Madhavi is a famous South Indian film actress. She played the heroine role for 17 years in seven languages: Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Oriya, Bengali, and Hindi. So far she acted in more than 300 films.
Early life
Madhavi was born in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. Her parents are Sasirekha and Govinda Swamy. She grew up with a brother and sister. She learnt classical dance, Bharat Natyam from Uma Maheshwari and folk dances from Mr. Bhatt from an early age and gave more than a thousand dance performances. She also attended Stanley Girls High School in Hyderabad.

Career
Director Dasari Narayana Rao gave her a starring role in the Telugu film “Thoorupu Padamara” when she was a teenager. The film became a huge hit. K. Balachander then cast her in a supporting role in his hit Telugu film Marocharithra (1979).
She repeated her role in the Hindi remake Ek Duje Ke Liye (1981), which became the top grossing film of 1981. In both films, she showed remarkable sensitivity as a lonely wealthy woman who falls in love with Kamal Haasan. She earned a Filmfare nomination as Best Supporting Actress. Director K. Balachander was so impressed with her performance in both films that he introduced her to the Tamil film industry in the film Thillu Mullu (1981) with Rajinikanth. By the end of the decade, she was starring opposite superstar Amitabh Bachchan in the Hindi film Agneepath (1990).
Madhavi later acted alongside Kamal Haasan in Raja Paarvai, Tik Tik Tik, Kaakki Chattai and Mangamma Sabadham appearing in a swimsuit in all the films. Other films with Rajinikanth included Garjanai and Thambikku endha ooru. Being talented, she showed her ability in movies like Needhi dhevan Mayakkam and Nirabaraadhi. She acted in number of films with Telugu star hero Chiranjeevi.Her first movie with chiranjeevi was Intlo Ramaiah Veedhilo Krishnaiah in 1982,Later she acted agiain with Chiranjeevi in block bluster movie Khaidi.Her last movie in Telugu was Big Boss(again Chiranjeevi movie
She acted in number of Kannada movies which have been a big success. She acted with many popular Kannada heroes including Dr. Raj Kumar, Vishnu Vardhan, Anant Nag and Ambareesh.
She also donned many roles in Malayalam movies with superstars like Mammootty and Mohanlal. Her beautiful portrayal of the legendary “Unniyaarcha” in the national award winning movie “Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha” was well appreciated. Also a very notable film was “Aakashadooth” in which she had done a very popular mother role who met her end with lukeamia.
Personal life
After going through many difficulties including caught for immoral activities, in 1996, her spiritual teacher ‘Swami Rama’ arranged her marriage to one of his disciples, a businessman (pharmaceuticals) named Ralph Sharma, who is half-Indian and half-German. She married him within a couple of weeks after meeting him. They have three children and live in New Jersey.
Now retired from films, she has indicated that she still feels the urge to act when she sees good films.
She has also an official website.

Filmography
Kannada Filmography
| Year | Film | Cast | Direction | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Garjane | Rajinikanth | C.V.Rajendran | |
| 1981 | Anupama | Anant Nag | ||
| 1982 | Khaidi | Vishnuvardhan | ||
| 1986 | Bhagyada Lakshmi Baaramma | Dr.Rajkumar | Singeetam Srinivasa Rao | |
| 1987 | Shruti Seridaga | Dr. Rajkumar | M.S.Rajashekhar | |
| 1994 | Oda Huttidavaru | Dr. Rajkumar | Dorai-Bhagavaan | |
| 1986 | Anuraaga Aralitu | Dr. Rajkumar | M.S.Rajashekhar | |
| 1982 | Haalu Jenu | Dr. Rajkumar | M.S.Rajashekhar | |
| 1987 | Chanakya | Vishnuvardhan | ||
| 1986 | Malaya Marutha | Vishnuvardhan | Lalitha Ravi | |
| 1991 | Jeevana Chaithra | Dr.Rajkumar | Dorai-Bhagawan | |
| 1983 | Rudranaga | Vishnuvardhan | ||
| 1993 | Aakasmika | Dr.Rajkumar | T.S. Nagabharana |
Telugu Filmography
| Year | Film | Cast | Direction | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthu Leni Kada | Rajini Kanth, Kamalhasn | Balachandran | |||
