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{{short description|British actress}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Girija Shettar
| image = Girija Shettar.jpg
| caption = Shettar in 2013
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1969|7|20}}
| birth_place = [[Orsett]], Essex, England
| death_date =
| death_place =
| other_names =
| occupation = Actress<br />Journalist
| years_active = 1989 – 2003, 2024 – present
}}

'''Girija Shettar''' (born 20 July 1969)<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB05PBU1OMw Girija Shettar – TV9 Anveshana Interview]</ref> is a British actress, known for her works in [[Cinema of South India|South Indian films]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ukmalayalee.com/latest-news/news.php?id=OTM5 |title=Latest News – Memoirs of film actress Girija Shettar Part III |access-date=2 April 2014 |archive-date=19 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719083743/http://www.ukmalayalee.com/latest-news/news.php?id=OTM5 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Career==
In 1989, Shettar starred in [[Mani Ratnam]]'s Telugu film ''[[Geethanjali (1989 film)|Geethanjali]]'' and Malayalam film ''[[Vandanam]]'', directed by [[Priyadarshan]].

In 1992, she signed for the lead female role in ''[[Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar]]'', which she left mid-way to complete a prior commitment. [[Ayesha Julka]] replaced her after the first schedule. She can still be seen dancing in the song "Are Yaaro" which was retained in the final version of the film. <ref>{{cite web | title=Did you know: Before Ayesha Jhulka, this actress had shot as the female lead for 'Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar' | work=The Times of India | date=22 May 2021 | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/did-you-know/did-you-know-before-ayesha-jhulka-this-actress-had-shot-as-the-female-lead-for-jo-jeeta-wohi-sikandar/articleshow/82857121.cms }}</ref>

In the same year, she starred in another Telugu film ''[[Hrudayanjali]]'', under the direction of A. Raghurami Reddy, which won four state [[Nandi Awards]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}} The film was completed in 1992 but was released only in 2002.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.adindia.net/hrudayanjali.htm |title=Yellow Pages: Film Marketing |access-date=2 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304100546/http://www.adindia.net/hrudayanjali.htm |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Girija Shettar was born on 20 July 1969 in [[Orsett]], Essex to a [[Kannadigas|Kannadiga]] doctor father and a British mother. From the age of 18, Girija trained in Bharatanatyam. She completed a doctoral thesis in Integral Yoga Philosophy and Indian spiritual psychology from [[Cardiff University]] in 2003. She spends as much time as possible at Sri Aurobindo Ashram in [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.theuniversityoftomorrow.org/publications/New%20Race%20Archives/journal-of-intergral-studies/february2005.html |title=A Journal of Integral studies – February 2005 – Sri Aurobindo ... |website=Theuniversityoftomorrow |access-date=20 July 2020}}</ref> Girija is currently a writer based in London. Previously working for a medical technology newsletter, she is now writing for a shipping magazine.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ekikrat.in/Girija-Shettar |title=Girija Shettar |access-date=17 May 2011 |archive-date=7 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007132421/http://ekikrat.in/Girija-Shettar |url-status=dead}}</ref> A booklet of haiku poetry entitled "This Year, Daffodils" was published by Survivors' Poetry and the Esmee Fairburn Foundation, 2011. In 2014, she won Social Media Journalist of the Year as senior reporter for [[IHS Markit|IHS Maritime Fairplay]] at Seahorse Journalist Awards, London.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://theloadstar.com/loadstar-editor-wins-supply-chain-journalism-award/ |title=Seahorse Journalist Awards 2014 |website=The Loadstar |date=11 December 2014 |access-date=19 April 2020}}</ref>

After the release of ''[[Geethanjali (1989 film)|Geethanjali]]'',<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO12mAaPHDw Geethanjali Girija with Tv9 – Exclusive – YouTube]</ref> she appeared on the front page of [[Screen (magazine)]], India 30 June 1989 issue.<ref>''Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema'', by Ashish Rajadhyaksha and Paul Willemen, page 450.</ref> In 2002, ''Geethanjali'' was one of five films shown at the British Film Institute during a retrospective of Mani Ratnam's work. The films were chosen as examples of strong heroine roles in Indian films.

