Roopa Iyer
| Roopa Iyer | |
|---|---|
| Born | Belakavadi, Mandya, Karnataka, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | Film director, actor, producer, screenwriter, choreographer, model |
| Spouse(s) | Gautam Srivatsa (m. 2014) |
Roopa Iyer is an award winning socially conscientious film director, actor (TV and Film), dancer, choreographer, model, business executive, humanitarian, a philanthropist, and a philosopher. She has been involved with over a dozen movies from acting to direction, and has orchestrated, organized and performed in numerous musical and dance events in over tens of countries around the world to support HIV infected children through ICA. Her film “MUKHAPUTA – The Cover Page”, produced by Narayan Hosmane, about a child suffering from HIV/AIDS through India Classic Arts (ICA) has won worldwide accolades.
Ms. Iyer is the recipient of multiple awards for her artistic achievement in film. She’s known for her selfless contribution to society and indulging in creating awareness about HIV/AIDS among the people through her company ICA.
Early life
Roopa was born in Belakavadi, a small village in Karnataka, India, to a lower middle class orthodox family. Her father (Late A. S. Prakash) was a farmer, and mother (Satya Lakshmi), an elementary school teacher. She grew up in the village till her father died due to a heart ailment when she was 6, after which her family moved to Bellur, another small village in Karnataka. Her sister Deepa Iyer and brother in law Sudesh k rao are also kannada serial actors and their daughter Sanya Iyer is a child artist who acted in Roopa Iyer's Mukhaputa and plays the lead role of Gowri in the serial Puttagowri maduve telecasted on Etv kannada. Sanya has also played the role of Shriya Saran's sister in Roopa Iyer's Chandra.
Career
Her humble beginnings date back to 1992, when 10-year-old young Roopa started a dance academy in Bellur for young girls. She learnt and taught dance and performed numerous dance programs. Five years later, she moved to Bangalore with her family and started Gurukul that not only extended dance lessons to include multiple classical disciplines but also produced and coordinated events.
Alongside, she pursued her academic goal and earned a Masters’ Degree in Commerce from Karnataka State Open University. After her start of the world tour during the early part of the decade, Gurukul evolved into India Classic Arts, a nonprofit global fine arts performing production organization, based both at New Jersey, USA & Bangalore, India. Her repertoire of expertise encompasses various Indian dance forms that include: Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Odissi, Contemporary, Modern Art, Folk, Western, and Film. She is not only the Director of the movie “Mukha Puta – The Cover Page” but has also written the story and screenplay, while being the lead actress in the latest award winning movie “Daatu”. In 2013, she directed & produced her bilingual big budget film “CHANDRA " in Tamil and Kannada with star cast comprising South queen Shriya Saran, Handsome hero Prem, Padmashree Vivekh, Vijay Kumar, Ganesh Venkataram, Sukhanya, Dr. Srinath, and Sumitra among others.
Honors and Accolades
Roopa is the recipient of many awards for her artistic achievement and contribution to charity and her involvement in supporting HIV affected children, including:
- Young Leader Award – Vivekananda V-Lead (2011)
- NaaTya Kalaabhinethri - Brain Centre (2011)
- Indian Achiever – Gold Medal (2010 at UK)
- Glory of India – Gold Medal (2010)
- Non Resident Indian “Pravasi” Award from British High Commissioner (2008)
- Adarsha Ratna (2006)
- Natya Saraswathi (2006)
- Padma Kalaashri (2004)
- Indira Priyadarshini (1999)
- Bangalore Supermodel (1999)
Filmography
| Year | Film | Director | Producer | Screenwriter | Actor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Chandra | Yes | Yes | Yes | No[1] | |
| 2010 | The Cover Page | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
Other accomplishments
She is effectively promoting Indian dance & culture around the globe. The list of performances produced and performed for the purpose of serving victims of HIV affected through ICA.
