Lavanya Tripathi, the ‘Andala Rakshasi’ of Telugu cinema, turns 33!

As Lavanya Tripathi turns a year older on Friday, 15 December, let’s take a sneak peek at her unexpected entry into films and how she landed a role in Tollywood, which left an indelible mark in the hearts of her fans.

Born into a conservative family in Uttarakhand, the 33-year-old’s tryst with the entertainment industry was unexpected. As a commerce graduate studying in Mumbai, she developed a desire for modelling after observing her close friend, who is already in the field.

Lavanya Tripathi debuted in films with ‘Andhala Rakshasi’. (IamLavanyaTripathi/Facebook)

Lavanya Tripathi grabbed the spotlight by winning the “Miss Uttarakhand” title. Offers and ad commercials have come her way since then.

Prospective film producers started pursuing her interest in the films. However, she got back to her studies as promised to her parents.

Having been featured in several commercials for national brands, Lavanya took her time before taking a plunge into the television industry.

She first made her screen debut with Shhh.. Koi Hai in 2006. Later, in the Hindi television soap ‘Pyaar Ka Bandhan’ and CID. As soon as she passed her degree, she took modelling seriously.

Inroads to Tollywood

Director Hanu Raghavapudi, who worked as an assistant under Chandrasekhar Yeleti, came up with a script (Andala Rakshasi) that he wrote for months. He narrated the story to Sai Korrapati, who was then busy with post-production works along with his friend-director SS Rajamouli for Eega (2012).

While Rajamouli assured Sai Korrapati that he would oversee Eega, the latter focused on his forthcoming project with Hanu Raghavapudi.

As casting began, Hanu sought someone with a relatively fresh face. Of 100 applications, he zeroed in on three fresh faces and Lavanya Tripathi was the final choice when he auditioned her in Hyderabad.

Naveen Chandra and Rahul Ravindran were the male protagonists in ‘Andala Rakshasi’.

Related: Lavanya Tripathi: A decade-long career and still going strong

Appraisal for her performance

Lavanya Tripathi in a still from ‘Andala Rakshashi’. (IamLavanyaTripathi/Facebook)

In 2011, when Andala Rakshasi went to the sets, Lavanya struggled with the diction; too many retakes tested the patience of the film crew on the sets.

There was a time when she felt she would give up acting and go back to her native place. However, Hanu patiently waited and managed to complete the shoot on time.

When the trailer of Andala Rakshasi was unveiled, Lavanya made the heads turn in the industry. The trailer received massive applause from critics.

Finally, when the film was released in theatres, Andala Rakshasi bagged a hit talk among the youth.

Subsequently, Lavanya won the Cine Maa Best Female Debut award for the character Midhuna she portrayed in the film.

Director Veeru Potla roped her in for his film Doosukeltha in 2013. She played the love interest of Manchu Vishnu in the movie.

Then she played a cameo in Vikram K Kumar’s Manam (2014). Later, she was paired with Natural Star Nani in Bhale Bhale Magadivoy (2015), which turned out to be a box-office hit.

She acted alongside Akkineni Nagarjuna in Soggade Chinni Nayana in 2016. She starred in the comedy thriller Lacchimdeviki O Lekkundi (LOL) starring Naveen Chandra in 2016.

Lavanya and with her actor-husband Varun Tej. (IamLavanyaTripathi/Facebook)

Lavanya Tripathi was paired with Allu Sirish in Srirastu Subhamastu (2016) and Varun Tej’s Mister (2017). During this time, she got close to Varun.

She then starred in Radha (2017) featuring Sharwanand. Later, she shared screen space with Naga Chaitanya in Yuddham Sharanam in 2017, Ram Pothineni in Unnadi Okkate Zindagi (2017), Sai Dharam Tej in Intelligent (2018), and Varun Tej in Antariksham 9000 KMPH (2018).

During Antariksham 9000 KMPH, Lavanya’s friendship with Varun blossomed into love, and both reportedly started dating each other. They tied the knot recently.

Arjun Suravaram (2019) with Nikhil Siddharth did not augur well for her. The same was the case with the web series Puli Meka (2023).

Although most of her films turned out to be box-office disasters, Lavanya Tripathi kept her identity abreast with her onscreen looks and vibrant screen presence.

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