| 1982 | Intlo Ramayya Veedilo Krishnayya | Chiranjeevi | First Diamond Jubilee film | ||
| 1982 | Khaidhi | Chiranjeevi, Rao Gopal Rao | Kodanda Rami Reddy A. | ||
| 1978 | Maro Charithra | Kamal Haasan, Saritha | Balachander | ||
| Thoorpu Padamara | |||||
| Judge gari kuthuru | |||||
| Bottu katuka | |||||
| Chattaniki kallu leyu | |||||
| Ra ra krishayya | |||||
| Chattaniki veyi kallu | |||||
| Mathrudevo Bhava |
Malayalam Filmography
| Year | Film | Cast | Direction | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Lava | Prem Nazir, K. P. Ummer, Sathar | T.Hariharan | |
| 1981 | Valarthu Mrugangal | Sukumaran, Ratheesh | T.Hariharan | |
| 1981 | Garjanam | Rajinikanth | C.V.Rajendran | |
| 1982 | Kurukkante Kalyanam | Mohanlal, Sukumaran, Jagathy, Bahadoor | Sathyan Anthikkad | |
| 1982 | Sindoorasandhyakku Mounam | Mohanlal, Ratheesh, Lakshmi, Prathap Pothan | I. V. Sasi | |
| 1982 | Ormakkayi | Nedumudi Venu, Adoor Bhasi | Bharathan | Won State Award |
| 1982 | John Jaffer Janardhanan | Ratheesh, Mammootty, Ravindran | I. V. Sasi | |
| 1983 | Changatham | Mammootty, Mohanlal, Jagathy | Bharathan | |
| 1983 | Hello Madras Girl | Mohanlal, Shankar, Poornima Jayaram | J. Williams | |
| 1983 | Prem Nazirine Kanmanilla | Prem Nazir, Sreenivasan, Maniyanpilla Raju, Vijay Menon | Lenin Rajendran | Guest Role |
| 1985 | Adhyayam Onnu Muthal | Mohanlal, Venu Nagavalli | Sathyan Anthikkad | |
| 1987 | Nombarathi Poovu | Mammootty, Shaari, Jagathy | Padmarajan | Won State Award |
| 1989 | Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha | Mammootty, Suresh Gopi, Geetha | T.Hariharan | |
| 1993 | Aakashadooth | Murali, Nedumudi Venu, Jagathy | Sibi Malayil | Won State Award |
| 1993 | Gandhari | Siddique, Saikumar | Sunil | |
| 1994 | Sudinam | Jayaram, Sudheesh, Dileep | Nisar | |
| 1995 | Aksharam | Suresh Gopi, Annie, Narendra Prasad | Sibi Malayil | |
| 1995 | Chaitanyam | Murali | Jayan Varkala |
Tamil Filmography
| Year | Film | Cast | Direction | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Trilok Sundari | Narasimha Rajju | Singeetam Srinivasa Rao | |
| 1981 | Thillu Mullu | Rajinikanth | K.Balachander | |
| 1981 | Garjanai | Rajinikanth | C.V.Rajendran | |
| 1981 | Raja Parvai | Kamal Hassan | Singeetam Srinivasa Rao | |
| 1981 | Tik Tik Tik | Kamal Haasan, Radha | Bharathiraja | |
| 1983 | Sattam | Kamal Haasan | K.Vijayan | |
| 1984 | Thambikku entha oru | Rajinikanth, Sulakshana | Rajasekhar | |
| 1985 | Kaakki Sattai | Kamal Haasan, Ambika | Rajasekhar | |
| 1985 | Mangamma Sabatham | Kamal Haasan | K.Vijayan | |
| 1985 | Unn Kannil Neer Vazhdidal | Rajinikanth | Balu Mahendra | |
| 1986 | Viduthalai | Rajinikanth, Sivaji Ganesan | Rajasekhar | |
| Veera Pen | Jaishankar | |||
| Ellam Inbamayam | Kamal Hassan | |||
| Pancha Kalyani | Sudhakar |
Hindi Filmography
| Year | Film | Cast | Direction | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Ek Duje Ke Liye | Kamal Haasan, Rati Agnihotri | K. Balachander | |
| 1983 | Andha Kanoon | Rajinikanth, Hema Malini, Reena Roy, Amitabh Bachchan | T.Rama Rao | Special Appearance |
| 1984 | Mujhe Shakti Do | Vinod Mehra | ||
| 1984 | Taqatwala | |||
| 1985 | Misaal | Naseeruddin Shah, Vijeta Pandit | Humayun Mirza, Maharukh Mirza, Sharukh Mirza | |
| 1986 | Jwala | Puneet Issar, Goga Kapoor | Sudesh Issar | |
| 1987 | Loha | Vikas Anand, Dharmendra | Raj.N.Sippy | |
| 1987 | Kalyug aur Ramayan | Manoj Kumar, Rajiv Goswami | Babubhai Mistri | |
| 1987 | Satyamev Jayathe | Vinod Khanna, Meenakshi Seshadri | Raj.N.Sippy | |
| 1988 | Pyar Ka Mandir | Mithun Chakraborty, Bharat Bhusan | K.Bapaiah | |
| 1988 | Mar Mitenge | Mithun Chakraborty, Jeetendra | Kawal Sharma | |
| 1989 | Paraya Ghar | Rishi Kapoor, Jaya Prada | Kalpataru | |
| 1990 | Haar Jeet | Kabir Bedi, Shafi Inamdar | Avtar Boghal | |
| 1990 | Swarg | Rajesh Khanna, Govinda, Juhi Chawla | David Dhawan | |
| 1990 | Agneepath | Amitabh Bachchan, Mithun Chakraborty | Mukul S. Anand | |
| 1992 | Saphira | Sanjay Dutt, Kimi Katkar | Ashok Gaekwad | |
| 1992 | Lambu Dada | Master Akash, Mahesh Anand, Kabir Bedi | Sharad Chaudary |





























