R. K. Roja Selvamani (born Sri Latha Reddy; 17 November 1972), is an Indian politician and former actress.[4] She served as Minister for Tourism, Culture and Youth Advancement of Andhra Pradesh since 11 April 2022 until a landslide defeat in 2024 assembly elections.[5]
Roja was born in Tirupati to Nagaraja Reddy and Lalitha Reddy, she has two brothers by the name of Kumaraswamy Reddy and Ramaprasad Reddy. Roja was a leading and established actress in the Indian cinema featuring in multiple Tamil and Telugu films as a leading actress from the 1990s till 2000s and featured in blockbuster films such as Chembaruthi (1992), Sarpayagam (1992), Anna (1994) and Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen (1998) in which she won multiple awards such as the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress and the Nandi Awards for her film performances.
Despite Roja being an active speaker among women MLAs, she was suspended from attending the legislative assembly for one year.[12][13] The decision was taken by majority in the legislative house, on 18 December 2015, and by the approval of the Speaker.[12][13] Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, leader of the opposition, opposed the suspension. There were several concerns on the procedure followed while suspending Roja. Such doubts made the opposition to move no-trust motion against the speaker.[14] An issue was raised by the opposition party on how the media clipping, property of the house, released and published on social media without the speaker's approval and the speaker also noted their concern and set up an inquiry to probe the issue further and submit a report by next meeting.[15]
Roja was the anchor of a show named Modern Mahalakshmi before getting replaced by Anasuya. This show was telecast on MAA TV.[16] She is one of the judges for the comedy shows Jabardasth and Extra Jabardasth. These shows are telecast on ETV.[17] She hosted one show for Zee Tamizh called lucka kicka, which was a huge hit in Tamil Nadu.[18]
Personal life
Roja married Tamil film director R. K. Selvamani on 21 August 2002.[19] The couple has a daughter and a son.[20]
Roja had a penchant for hairdressing and it was evident as whenever she was on the sets she was seen hairdressing her peers like Devayani, Khushbu, Ranjitha and Mumtaz to name a few.[citation needed] According to Ramya Krishna, her friend and co-star, Roja is one of the few artists who can do their makeup themselves.[citation needed]
^"News Today". Idlebrain. 23 August 2002. Retrieved 13 September 2022. Telugu actress Roja entered nuptial knot with Tamil director Selvamani today (21st August) at Tirumala.
