| Soumya Bollapragada | |
| Birth Date: | 26 June 1985[1] |
| Birth Place: | Nagpur, India |
| Relatives: | Gautami (aunt) U. G. Krishnamurti (great-grandfather) |
| Yearsactive: | 2005–present |
Soumya Bollapragada is an Indian actress, writer, director and a model.
She is the niece of actress Gautami and great-granddaughter of the Indian thinker U. G. Krishnamurti and has acted in Telugu films primarily. She is also related to Nirmala Sitharaman through her mother. Soumya is also the rakhi sister (sworn sister) of Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil.[2] [3]
Her father Divakar[4] was an engineer in the Merchant Navy, her mother a housewife. She graduated from St. Joseph's College for Women.[5] She ran a monthly magazine Evoke for three and half years in Vizag. She has a bachelor's degree in English literature and Psychology from Andhra University[6] She was one of the six finalists in Miss South India where girls from Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and AP had participated. Soumya secured the Ms Photogenic and Ms Perfect 10 rounds in the contest. She had also won the Ms. Personality round for her height in the Miss Andhra contest held in Hyderabad in January 2005 and the Miss NIFD title organised by the National Institute of Fashion Design in Visakhapatnam in April 2005. She was trained by Koushik Ghosh for this pageant.[4]
She has modelled for commercials for brands such as KPL Coconut Oil in Kerala, Sun Flower shopping mall, and Anarkali Boutique.
She made her debut in the cross-over cult hit film The Angrez with her portrayal of the character Tanya garnering praise. She has a theatre background which helped her to get into the film industry.[4] She acted in a play in Andhra University and was spotted by Kuntaa Nikkil, director of The Angrez. This film is still considered a cult classic in Deccani cinema. She also acted in the English film Stalemate and played the role of an assistant surgeon.[7] She made her debut in Tamil in Thozha with the stars of Chennai 600028. She also played a role in Netru Indru Naalai (Ninna Nedu Repu in Telugu). She was part of Mugguru produced by Movie Mogul D Ramaniadu and directed by V N Aditya.[8] She acted in the horror thriller Poga and in Ramadandu and was praised for her performance as a journalist in the latter.[9] [10]
She is the founder of the theatre group Applause – The Theatre People.[11] She has also hosted TV shows like Jollywood Express, a comedy show with actor AVS on Gemini TV and Zee Sound Party on Zee Telugu. She was the winner of the country-wide Lucky 13 contest held by author Ashwin Sanghi. In addition to this she has worked as a writer for Chhota Bheem, Mighty Raju, Arjun, Chimpoo & Simpoo.[4]
| Year | Film | Role | Language | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | The Angrez | Tanya | Hyderabadi Urdu | ||
| 2007 | Stalemate | English | |||
| Aa Roje | Telugu | ||||
| 2008 | Thozha | Manisha Gupta | Tamil | ||
| Netru Indru Naalai | Tamil | ||||
| Ninna Nedu Repu | Telugu | ||||
| Call Center | Telugu | ||||
| 2010 | Young India | Keerthi | Telugu | ||
| 2011 | Mugguru | Mohini | Telugu | ||
| 2012 | Poga | Telugu | |||
| Ramadandu | Telugu | ||||
| 2013 | Neenandre Ishta Kano | Anjali | Kannada | credited as Roopanjali[12] | |
| 2014 | Chandamama Kathalu | Telugu | Special appearance |