Ashrita Vemuganti Nanduri, classical dancer, actress and television host, rose to stardom after her portrayal as Anushka Shetty’s sister-in-law in the internationally acclaimed Magnum Opus, Baahubali The Conclusion. Ashrita was initiated into Bharatanatyam by Guru Priya Kartikeyan and later received advanced training under Guru Rajeswari Sainath. At Sruthi Laya Kendra Natarajaalaya, she was part of her Guru’s performing troupe travelling across many cities.
Ashrita was enrolled at the Kuchipudi Art Academy in 2011 and essayed many key roles in the ballets of legendary Guru Sri Vempati Chinna Satyam garu. During her Masters in Bharatanatyam at the University of Madras, Ashrita had the rare opportunity to participate in workshops by many eminent dance and music Gurus in Chennai.
Her solo performances in Vijayawada hosted by Ramineni Foundation, Narada Gana Sabha, Parthasarathy Sabha, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (Chennai), and Saraswathi Gana Sabha (Kakinada) have been well appreciated. Even her performances at Temple of Fine Arts (Malaysia), and by Associations like TANA, BATA & temples in Chicago, Washington, Orlando, California (USA) have drawn lot of applause.
The Bharatanatyam dancer was honoured with Ugaadi Yuva Puraskar by Tyagaraa Gana Sabha (2013), and her Tedx talk at NIT Surathkal (2018) left the audience spellbound. She was also bestowed with the Women Achiever’s Award in Rajahmundry. On the education front, Ashrita has completed a Bachelors course in Psychology & Masters in Performing Arts. She secured a Gold Medal in her PG from University of Madras.
In 2013, Ashrita forayed into television as a presenter and has done two cultural documentaries with Kala Tapaswi Dr. K. Viswanath garu. Her show on an electronic channel, titled ‘Matru Devo Bhava’, which began in April 2020 is among the most watched shows. On the celluloid front, Ashrita has featured in films like Kurukshetra (Kannada,2017), Yatra (Telugu, 2019) and Dear Comrade (Multi-lingual, 2019). Last, she was seen in the Ravi Teja starrer Krack.
For her portrayal of Y S Vijayamma in the biopic alongside legendary actor Mammooty, Ashrita received rave reviews from critics; and a tabloid quoted her as “a top notch-actress”.
Apart from Big Screen and Small Screen, Ashrita has forayed into web series. As a stern college principal in ‘The Grill’ web series, an overbearing mother in a short film titled Uday and a writer who faces marital problems in an upcoming project.In February 2019, Ashrita started her dance institute ‘Sadyoni’ where she teaches women and children.