https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Snehalata_ReddySnehalata Reddy - Revision history2026-08-18T08:43:05ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Snehalata_Reddy&diff=453658&oldid=prevJames: updated references for accuracy and corrected details2026-02-12T02:47:48Z<p>updated references for accuracy and corrected details</p>
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<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indian actress, producer and activist}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2016}}<br />
{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Snehalatha Reddy<br />
| image = <br />
| caption = <br />
| birth_name = <br />
| birth_date = 1932<br />
| birth_place = [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[India]]<br />
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1977|01|20|1932}}<br />
| death_place = <br />
| nationality = [[India]]n<br />
| ethnicity = <br />
| other_names = <br />
| known_for = [[Samskara (film)|Samskara]], Imprisonment during Emergency<br />
| relatives = [[Ramana Reddy]]<br>[[T. Subbarami Reddy]]<br />
| spouse = [[Pattabhirama Reddy Tikkavarapu]]<br />
| children = Nandana Reddy,<br />
Konarak Reddy<br />
| alma mater = <br />
| occupation = Actress, Writer, Producer, Director, Social Activist<br />
}}<br />
'''Snehalatha Reddy''' (1932 – 20 January 1977) was an [[Indian film]] actress, producer and social activist known for her works in [[Kannada cinema]], Kannada theatre, [[Telugu cinema]], and [[Telugu theatre]]. She was arrested over her involvement in the [[Baroda dynamite case|Baroda Dynamite Case]] and imprisoned for over 8 months during [[The Emergency (India)|the Emergency]] in India. She was the co-founder of the [[Madras Players]] in the 1960s, the amateur group that staged memorable productions like [[Ibsen]]'s ''[[Peer Gynt]]'', directed by Douglas Alger, besides ''[[Twelfth Night]]'' and Tennessee William's ''[[Night of the Iguana]]'', directed by Peter Coe. Besides, she acted in, directed, or produced plays such as ''A View from the Bridge'' and ''The House of Bernarda Alba''.<ref name=h/> In 2003, her husband [[Pattabhirama Reddy Tikkavarapu|Pattabhirama Reddy]] presented - ''In the Hour of God'', a play based on [[Sri Aurobindo]]'s classic ''[[Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol|Savitri]]'', inspired by the mythical woman who defied death for love, which he dedicated to Snehalata Reddy.<ref name=h/><br />
<br />
==Personal life==<br />
Snehalatha was born in 1932 to second generation Christian converts from the state of Andhra Pradesh. She strongly opposed the Colonial Rule and her initial years were immersed in the freedom struggle. She resented the British to such an extent that she reverted to her Indian name and wore only Indian clothes. Snehalatha was married to poet, mathematician and film director [[Pattabhi Rama Reddy]]. The couple were devoted to the cause of renowned freedom fighter and activist [[Ram Manohar Lohia|Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia]]. Snehalata came under national spotlight for her role in the [[Kannada film]] ''[[Samskara (film)|Samskara]]'', written by [[U. R. Ananthamurthy|UR Ananthamurthy]] and directed by her husband. The film went on to win the [[National Film Award for Best Feature Film|National Award]] in 1970. Her last film ''Sone Kansari'' was released in 1977, after her death.<ref name=h>{{cite news | url=http://www.hindu.com/mp/2003/12/01/stories/2003120101800200.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040331135415/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2003/12/01/stories/2003120101800200.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=31 March 2004 | title=A Savitri for Sneha | work=[[The Hindu]] | date=1 December 2003 | access-date=2 July 2016 | author=Aditi De}}</ref><ref name="imdb.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0714779/bio|title=Snehalata Reddy|website=[[IMDb]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/in-the-hour-of-god-play-in-tribute-to-snehalata-reddy-at-chowdaiah-memorial-hall-bangalore/1/205051.html|title=In the Hour of God: Play in tribute to Snehalata Reddy at Chowdaiah Memorial Hall, Bangalore}}</ref> Her daughter Nandana Reddy is a human rights, social and political activist. She is the founder and director of [[Concerned for Working Children|CWC (Concerned for Working Children)]] a Bangalore-based NGO that was nominated for 2012 Nobel Peace Prize.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bengaluru.citizenmatters.in/3842-bangalore-ngo-cwc-nomination-nobel-peace-prize-3842|title=Bangalore NGO among nominees for Nobel peace prize {{!}}|date=2012-02-19|website=Citizen Matters, Bengaluru|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-01-13}}</ref> Nandana has written various memoirs of her mother's ordeals at imprisonment during the [[The Emergency (India)|Emergency]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/nandana-reddy-on-mother-snehalata-reddys-incarceration-during-emergency/article7360753.ece|title=A daughter remembers|last=Reddy|first=Nandana|date=2015-06-27|work=The Hindu|access-date=2020-01-13|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> Her son Konarak Reddy is a musical artist.<br />
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== Political activism ==<br />
