Bhanu Priya (born 15 January 1963) is an Indian film actress, Kuchipudi dancer, and voice artist known for her works predominantly in Telugu cinema and Tamil cinema. She is also known for her works in a few Malayalam and Kannada films, Bollywood and television. Her acting debut was with the Tamil film Mella Pesungal (1983). She then appeared in the Telugu hit Sitaara, which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu for that year. She then played an ornithologist in the 1985 mystery film Anveshana. In 1986, she made her Hindi film debut with Dosti Dushmani.
Bhanupriya was born in Rangampeta village, near Rajamahendravaram, Andhra Pradesh into the Telugu speaking family of Pandu Babu and Ragamali. Her family settled in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. She has a younger sister Shantipriya, who is also a film actress since the 1990s.
In 1988, she appeared in Swarnakamalam, screened at the Indian panorama section of the 1988 International Film Festival of India, and the Ann Arbor Film Festival. Bhanupriya has garnered the Indian Express Award for Best Actress, the Nandi Award for Best Actress, and the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu for her performance in the film. In 1989 and 1981 her performances in the Tamil hits Aararo Aariraro and Azhagan brought her the Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prizes respectively.
In a film career spanning thirty-three years, Bhanupriya has acted in more than one hundred fifty feature films in a variety of roles, and has garnered three state Nandi Awards, three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, two Cinema Express Awards, two Filmfare Awards South and the JFW Divas of South India Award - for her contribution to South Indian cinema, the Gemini TV Puraskaram for lifetime achievement in Television and various other honours.