== Filmography ==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! scope="col"| Year
! scope="col"| Title
! scope="col"| Role(s)
! scope="col"| Language
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{Tooltip|Ref.|References}}
|-
| rowspan="3"|1989 || ''[[Geethanjali (1989 film)|Geethanjali]]'' || Geethanjali ||[[Telugu language|Telugu]] || Telugu Debut<br/> Nominated - [[Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu ]]|| <ref>{{Cite web |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/regional/i-used-to-dream-about-the-possibility-of-a-sequel-to-geetanjali-girija-shettar-4831668/ |title=I used to dream about the possibility of a sequel to Geetanjali: Girija Shettar |website=The Indian Express |date=12 September 2017 |access-date=19 April 2020}}</ref>
|-
| ''[[Vandanam]]'' || Gaadha Fernandes || rowspan="2" |[[Malayalam]] || Malayalam Debut || <ref>{{Cite web |url=https://english.manoramaonline.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/2017/09/09/mohanlal-vandanam-actress-girija-shettar-photo-social-media.html |title=This is what Vandanam's Gadha looks like now! |website=Malayala Manorama |date=11 September 2017 |access-date=19 April 2020}}</ref>
|-
| ''Dhanushkodi'' || Girija || Unreleased ||<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/article340875.ece?service=print |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140822124315/http://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/article340875.ece?service=print |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 August 2014 |title=The Silver Screen Jinx |work=[[The New Indian Express]] |date=5 March 2012 |access-date=21 August 2014}}</ref>
|-
| 1992 || ''[[Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar]]'' || ||[[Hindi]] || Special appearance in song "Arre Yaaron Mere Pyaaron" || <ref>{{Cite web |url=https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/jo-jeeta-wohi-sikandar/articleshow/47162994.cms |title=Love at first song |website=Bangalore Mirror |date=15 May 2015 |access-date=19 April 2020}}</ref>
|-
| 2002 || ''[[Hrudayanjali]]'' || Maya || Telugu || Filming completed in 1992, but released in 2002 || <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.idlebrain.com/movie/archive/mrg-hrudayanjali.html|title=lacks soul|work=[[The Hindu]]|last=Srihari|first=Gudipoodi|author-link=Gudipoodi Srihari}}</ref>
|-
| 2003 || ''[[Tujhe Meri Kasam]]'' || Herself || Hindi || Cameo appearance ||<ref>Smrity Sharma, '[http://movies.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3780896.cms?in_showcase&in_showcase Riteish behind CM-dad's resignation?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090123172543/http://movies.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3780896.cms?in_showcase&in_showcase |date=23 January 2009 }}', ''India Times Movies'' 2 December 2008.</ref>
|-
|2024
|''[[Ibbani Tabbida Ileyali]]'' || Madhumitha ||[[Kannada]] || ||<ref>{{cite news |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/kannada/movies/news/yesteryear-actor-girija-shettar-returns-to-the-big-screen-for-a-kannada-film/articleshow/104940265.cms |title=Yesteryear Actor Girija Shettar Returns To The Big Screen For A Kannada Film |website=The Times of India |access-date=31 August 2024}}</ref>
|-
|}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb name|id=0006430}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shettar, Girija}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1969 births]]
[[Category:Actresses from Essex]]
[[Category:Actresses from Puducherry]]
[[Category:Actresses in Hindi cinema]]
[[Category:Actresses in Malayalam cinema]]
[[Category:Actresses in Telugu cinema]]
[[Category:Alumni of Cardiff University]]
[[Category:Auroville]]
[[Category:British expatriate actresses in India]]
[[Category:English film actresses]]
[[Category:English-language haiku poets]]
[[Category:English people of Indian descent]]
[[Category:Kannada actresses]]
[[Category:People from Orsett]]
[[Category:People of Kannada descent]]
[[Category:20th-century British actresses]]
[[Category:21st-century British actresses]]
[[Category:Actors from Thurrock]]

Girija Shettar - Revision history

Sergqpm at 23:32, 12 January 2026