Manju Bhargavi is a highly acclaimed classical dancer and film actress who gained popularity all over the country and abroad by the film ‘Sankarabharanam’ (Telugu) which was dubbed to Malayalam and Tamil in
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1980.
Manju Bhargavi was born in Andhrapradesh in the year 1950 and was settled in Chennai.Her original name is Manjula.She is an exponent of Classical dance ‘Kuchupudi’ and ‘Bharatanatyam’.
In the year 1974 Manju Bhargavi acted in a dance sequence of the Telugu film ‘Gaalipaatalu’ .She again appeared for small roles and dance numbers in films like ‘Krishna Veni’Soggadu,Yamagola‘ etc.
Manju Bhargavi is six feet tall, beautiful and naturally an young girl who is pretty and has good dancing and acting skill should get lead roles in films but during that period it was her height that stood as as an obstacle for her progress.The directors did not prefer her for heroine roles because of her height.
Yet she acted in some films like ‘Yasoda Krishna(Telugu) in 1975 which was directed by C.S.R.Rao.Manju Bhargavi acted along with S.V.Ranga Rao,Jamuna,Krishna Kumari,Baby Sridevi etc in this film.
In 1975 she acted in the Malayalam film ‘Pulivalu’ directed by Sasikumar and in another Malayalam film ‘Njavalpazhangal‘ in 1976.
Manju Bhargavi was noted for her role in the Malayalam film ‘Sathrathil Oru Rathri’ which was released in 1978 and was directed by N.Sankaran Nair.The story of this film was by P.Padmarajan and it was a hit movie.
In 1979 Director K.Viswanath cast her for his movie ‘Sankarabharanam‘ which was made in Telugu.It was intended mainly for the upheaval of Indian music especially ‘Carnatic Music’.Manju Bhargavi depicted the role as a classical dancer in the movie and her dance sequences were highly loved by the audience and she attained huge popularity by the release of its dubbed versions in Tamil and Malayalam in the year 1980.In the film Sankarabharanam, J.V.Somayajulu,Chandra Mohan,Rajyalakshmi,Sakshi Ranga Rao,Nirmalamma,Baby Tulasi,Allu Ramalingaiah etc acted.
Sankarabharanam received ‘National Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment’ and other National awards for music composer,singer etc.It received 5 State Nandi Awards.The film was exhibited in many International Film Festivals and bagged Awards also.
Manju Bhargavi became very busy with dance stage shows after the release of this film and in Kerala also her dance shows were conducted for temple festivals and functions throughout that decade.
Director K.Viswanath directed some other films in this genre like ‘Sagara Sangamam’ in 1983 in which Kamala Hassan and Jayapradha paired.It was also dubbed to Malayalam.In the film Sagara Sangamam also Manju Bhargavi acted.’Sankarabharanam’ was remade in Hindi as ‘Sur Sangam‘ in 1986 with Jayapradha as the heroine.
In the film Sankarabharam, Manju Bhargavi portrayed excellent acting talents and dancing skill.Her dance sequences, dance poses,gestures etc were all perfect and earned much critical acclaim and audience approval.She received respect and love from everyone which would be much above than an Award.
Manju Bhargavi did not act in many films after Sankarabharanam.In 1979 she acted in the movie ‘Gandharva Kanya’ along with Narasimha Raju,Prabha,Jaya Malini,Thyagaraju,Rama Rao,Raja Reddy,Srinivas etc.
In 1994 she acted in the film ‘Yama Leela’ along with Superstar Krishna,Indraja,Brahmanandam,Tanikella Bharani etc.Director was Krishna Reddy.
She acted in the film ‘Ninne Pelladatha‘ in 1996 in which Nagarjuna Akkineni,Tabu,Chandramohan etc acted.
In 2008 she acted in the Kannada film ‘Hodi Maga’.
Manju Bhargavi is settled in Bangalore with her husband and son where she is running a Dance School.
She is acting in TV serials also at present.