Kasthuri Shankar is an Indian actress, model and television presenter who has appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada language films.
She also notably portrayed a key supporting role as an investigative agent in Adhik Ravichandran's Anbanavan Asaradhavan Adangadhavan (2017), appearing alongside Silambarasan.
She later made a comeback to hosting television-based quiz shows in the 2010s, and worked on Vina Vidai Vettai for Puthuyugam TV.
[10][11][12] Shankar is an active commentator regarding social issues through an occasional column with the Times of India and via Twitter, and her tweets have sometimes elicited debate in the media.
[16] Shankar spoke out as a part of the Me Too movement in India, suggesting that her reluctance to give into patriarchal behaviour meant that she was removed from several film projects.
During the row over the comments made by DMK MP Elangovan against Hindi, Shankar criticized him stating that she was personally offended as she was of mixed lineage herself.
[20] A person, who claimed himself to be actor Ajith's fan, had allegedly made sexist comments against Shankar in January 2020.
[citation needed] On 17 November 2024, Shankar was arrested in Hyderabad following derogatory and controversial statements against the Telugu community settled in Tamil Nadu at an event organized by the Hindu Makkal Katchi demanding to create of an exclusive legislation to protect the Brahmin community on the lines of the PCR Act for the Scheduled Castes.