Vijaya Shanti

Vijaya Shanti, known magnanimously as Vijaya Shanti, is an Indian film actress, producer, and politician. In a film career spanning 30 years, she has acted in over 180 feature films in a variety of roles in various Indian languages including Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi. She has been widely called "The Lady Superstar" and "Lady Amitabh" of South Indian cinema. She won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her work as a "super cop" in Kartavyam (1990), for depicting both aggression and femininity with balance and restraint. She received the Kalaimamani Award from Tamil Nadu Government in 2002. She also garnered seven Filmfare Awards South, six for best acting and one Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003, and four state Nandi Awards for Best Actress.

Establishing herself as one of the leading actress of Telugu cinema and being cited in the media as one of the nation's most popular and attractive personalities of the late 80s and 90s.

Her remuneration for the Telugu movie Karthavyam was ₹ 1 crore, which was then the highest ever paid in India to a female actor.