Ileana D'Cruz

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Ileana D'Cruz


     Ileana D'Cruz was born in Mumbai, and was brought up partly in Mumbai and partly in Goa. Her first name comes from Greek mythology, meaning Helen of Troy. Her family relocated to Parra, Goa when she was 10 years old. Her mother tongue is Konkani.


     During that time, the manager of the hotel her mother was working in, suggested that she has a beautiful face with a vibrant smile and should start modelling and fixed a meeting with Marc Robinson. Though initially reluctant, she was persuaded and her first portfolio was created in January 2003, which she described as a "disaster". She began gaining notice through photo shoots and ramp shows and her second portfolio was set up the following year, which landed her three advertisements from Electrolux, Emami Talc and Fair and Lovely. The latter, in particular, which was directed by Rakesh Roshan, gave her exposure and brought in several offers for acting in feature films.


     In 2005, D'Cruz was called for an audition by director Teja, but the project was cancelled. She instead made her feature film debut in the Telugu language romance film Devadasu (2006), directed by Y. V. S. Chowdhary. She underwent acting classes with Aruna Bhikshu, before starting to work on the film. She recalls that during filming she felt "pressured almost cried and didn't want to go further", but went ahead after her mother encouraged her, giving her "the lecture of a lifetime at 3 am." A review from Indiaglitz stated that she "has chiseled features and a figure to die-for." Devadasu became the year's first major commercial success, eventually grossing around ?140 million, whilst earning D'Cruz the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debutant. She next appeared in the gangster film Pokiri in which she portrayed an aerobics teacher, who is harassed by a corrupt police officer. The film was a high financial success, emerging as the highest-grossing Telugu film at the time.


     She made her Tamil-language film debut in Kedi (2006). Although the film did not do so well at the box-office, D'Cruz remained too busy to accept all the film roles offered to her. Her Telugu film Khatarnak (2006) in which she acted opposite Ravi Teja did not do as well as expected, which has been attributed to her glamorous appearance not going down well with the audience. She subsequently experienced a setback in her career as her following releases Rakhi (2006) and Munna (2007) proved critically and financially successful.



     D'Cruz's career took a turn for the better with the release of her well-received 2007 film Aata. She received favorable reviews for her performance as Satya, a college student who is on the run from the home minister's crooked son by whom she is targeted, when leading a protest and demanding punishment for his crimes. In 2008, she performed the female lead role in the action film Jalsa, directed by Trivikram Srinivas. D'Cruz received largely positive remarks, with critics citing that she looked "pretty", "damn cool", and "every bit chic and stunning throughout the film", while being later awarded the Santosham Award, one of five awards for Jalsa, and the South Scope Style Award, besides garnering a nomination for the Best Actress prize at the 56th Filmfare Awards South. Her first 2009 release, titled Kick, was likewise declared a box office success, becoming one of the highest-grossing films that year.



     Later that year she starred in the films Rechipo and Y. V. S. Choudary's Saleem both of which performed poorly at the box office.


     Ileana D'Cruz had 2 releases in 2011. Her first film that year was Shakti, where she essayed the lead female role. She gave a stage performance for this movie's audio release function along with Jr. NTR, as part as promotion of the film. The socio-fantasy film, the costliest Telugu film ever made at ? 250,000,000,. Her next release was Nenu Naa Rakshasi, which marked her second collaboration with Puri Jagannadh. Though the film was a failure, her performance was received positively by critics; an Indiaglitz reviewer described her as a "pleasant surprise in the film" as she "cried, smirked, looked hot, grabbed sympathy and made faces that were apt to the scenes", while cinegoer's reviewer cited that the film had "one bright spot, Ileana, she looks stunning and also like an accomplished senior to the hero." Despite her recent failures, D'Cruz continued to be the highest paid actress in South India.


     In early 2012, she starred in the Kollywood film Nanban, a remake of the 2009 Hindi film 3 Idiots directed by S. Shankar. The film opened to critical acclaim and became a major financial success.Her next release was the Telugu film Julai. The film opened to positive reviews and became the third biggest hit in 2012 and biggest hit in Telugu. She then starred in Puri Jagannadh's comedy Devudu Chesina Manushulu. In this film she played the role of a taxi driver. The film received mixed reviews and eventually under-performed at the box office.


     Ileana D'Cruz made her Hindi debut with Anurag Basu's Barfi! In addition to playing the role of the narrator, she portrayed the character of Shruti Ghosh, a girl who leaves her true love for material comforts. The movie released on 14 September 2012, to highly positive reviews from critics, and was a major commercial success, earning 1.75 billion (US$26 million) worldwide. D'Cruz's performance was well received, earning her a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award, as well as a nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. Rachit Gupta from Filmfare said "This is Ileana’s first film but her fantastic performance is just a testament why the Telugu audience consider her a superstar. Of course it also helps that she is the most visually appealing in Barfi! out shining even the scenic hills of Darjeeling". Rajeev Masand stated "Ileana leaves a lasting impression in her Hindi film debut, conveying both love and pain through those beautiful, expressive eyes". The film was screened at the Busan International Film Festival, Marrakech International Film Festival and was chosen as India’s official entry to the Oscars for the 85th Academy Awards.


