Rohini (actress)

A native of Anakapalli in Andhra Pradesh, Rohini spent all her childhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.^[4] Her father, Appa Rao Naidu, was a panchayat officer and her mother, Radha, was a housewife.^[5] Her father always wanted to become an actor, though he could not be an actor owing to various reasons; he encouraged Rohini to become an actress.

Her brother Balaji is also an actor.^[6] Rohini married actor Raghuvaran in 1996 but divorced in 2004. They have one son, Rishi.^[5][7]

She started her career in 1974 as a child actress. She was first seen as a wide-eyed five-year old in Yasodha Krishna (1975), a Telugu film. She is also a popular dubbing artist in the Telugu and Tamil film industries. She has voiced six characters in five of Mani Ratnam's films.^[8] She lent her voice to actresses like Jyothika (Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu), Aishwarya Rai (Iruvar and Raavanan),^[4] Manisha Koirala (Bombay)^[1] and Amala (Siva).^[8] She has also dubbed for Girija Shettar in Geethanjali (1989).

She wrote lyrics for the Tamil film Pachaikili Muthucharam, before ending another hiatus by writing all songs in the album, Maalai Pozhudhin Mayakathilaey.^{[citation needed]}

She writes episodes for Tamil TV serials.^[4] She started writing scripts for TV series way back in 1996, and has adapted the Sahithya Academy Award winning novel Verukku Neer for a tele film in 2005.^{[citation needed]} She hosted the live TV talk show Kelvigal Aayiram for Vijay TV, which she said "dealt with issues close to my heart".^[8] She moderated the Tamil programme Azhagiya Tamizh Magal on Kalaignar TV^[9] and has worked as the anchor of Raj TV's show, Rohini's Box Office in which she reviewed the latest releases.^[10]

Being an activist for AIDS awareness, Rohini has also directed short films for M.G.R. Medical University and Tamil Nadu Aids Control Society.^{[citation needed]} In 2008, Rohini had directed a 50-minute documentary Silent Hues about film industry's Child actress, she being one herself.^[11] In 2013, she has directed a feature film Appavin Meesai which is yet to be released.^{[citation needed]}

• 1995 – National Film Award – Special Mention – Stri^[3]
• 1995 – Nandi Award for Special Jury Best Performance – Stri^[12]
• 2017 – Vanitha Film Awards – Best Supporting Actress (Guppy, Action Hero Biju)
• 2017 – CPC Awards for Best Supporting Actress (Guppy, Action Hero Biju)

Rohini has mainly acted in Malayalam, Telugu, and Tamil films along with a few Kannada films. Having started her acting career at five, she has about 130 South Indian films to her credit.^[2]