Mamta Mohandas

Early life

Mamta Mohandas was born on 14 November 1985 to Ambalappat Mohandas and Ganga into a Malayali family which originally hails from Kannur (Kerala). She attended the Indian School, Bahrain until 2002 and is an alumna of the School. She pursued a bachelor's degree at Mount Carmel College Bangalore. She modeled for print ads for companies such as IBM and Kalyan Kendra and modeled on the ramp for the Mysore Maharajah and Raymonds. Mamta is trained in Carnatic and Hindustani music.

Career

Mamta debuted in the 2005 Malayalam film Mayookham, directed by Hariharan. Although the film did not do well at the box office, Mamta attracted attention for her sensitive portrayal of Indira.

Subsequently, she acted alongside Mammootty in Bus Conductor, with Suresh Gopi in the films Adbutham (2006) and Lanka (2006), and alongside Jayaram in Madhuchandralekha (2006). She also played the female lead in Baba Kalyani with Mohanlal. Later that year, she débuted in the Tamil film industry, starring in the Karu Pazhaniappan directed film Sivappathigaram opposite Vishal Krishna, which turned out to be an average grosser.

In 2007 she acted with Mammootty in the blockbuster film Big B. She eventually stepped into the Telugu film industry as well, when she appeared in a supporting role in the film Yamadonga, directed by SS Rajamouli. The film became one of the biggest hits of the year. She had lent her voice for a couple of songs in this film too. In 2008, she appeared in 7 films, predominantly in Telugu-language films. Her first release was her début Kannada film Gooli. She then starred in the film Krishnarjuna, playing the lead female role, which did not do well at the box office. Victory was her next assignment as lead actress, but that film also failed at the box office, following which she appeared in a cameo role in her only Tamil release that year, Kuselan, alongside Tamil superstar Rajinikanth. Three more Telugu releases featured Mamta, including Homam, directed by JD Chakravarthy and Srinu Vaitla's King opposite Nagarjuna. In both these films she also performed as a playback singer in several songs.

In 2009, she starred in the comedy film Guru En Aalu alongside Madhavan, and The Thriller Passenger, sharing screen space with Dileep and Sreenivasan, respectively. While the former had an average run at the box office, the latter was declared a surprise sleeper hit in Malayalam. The film 'Passenger' in which she played the role of a television reporter 'Anuradha', became a turning point in mamta's career. In 2010, she worked with Jayaram in the critically acclaimed Kadha Thudarunnu directed by Sathyan Anthikkad, for which she won her first Best Actress Award from Filmfare. This film also won her the 'Vanitha award for best actress – Malayalam', the 'Mathrubhumi award for best actress – Malayalam' and the 'Asianet award for the best actress- Malayalam '. Other projects in 2010 included Musafir with Rahman, Anwar with Prithiviraj, and Kedi with Nagarjuna. Mamta's first film in 2011 was the Malayalam film Race, in which she played the role of Niya, wife of a cardio surgeon Abey (Kunchacko Boban). The film failed to do well at the box office. Her next release in Malayalam was Naayika. In 2012, Mamta appeared in her third Tamil film, Thadaiyara Thaakka directed by Magizh Thirumeni. Her most recent film is Paisa Paisa in which she was paired with Indrajith. She has completed filming for To Noora with Love in which she plays a Muslim character. She has made a comeback to Malayalam movie industry with ranjith shankar's mammooty starrer "Varsham". She shared her screen space again with Dileep in "Two Countries" after doing a box office hit movie with him named "My Boss"

Singing

Mamta is as an acclaimed playback singer in Indian films as well. Mamta, who is trained in Carnatic and Hindustani music, first sang playback in the Telugu film Rakhi, singing the title song under Devi Sri Prasad's direction, making her début in the Telugu film industry as a singer before making her acting début in Telugu. She went on to win the 2006 Filmfare Best Female Playback Singer Award for that song.

Subsequently, she was asked to sing several songs for composer Devi Sri Prasad, including the chartbuster "Akalesthe Annam Pedtha" for the Chiranjeevi-starrer Shankardada Zindabad (later dubbed as Daddy Mummy in the Tamil film Villu), "36-24-36" for the film Jagadam, "Mia" for Tulasi, and "Ghanana (Funny)" and the title song for the film King. Other music directors she has worked with include M. M. Keeravani (for her own films Yamadonga and Krishnarjuna, also Chandamama), R. P. Patnaik (for Andamaina Mansulo), Chakri (for Victory), Nithin Raikwar (for her own film Homam) and Thaman (for Jayeebhava).

In Tamil, she sang "Kaalai Kaalai" in the film Kaalai, which starred Silambarasan in the lead role. She sang "Idai Vazhi" for the comedy film Goa under noted composer Yuvan Shankar Raja's direction. Both songs featured her singing alongside Benny Dayal. She was heard for the first time in her mother tongue, Malayalam, in the 2010 film Anwar. She has also recorded a song for her recent film Thriller. In the film 'Mohabath', she sang a duet with Hariharan. She sang "Iravil Viriyum" in her 2012 film Arike.

Other work

In 2012, Mamta starting working in television too, hosting the quiz show Kayyil Oru Kodi on Surya TV. It was later cancelled. She also judged the popular show D 4 Dance.

Mamta was the brand ambassador of Kochi International Fashion Week (KIWF) which was held from 4 to 7 August. She is the brand ambassador along with actress Bhavana for team Kerala Strikers for the Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) held in 2013, captained by Mohanlal, who is also one of the owners of the team, and vice-captain Indrajith.

Personal life

Mamta is a cancer survivor. She battled Hodgkin's lymphoma with positive energy and confidence. She had to cut her hair off for chemotherapy sessions. In some parts of her film Anwar, she managed to conceal the difference with wigs. Not many were aware of this situation until late 2010.

Mamta got engaged to Prajith Padmanabhan, a Bahrain-based businessman, also her childhood friend, on 11 November 2011. They got married on 28 December 2011 in Kozhikode. On 12 December 2012, the couple applied for divorce. In April 2013, she had a relapse of the cancer and underwent treatment. She is currently residing in Downtown Los Angeles as a part of her cancer treatment.

Awards