli,Salem,Edappally andSt. Francis Anglo-Indian Girls School,Coimbatore.[5]
She was initially married to Mr.Xavier, a reporter, which ended in a divorce.[6] She was married to Tamil actorRavichandran and they have sonGeorge Vishnu.
Sheela was introduced to theatre at the age of 13 by Tamil actorS. S. Rajendran, he offered her a job in S.S.R Nataka Mandram. She was introduced into the film industry at the age of 17 by MGR in the Tamil filmPaasam (1962).M. G. Ramachandran, the hero of the film, added the suffix "Devi" to her name, thus he renamed her "Sheela Devi". She would continue to act in Tamil films with that name. Later, she reverted her name toSheela, her original name.[7] The same year, she made her Malayalam debut throughBhagyajathakam. The next two decades saw her act in more than 475 films in various languages such as Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. Her popular films areChemmeen,Kallichellamma,Velutha KathreenaAkale,Oru Penninte Kadha,Sarsaiya,Yakshaganam,Kutti Kuppayam,Sthanarthy Saramma,Kadathunattu Makkan,Kannapan Unni,Jwala,Vazhve Mayam, etc. InKannapanunni, she plays the role of a powerful yet humane princess forced to marry a poor woodcutter. InKadathanattu Makkam, she plays the role of a princess who is cheated by her sisters-in-law and false allegations of being in love with a boatman are leveled against her. She and the boatman are both given the death sentence.[citation needed]
In the 1970s and 1980s, she directed and wrote the story as well as screenplay for two filmsShikharangal andYakshaganom, which was also remade in Tamil. Sheela wrote the story and screenplay for Mammooty starrer Onnu Chiriku. Besides films, she has directed a tele-film titledNinaivukale Neengividu, co-starringJayabharathi. Her other films includeVishnu Vijayam andEeta. She retired from the film industry in 1983 and settled atOotacamund,Tamil Nadu.[8] After a long sabbatical, she returned to acting, playing a role inSathyan Anthikkad'sManassinakkare (2003). The same year, she acted in the Tamil filmChandramukhi.[citation needed]
Sheela, along with Prem Nazir, holds the Guinness World Record for acting in the largest number of films (130) together. In 2005, she won theNational Film Award for Best Supporting Actress andKerala State Film Award for Second Best Actress for her role in the Malayalam filmAkale. She received theKerala State Film Award for Best Actress thrice in her film career in 1969, 1971, and 1976. She has won awards such asKerala State Film Awards, the Lux award, and the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement award. Sheela made an exhibition of her paintings at hotel Le- Meridian in Ernakulam and 93 paintings were sold, most of which were bought by Snehatheeram Baby Mathew and Ravi Pillai. The amount collected from these paintings was donated as a flood relief fund for the people in Chennai.[citation needed]
South Indian International Movie Awards
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