- Direction, Story and Screenplay: “Mukha Puta” or “The Cover Page” 2009
o Winner Silver Sierra Award, Yosemite Film Festival, California, USA o Winner Best Feature Film, International Film Festival, Ireland o Winner Best Feature Film, International Film Festival, South Africa o Official Feature, Cairo International Film Festival, Egypt o Official Feature, Indian Film Festival, Washington, DC USA o Award Nominee, Swansea Bay Film Festival, Wales, UK o Award Nominee, International Film Festival, Boston o Award Nominee, International Film Festival, Singapore
- Lead role in the Award Winning Kannada Movie “Daatu”
o Best Actress Award at the International Images Film Festival for Women 2008 in Zimbabwe.
- Lead role in “Chaitanya” 2008 & “Ondooralli” 2010
Other Programs and performances of Roopa Iyer in support of HIV/AIDS affected children through ICA
- Producer & the organizer for “1st Vishwa Kannada SammeLana – Europe” at London 2011.
- V-Fight : is an organization for youngsters to serve the society. Conducting “Youth Conference” to build Enteroprinership & Patriotism in Youth.
- As part of the World Tour, created and choreographed a unique creation, Vedas, the Universal Truth! – a fascinating journey navigating the evolution of knowledge and culture in India.
- Production and Performance of Classical and Contemporary Dance Programs at more than a dozen cities in the US, including New York, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Chicago, Boston, Orlando, and Detroit
- Performances at the 2002 and 2004 World Kannada Conferences
- World Tour Performances in Malaysia, Singapore and Dubai
- Title role in the long standing popular Kannada TV serial “Mahamaye”
- Produced the biggest ever in the live entertainment: Double Oscar Winner A R Rahman at Bangalore, India
- Produced State level fashion shows and pageants – Mr. & Miss Sandalwood 2003, 2008, 2009, 2010 & 2011[Televised]
- Produced numerous charity events [Televised]
- An ardent student of Indian philosophy, she is writing a detailed monograph on “Yoga and Marga” as expounded in the Bhagavad-Gita that synthesizes the seemingly complex material into a simple and lucid presentation.
- Writing a Special column for UDAYAVANI titled “Modern Aadhyathma”.
- Mukhaputa – The Cover Page,a feature film produced by Narayan Hosmane and is directed by Roopa Iyer under the ICA banner, is about HIV/AIDS affected kids and the importance of Love and freedom in their life. The film won “The Best Social Concerned Film” of year 2008-09 by Karnataka State Government as it educates the masses on not only the plight of and but also how innocent children fall victim to HIV/AIDS. The film participated in 120 International Film Festivals worldwide and won “The Best Feature Film” in 8 countries. The film was also released in USA, Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, London, Singapore, Egypt, South Africa, Ireland and it is still travelling worldwide. To spread awareness regarding children being victims of HIV/AIDS in a greater extent, this film was screened in different colleges and schools through the governments of the above mentioned countries. Also, it was released in most of the districts of Karnataka on International AIDS Day.
- India Classic Arts and its work towards the Charity and HIV/AIDS awareness
Roopa Iyer’s steadfast commitment to charity is apparent though her deep involvement in a multitude of charitable programs focusing on underprivileged and deprived children. She has trained HIV/AIDS affected children, destitute and visually impaired children and has organized several charity dance stage shows.
- She is the founding Director of Namma Mane – a charitable trust dedicated to helping HIV/AIDS affected children, under privileged and deprived children and women who are in need of basic life necessities. Namma Mane is striving to provide shelter and care, generate an environment of mutual love to nurture the emotional needs, provide simple religious and philosophical discourses to satisfy the spiritual yearnings, creating in totality a cohesive social structure to serve these underprivileged - young and elderly.
- For the last 8 years, she is closely associated with lives of these HIV/AIDS affected children by teaching them dance. By conducting events, she has provided them a platform to showcase their talent and share their joys & sorrows. She has organized numerous events for HIV/AIDS affected children, prison inmates, and children of prison inmates who are affected by HIV/AIDS. She is supporting more than 12 NGOs of the state financially to serve HIV/AIDS children
- Roopa Iyer, dancer and philosopher extraordinaire, relentlessly shares and propagates the knowledge of India art and culture worldwide and constantly serves society through worthwhile charitable causes.