Radhika Kumaraswamy

Radhika Kumaraswamy (born Radhika Shetty on 18 May 1987) is an Indian actress, who primarily appears in Kannada films. She made her acting debut in 2002 with the Kannada film Ninagagi. In 2012, she produced her first film, Lucky starring Yash under the name Shamika Enterprises. Career Radhika started her acting career with the Kannada film Neela Megha Shama (2002) when she had completed her ninth class. Her first release was Ninagagi, opposite Vijay Raghavendra, which was followed by Tavarige Baa Tangi, starring Shivrajkumar; both films were highly successful ventures. In 2003, she appeared in five Kannada films, including Hemanth Hegde's directorial debut Ooh La La; Hudugigaagi, alongside S. P. B. Charan; Yograj Bhat's maiden feature film Mani, in which she played the daughter of a prostitute; Mane Magalu and Tayi Illada Tabbali, all of which were commercial failures. In spite of the film's poor box office returns, Radhika's performance as Gowri in Tayi Illada Tabbali won her the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress. Radhika subsequently began to work in Tamil cinema, acting in four Tamil films and one Telugu film (Bhadadri Ramudu) in quick succession. Her debut Tamil film was S. P. Jananathan's award-winning debut directorial Iyarkai (2003). The Hindu in its review noted that Kutty Radhika as the "impulsive, immature and obdurate Nancy looks just right for the role". Three of her four releases in 2005—Rishi, Masala and Auto Shankar—featured her alongside another lead female character. Again in 2005 she appeared in Anna Thangi collaborating with the Tavarige Baa Tangi team, Shivrajkumar and Radhika again playing the elder brother and younger sister roles, respectively.