“Aakalesthe annam pedatha…alisosthe oil pedatha…” - A song that was a rage once! You might remember Megastar Chiru shaking his hip with Yana Gupta, but Ctrl Z writers remember a new singing bee by name Mamta Mohandas, a Malayali model, singer and actor who sparkled from nowhere, went on to be a leading damsel of Tollywood and snappishly faded out. Well, in the case of Mamta, it is just seven films and she is out!

2006: UP

That was the year, Mamta Mohandas, a busy heroine from Mollywood [Malayalam] forayed into Telugu not as a heroine but a singer.

- Ace music composer Devi Sri Prasad spotted a singer in this beauty. That was when Rakhi, a DSP musical was happening and there she was offered with a song. The music was out and was a super hit album. It was the chartbuster song “Rakhi Rakhi Rakhi…na Kawasaki…”
- She struck it lucky with the song that brought her name, fame and a Filmfare Best Female Playback Singer Award as well for that year.

Having been trained in Carnatic and Hindustani music was her biggest asset and here she was offered a deluge of item numbers.

2007: UP and UP

There is a newbie in the T’town who is pretty and pretty much a singer. So, who is going to let her away?

- Mamta hit the pay dirt, eventually got busy as a singer with super hit numbers like “36-24-36…” from Jagadam, “Aakalesthe Annam pedatha…” from Shankar Dada Zindabad,     “Sakkubayine…” from Chandamama before she got her fist acting offer from ace director S.S. Rajamouli who was then shooting for his socio-fantasy Yama Donga with N.T.R.
- The girl who made her singing debut with a N.T.R film (Rakhi) again got introduced as a heroine with another N.T.R film (Yama Donga) [Of course, sheer coincidence!]
- She played a role of ‘Dhanalakshmi’ and also sang the chartbuster remix “Olammi Thikka Reginda…” along with N.T.R. With Yama Donga, People were happy that they got a new heroine.

Post-Yama Donga, with a torrent of heroine offers and songs, Mamta was riding high that year.

2008: A step DOWN

- Mamta who thought to make hay while the sun shines, chose to turn a heroine and came up with Krishnarjuna, which had big names like Nagarjuna, director P. Vasu and others. But the film bombed at the box-office which rather gave her a jerk.
- Decided to make some wary choices, after appearing in a film with a star like Nagarjuna in the lead, she comes up with Victory, a Nitin’s film – a character which has got nothing to do but flash in at-times and shake hips with the hero.
- An able actor like Mamta, an ace heroine in Malayalam need not necessarily hop in for characters like these.
- Next to follow was her cameo in Kathanayakudu, yet another big film but which rather went unnoticed [Obviously, because it’s a Rajinikanth film!].
- Homam, Chintakayala Ravi and King were all notable projects in her kit which only pronounced her presence in Tollywood.

Totally this year was indeed a cocktail for her which ultimately took her nowhere.

2009 to till date: One more step and then DISAPPEARED

- After King, Nag gave her a second chance in his film Kedi, this time as a heroine! Big names and big chance but she had nothing in her favor. This film was a commercial dud and later she vanished out of the picture.
- Somehow, she couldn’t stand in this competitive league, where every odd day, you see a new face coming up. But she was busy in Malayalam on the other hand.

CUT…

- In 2010, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a type of cancer and when people were feeling happy to have her back as a survivor, she came up with her wedding news.
- She got married in late 2011 and in not more than a year, applied for a divorce in late 2012.
- From then, she went unheard until she flashed in promoting Kerala Strikers in the recent CCL-3.
- With much ado in her life, she couldn’t concentrate on her career in Telugu cinema. But in fact, she was a gifted actor who is multi-talented too. Planned carefully, she could have had two bright careers – As an actor and As a singer as well.

Keeping luck apart, it’s purely her choices that got her nowhere in Tollywood. If she would have got everything right, why would she get into our Ctrl Z hit list?

P.S: Though not a Ctrl Z totally,

- She should have strictly shunned films like Krishnarjuna, Victory and Kathanayakudu which had nothing for her neither as a glam doll nor an actor.
- Not everyone can smell the winning combinations and Mamta is no exception to this!
- With a peculiar gifted voice and star music directors at hand, she could have bagged a few hit numbers also.
- Sooner rather than later, she can revise her prospects in Telugu, if not as a heroine at least as a singer with a vested interest. We don’t know if she is playing a waiting game!

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