     She next appeared in the Rajkumar Santoshi action comedy film Phata Poster Nikhla Hero opposite Shahid Kapoor. The film released on September 20, 2013 to mixed reviews, and the film was eventually declared an average grosser at the box office. However, D'Cruz received mixed to positive reviews for her performance, with the Times of India saying that she was "good with emotions but not so tuned into comedy yet."


     Her first release of 2014 was Main Tera Hero alongside Varun Dhawan and Nargis Fakhri, produced by Balaji Motion Pictures. The film was a semi hit. She then appeared in Saif Ali Khan's maiden production Happy Ending where she played lead along Saif Ali Khan, Govinda and Kalki Koechlin which released on November 21, 2014. The film met with negative reviews and was a box office flop.

     In 2014, Ileana D'Cruz posed backless for PETA's anti-fur campaign.

Hansika Motwani

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Hansika Motwani


     Hansika Motwani was born to Pradeep Motwani, a businessman and Mona Motwani, a dermatologist. She has a brother Prashant Motwani. Her mother tongue is Sindhi and she is a Buddhist. She was born in Mumbai.


     Hansika attended the Podar International School in Mumbai. She went on to study at the International Curriculum School in Mumbai. Hansika began her television career with a serial called Shaka Laka Boom Boom. She later acted in the Indian serial Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand, for which she received the Favorite Child Award at the Star Parivaar Awards, and appeared as one of the children in Koi Mil Gaya with Preity Zinta and Hrithik Roshan.


     Hansika made her debut in a lead role in Puri Jagannadh's Telugu film Desamuduru, opposite Allu Arjun, earning the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut – South for her performance. Hansika made her debut as a leading actress in Bollywood with Himesh Reshammiya in Aap Kaa Surroor — a moderate hit. She next signed the Hindi film titled He: The Only One, where she was to essay the role of a killer, hell-bent on taking revenge for her family, but the film was later shelved.


     Hansika's first 2008 release was Bindaas, starring Puneet Rajkumar, her first and only Kannada film to date. Later that year, she was paired with Jr. NTR in the film Kantri. She made her Tamil film debut in the successful 2011 film Mappillai, opposite Dhanush. Her next Tamil film, Engeyum Kadhal, opposite Jayam Ravi, was also unsuccessful. The 2011 film Velayudham, in which she starred alongside Vijay, became a box-office success; this was her first time playing the role of a village belle.


     In 2012 Hansika had two releases, one in Tamil and Telugu each. Her first release was M. Rajesh's romantic comedy Oru Kal Oru Kannadi, which became her first runaway hit and earned her positive reviews from critics for her performance. In Telugu, she was featured in Denikaina Ready, opposite Vishnu Manchu, which also earned a positive response from the public. She received her first Best Actress nomination at the 60th Filmfare Awards South for her performance in the film. In 2013, she appeared in four Tamil films, Settai, opposite Arya, Sundar C.'s Theeya Velai Seiyyanum Kumaru, opposite Siddharth, Hari's Singam II starring Suriya and Venkat Prabhu's Biriyani with Suriya's brother, Karthi. She had five releases in 2014, two of them being Telugu films, the comedy flick Pandavulu Pandavulu Thummeda and the action-masala Power. Her Tamil releases were the fantasy film Maan Karate, Sundar C's horror comedy Aranmanai and the action thriller Meaghamann, with the former two becoming two of the most profitable films of the year.


     Aambala, her third collaboration with Sundar C, was her first 2015 release. She will next be seen in Vaalu with Silambarasan, with whom she was supposed to act in the gangster film Vettai Mannan as well, which was stalled. Other upcoming films of Motwani include the romance films Romeo Juliet and Uyire Uyire, the remake of the Telugu film Ishq under Jaya Prada's production as well as the magnum opus fantasy film Puli directed by Chimbu Deven.


     In 2015, her movie Romeo Juliet with Jayam Ravi, Poonam Bajwa, VTV Ganesh, Vamsi Krishna, Uma Padmanabhan and Arya (Cameo Role) directed by Lakshman released on 12 June 2015. Online movie portal has rated it "A fun filled romantic Comedy"


Personal life:

     Hansika is involved in many philanthropic activities. She provides monetary support for the education of 25 underprivileged children and also takes care of the medical needs of 10 women affected with breast cancer. She is the brand Ambassador of 'Chennai turns Pink', an awareness program to create breast cancer awareness among urban women.