Snehalatha and her husband actively participated in the anti-Emergency movement. They spoke out against the tyrannical Indira Gandhi regime and the proclamation of Emergency in consideration with their affiliation to [[Ram Manohar Lohia|Lohia's]] principles.<ref name="thebetterindia.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebetterindia.com/147365/emergency-snehalatha-reddy-actress-indira-gandhi/|title=Fearless, Compassionate And Martyr: The Story of an Actress Who Took on The Emergency|date=2018-06-25|website=The Better India|language=en-US|access-date=2020-01-13}}</ref> She was a close friend of [[George Fernandes]], the trade unionist and politician and was arrested on 2 May 1976<ref>{{cite book|title=[[India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy]]|author= Ramachandra Guha|author-link= Ramachandra Guha|date=2011|page=506|isbn= 978-0330540209}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://churumuri.wordpress.com/tag/snehalata-reddy/|title=Snehalata Reddy - churumuri}}</ref> for being a part of the [[Baroda dynamite case]]. However, while George Fernandes and 24 others were in the list of accused, Snehalatha's name was not mentioned in final charge-sheet. She was considered guilty by mere association. She was held without trial for eight months in [[Bangalore Central Jail]], enduring regular torture and was subjected to inhumane conditions. Despite having chronic asthma she received irregular treatment and on two occasions even went into an asthmatic coma.<ref name="thebetterindia.com"/> Her frail health worsened due to solitary confinement. With her health failing, Snehalatha was eventually released on parole on 15 January 1977.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/celluloids-twopronged-response-to-emergency/article7365240.ece|title=Celluloid's two-pronged response to Emergency|first=Muralidhara|last=Khajane|date=29 June 2015|newspaper=The Hindu}}</ref> As a result of chronic asthma and debilitating lung infection, she died on 20 January 1977, just 5 days after her release.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Guha |first1=Ramachandra |title=India After Gandhi: The History of The World's Largest Democracy |date=August 2007 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=9780230016545 |pages=504}}</ref> She is one of the first martyrs of the Emergency.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Prison Diary|year=1977|publisher=Snehalata Reddy Human Rights Committee, Karnataka State, 1977 -|pages=15–22|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rHwdAAAAMAAJ&q=Snehalata+Reddy+died+at+age+of}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Experiment with untruth: India under emergency|date=1977|author=Michael Henderson |publisher=South Asia Books|page=48,51 |isbn= 0901269344}}</ref><br />
<ref>{{cite book|title=Himmat - Volume 13, Issues 1-26|date=1976|page=180|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eV3QAAAAMAAJ&q=Snehalata+Reddy+died+at+age+of|access-date=27 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Wall Tappings: An International Anthology of Women's Prison Writings, 200 to ... edited by Judith A. Scheffler|date=2002|page=311|isbn=9781558612730|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EA4XZxfO8dYC&q=Snehalata+Reddy+&pg=PA311|access-date=27 June 2014|last1=Scheffler|first1=Judith A.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/2000/07/02/stories/1302123a.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140629172245/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/2000/07/02/stories/1302123a.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2014-06-29|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=2000-07-02|title=When friends disappeared}}</ref><br />
[[Madhu Dandavate]], who was also in the same jail where Snehalata was imprisoned, writes in his memoir, "I could hear the screams of Snehalata from her cell in the silence of the night".<ref>{{cite book|title=Dialogue with Life |author= Madhu Dandavate|date=2005|page=89|isbn= 9788177648560|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qmoiCCN2AK0C&q=Snehalata+Reddy&pg=PA89}}</ref><br />
<br />
While in jail, Snehalatha Reddy had maintained a diary which was published by the Karnataka Human Rights Committee in 1977 in a compilation titled ''A Prison Diary''. A documentary was made based on her diary in year 2019.<ref>{{cite news |title='Prison Diaries': An intimate documentary on anti-Emergency activist Snehalatha Reddy |url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/prison-diaries-intimate-documentary-anti-emergency-activist-snehalatha-reddy-115075 |access-date=24 June 2021 |work=The News Minute |date=2019-12-31 |language=en}}</ref><br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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== External links ==<br />
* {{imdb name|714779}}<br />
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{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Reddy, Snehalata}}<br />
[[Category:1932 births]]<br />
[[Category:1977 deaths]]<br />
[[Category:Indians imprisoned during the Emergency (India)]]<br />
[[Category:Actresses in Kannada cinema]]<br />
[[Category:Indian stage actresses]]<br />
[[Category:Indian film actresses]]<br />
[[Category:Actresses from Bangalore]]<br />
[[Category:Victims of police brutality]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian actresses]]<br />
[[Category:Karnataka politicians]]<br />
[[Category:Indian arts administrators]]<br />
[[Category:Indian human rights activists]]<br />
[[Category:Kannada screenwriters]]<br />
[[Category:Kannada film directors]]<br />
[[Category:Indian women film directors]]<br />
[[Category:Indian women film producers]]<br />
[[Category:Film producers from Andhra Pradesh]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian film directors]]<br />
[[Category:Actresses in Telugu cinema]]<br />
[[Category:Actresses in Tamil cinema]]<br />
[[Category:Film directors from Andhra Pradesh]]<br />
[[Category:Indian women activists]]<br />
[[Category:Indian civil rights activists]]<br />
[[Category:Social workers from Karnataka]]<br />
[[Category:Social workers from Andhra Pradesh]]<br />
[[Category:20th-century Indian screenwriters]]<br />
[[Category:Women civil rights activists]]</div>->SimLibrarian