Baripada: Mamali is her nick name, but now her new role in popular TV soap ‘Sindura Khela’ on Sidarth TV as Mallika (main antagonist) has taken people into surprise as she is proving her mettle as a mature, smart, progressive and talented actor of her genre.
According to critics and the viewers of the TV serial, she has a long way to traverse and make a mark of her own in Odia film industry. For, Baripada-born young and happening Mamali (Sushree Padmaja) acting is her first role in life and despite having a stellar performance in the Integrated B.Ed. Course under Maharaja Sriram Chandra Bhanja Deo University and another Masters in Economics, she had consciously chosen the path of struggle, but to prove her place organically through her seer talent and popularity.
As a young girl and while under tutelage of Guru (late) Banamali Behera for Odissi, Sambhunath Das for Chhau and Hrudananda Barik for Modern dance, Mamali always wanted to be an actress. Though she lost her father Prabhas Shankar Lenka when she was small, her mother Meera Jena stood behind her like a rock and faced all the difficulties of life to raise her, keep her dreams in mind and prepare her for the future challenges.
But not unlike other actors Mamali always had given equal importance to her academics and secured scholarships in Class V, VII and National Rural Talent Scholarship (NRTS) at Class IX. She also took part in various debate, elocution and essay-writing competitions and won prizes at State-level. Even during her college days she also received a laptop for her good marks in +2 classes. However, keeping her aim over a career in acting, she was also involved in all types of extracurricular activities during school and college days.
Though till now she has faced the camera in more than 25 productions so far, her first tryst in front of the camera started when she was only nine years old for a documentary “Miru”. Before that in acting her acting talent got pruned under the direction of veteran theatre and film personality from Baripade, Dhira Basa, while she was studying in Pandey Nodal Upper Primary & Middle English School in the heart of Baripade town, the cultural hub and creative epicentre in North Odisha. Mamali had also showcased her acting prowess in Odia television serial Gayatri of ETV as Kuhu.
In “Dharitri” of Lakshya channel for the character – “Dharitri” and most importantly, got into the role of “Kuni Reporter” for Myurbhanj district under Kamyab news channel. She had also played characters in Santhali film “Jui Jui”, Bengali film “The Guest House” and Odia satellite film “Sathi Khojuchi Sathi”, all as child artist. She also acted in Odia web series “Mukha Rakta tirtha”.
Besides her participation, Mamali also acted in many stage performances across Odisha, namely at Rourkela, home town Baripada, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and even at Prasanthi in Andhra Pradesh as the lead character in those plays and also received a best actress award for a performance in Rourkela.
While her present TV serial on Sidharth TV channel as the main antagonist Mallika in “Sindura Khela” has attracted rave reviews from all sections of the audience, she has also got felicitated with the prestigious WAO (Women Achievers of Odisha) for her overall performance, activities and contributions to the society as a young and enterprising woman as she had to secure it from among 18 contenders.
After losing her father and making a mark on her own with seer determination and all emotional and moral support from mother Meera, Mamali is all set to secure new heights for herself and achieve the ultimate goal and script her name among the most successful actors of the State and to be known as one of the few stars from Mayurbhanj and especially Baripada, as the city is credited with creating all the major stars of the Odia film industry.
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