Eswari Rao's debut movie was
Intinta Deepavali (1990) in Telugu. She debuted in Tamil in
Kavithai Paadum Alaigal credited as Janani. Though the songs were popular, the movie was a failure at box office. She was first noticed in a character role in Tamil actor
Vijay's debut film
Naalaiya Theerpu in 1992. She appeared in the 1995 film
Rambantu, which was directed by
Bapu. She got her first major break in
Raman Abdullah (1997), directed by
Balu Mahendra, where she was credited as Easwari Rao. She notably opted out of a project titled
Koottaali as she felt the role was too glamorous. She went on to appear in
Manoj Kumar's film
Guru Paarvai (1998). Easwari also had a role in
Bharathiraja's
Siragugal Murivadhilai, although the film was shelved after pre-production. She has played sister roles in films such as
Appu (2000),
Naaga (2003) and
Sullan (2004). Her popular serial
Kokila Enge Pogiraal was made for
Sun TV. She acted in number of TV shows like
Kasthuri,
Aval Appadithan,
Ninne Pelladutha and
Agni Saatchi and a couple of more serials that shot her into households fame. She won the
Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Character Artiste (Female) for the film
Virumbugiren released in 2002. However, her next film wasn't until the Telugu film
Legend (2014). She then was in
Andhra Pori (2015),
Brahmotsavam (2016) and
Ism (2016). Her films
A Aa (2016) and the
Nenu Local (2017) became big hits. She acted in Telegu films with
Naga Chaitanya in
Love Story (2021),
Thank You (2022) and
Dhootha (2023). In 2024, Eswari Rao portrays the usual rural, doting mom in the Tamil drama film
Aalakaalam. ==Filmography==