Divya Spandana (born 29 November 1982), better known by her screen name Ramya, is an Indian actress and politician. She served as the Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Mandya, Karnataka. She primarily works in Kannada, alongside Tamil language films. Ramya is the recipient of two Filmfare Awards South, an Udaya Award, and a Karnataka State Film Award. Ramya made her acting debut in the 2003 Kannada-language film Abhi. Although she has sporadically worked in Tamil and Telugu films her work in Kannada film industry garnered her greater attention. She won the Udaya Award and Filmfare Award for Best Actress for the Amrithadhare (2005) and Tananam Tananam (2006) respectively. Her performance as the eponymous heroine in the 2011 romantic drama Sanju Weds Geetha garnered her further critical success and a Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress. Ramya has also starred in the 2011 blockbuster fantasy film Katari Veera Surasundarangi and other commercially successful films including the 2016 epic-fantasy Nagarahavu. Ramya joined the Indian National Congress in 2012 as a member of its youth wing; she later won a 2013 by-election to become a Member of Parliament for Mandya constituency in Karnataka, but was defeated in the general elections the following year. Early life Ramya was born in Bangalore, Karnataka, on 29 November 1982. Her parents are from Mandya; mother Ranjitha is a senior member of the Congress Party in Karnataka while her foster father, R. T. Narayan, was an industrialist. In 2004, she had claimed that she was the granddaughter of politician and former Chief minister of Karnataka S. M. Krishna. Ramya studied at St. Hilda's School, a residential school, in Ooty, and at Sacred Heart School (Church Park), Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Ramya was pursuing a career in modeling and hoped to join Mumbai-based Sheetal Designer Studio after completing her graduation with a bachelor's degree in commerce from St. Joseph's College of Commerce, Bangalore. She had taken part in ramp shows and was crowned Miss Country Club in 2001. Around this time, film offers came her way, and was considered for Ninagagi, Dumbee and Appu, before being cast opposite Puneeth Rajkumar in Abhi. It was here that she was given the screen name Ramya by the film's producer Parvathamma Rajkumar. Film career Ramya made her feature film debut with Puneeth Rajkumar's 2003 Kannada film Abhi. She made her first appearance in the Tamil film industry with the