Tara (Kannada actress)

Anuradha (born 4 March 1965), known by her stage name Tara, is an Indian actress, television personality and a politician. She is known for her work predominantly in Kannada language films in addition to a few Telugu and Tamil films. She has appeared in over 250 films and has won a National Film Award for Best Actress, three Karnataka State Film Awards and two Filmfare Awards South in her career spanning over 40 years.

Tara made her debut in 1984 with the Tamil film Ingeyum Oru Gangai. Her Kannada film debut came in 1985 with Thulasidala. Some of her most notable films in Kannada include Krama (1991), Munjaneya Manju (1993), Kanooru Heggadithi (1999), Munnudi (2000), Mathadana (2001), Hasina (2005), Cyanide (2006) and Ee Bandhana (2007), Ulidavaru Kandanthe (2014). Even though she started off in the lead role, most part of her film career has been in playing the second lead and supporting roles during the 1980s and the early 1990s. In the mid 1990s she began to take up author backed roles which earned her critical acclaim and several awards and laurels including the National Film Award for the film Hasina. She has been among the judge panel in television reality shows such as Raja Rani (2021) and Nannamma Super Star (2021-22).

She joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2009 and is currently a nominated member of the Karnataka Legislative Council. After joining BJP, she was elected as the president of the Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy in 2012 and held the position for a year. In the same year, she was nominated as a member of the Karnataka Legislative Council, the upper house of the legislature of Karnataka.