Obituary: Soundarya

The Indian film star Soundarya was at the peak of her career and popularity when she was killed in a plane crash near Bangalore, aged 31, on the way to a campaign meeting of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Like many big names in south Indian film, Soundarya, who was also a doctor, was interested in politics, and had recently joined the BJP. In a 12-year career, she made more than 90 movies, acting in the south Indian languages Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam. She had also appeared in the Hindi film Suryavansham (2002), and had produced a Kannada film, Dweepa, which won her the national award for best actor, took three Karnataka state government awards and was screened at five international festivals. She had plans to remake this art film in English for a wider audience. Soundarya was born in Bangalore, the daughter of a producer-director and film actor. She had wanted to become an architect or doctor but, while a first-year medical student, one of her father's friends recruited her for the Kannada film Gandharva (1992). She debuted in Tamil cinema in the film Ponnumani. But the vast majority of her hits were in Telugu; and she was a household name in Andhra Pradesh. Known for her professionalism and no-nonsense attitude, and admired for her beauty and dignified performances, she never hid the fact that her entry into the film business had been half-hearted. She married Sridhar, a software executive, in 2003. He survives her. · Soundarya (Sowmya), actor, born July 18 1972; died April 17 2004