Roja Selvamani

Biography:

R K Roja is an Indian Politician and former Actress who is the current Minister for Tourism, Culture, and Youth Advancement in the Government of Andhra Pradesh.
Roja began her political career in 1998 from the Telugu Desam Party and aligns with the YSR Congress Party since 2011. She was elected as an MLA from Nagari in Andhra Pradesh twice in the 2014 and 2019. She also serves as the YSR Congress Party’s state women president. Between 2019 and 2021, Roja served as the chairperson of APIIC Andhra Pradesh. In 2022, Roja announced she would be leaving the film industry to focus more on her political career as a politician. She also announced that she will no longer be acting in any films.

Roja was born as Sri Latha Reddy on 17 November 1972 to Nagaraja Reddy and Lalitha in Tirupati, Tirupati district, Andhra Pradesh. She was the only girl with two brothers Kumaraswamy Reddy and RamaprasadReddy.Later, the family moved to Hyderabad. She got her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Sri Padmavathi Women’s University, Tirupati. Roja learnt Kuchipudi and was performing in dance before she entered films.

Roja entered the film industry with Telugu films. Her first movie was Prema Thapassu with Rajendra Prasad where the complete movie was shot in Tirupati.

She was introduced to the Tamil film industry by director R. K. Selvamani with Chembaruthi, along with actor Prashanth. The movie was a hit and paved way for role in another success, Suriyan with Sarath Kumar. Both the films established her in Tamil cinema.She became known for songs such as “MeloorMaman” in the film Makkal Aatchi with Mammootty and “MastanaMastana” in Raasaiyya with Prabhu Deva. Her performance in films with actors such as Rajinikanth in Veera, Arjun Sarja in AyudhaPoojai and Prabhu in ThirupathiEzhumalaiVenkatesa were praised.