     Hansika has a devout fan base who has built a temple for her in Madurai, Tamil Nadu which became operational from January, 2013.


     In 2014, she was featured in Forbes' list of 250 celebrities that make it to the 100 Most Influential Celebrities nominees list.

Trisha Krishnan

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Trisha Krishnan


     Trisha was born to Krishnan and Uma  in Chennai (then known as Madras) into a family, whose ancestors hailed from the Palakkad region of Kerala. She completed schooling at the Sacred Heart Matriculation School in Church Park, Chennai, and later pursued a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) course at the Ethiraj College for Women (Chennai). She ventured into modeling and appeared in several print and television commercials. In 1999, she won the "Miss Salem" beauty pageant, and later the same year, the Miss Madras contest. She had also won the Miss India 2001 pageant's "Beautiful Smile" award.


     Trisha had aspired to become a criminal psychologist initially, and resisted the thought of pursuing acting, as she wanted to complete her studies first. She also appeared in Falguni Pathak's music video "Meri Chunar Udd Udd Jaye" as Ayesha Takia's friend. She was later approached for an acting role in Tamil movie Lesa Lesa by Indian film director Priyadarshan, which marked the beginning of her professional career as an actress. During her college course, she had occupied herself with a tight shooting schedule, which made it difficult to continue with her education. However, she compensated by attending summer classes.


     Soon after her pageant success, Trisha began her acting career in an uncredited role as Simran's friend in Jodi. The first project she accepted was the Priyadarshan-directed Lesa Lesa, with the promotional posters for the film, also creating an offer to star in the A. R. Rahman musical hit, Enakku 20 Unakku 18 (2003). However both the projects' releases were severely delayed, and her first release was Ameer's Mounam Pesiyadhe opposite Surya Sivakumar. The film became a moderate success at the box office and managed to gain credentials for Trisha, with critics claiming that she was "undoubtedly a refreshing new find, with sparkling eyes and appealing demeanour", also going onto praise the dubbing artiste, Savitha Reddy, who has since regularly dubbed for Trisha. Manasellam, her second project, saw her play a cancer patient; but the film went unnoticed despite positive reviews for the film and the actress.


     Her subsequent release was the Hari-directed police film, Saamy with Vikram. She played a soft-spoken college-going brahmin girl and received positive feedbacks for her performance, with Sify's reviewer citing that she was "appealingly sensual" and looked "glamorous", and another critic writing that she looked "very pretty" and suited the role. The masala flick became the biggest blockbuster of the year, grossing ? 16 crores, and landed Trisha new offers, including several high-budget productions. Lesa Lesa, which was supposed to be her debut, released next. The romantic musical, based on the 1998 Malayalam film Summer in Bethlehem, fetched generally positive reviews. Following Lesa Lesa, she appeared in Alai which proved unsuccessful at the box office. Then released her Enakku 20 Unakku 18 which was unsuccessful commercially but was a well noticed movie because of its music and visuals and helped her career.


     In 2004, she debuted in the Telugu cinema industry with M. S. Raju's romance-action film Varsham, which turned her into an overnight sensation. Critics lauded her performance as Sailaja, a middle-class girl who becomes a film star on her father's insistence; Jeevi from Idlebrain claimed that she was "beautiful" and a "big plus to the film", labelling her performance as "natural", while Sify noted that she had "transformed herself into a fine actress with immense screen presence". A critic from fullhyderabad.com praised her, citing that she had shown why Tamil Nadu was "busy building her a temple", further adding that she looked "so fresh and fine, you feel like gifting her to the roses". While the film was highly commercially successful, running for over 175 days theatres, being declared a "sensational hit" and becoming one of the highest-grossers of the year, Trisha was given the Telugu Filmfare, as well as the Santosham Award for Best Actress.


     She was also offered the same role in its Tamil remake Mazhai, which she however declined. Later that year, she enacted the female lead opposite Vijay in the action comedy film Ghilli. She played the character of Dhanalakshmi, a helpless girl, whom a kabaddi player tries to save from the clutches of an influential thug, who wants to marry her, with most critics agreeing that her performance was overshadowed by Vijay and Prakash Raj's in particular. The film eventually emerged the highest-grossing Tamil film of the year, celebrating a 175-days-run, too, and remains Trisha's biggest commercial success so far. She next appeared in a small role in Mani Ratnam's political drama Aayutha Ezhuthu, starring as part of an ensemble cast that included Siddharth, Madhavan and Surya. The film, despite favourable reviews, performed poorly at the box office, while she was again outshone by the three lead male actors.


     In the following two years, Trisha had twelve releases overall, which all but one featured her as the female lead. She was part of two male-oriented action-masala flicks Thirupaachi and Aaru, directed by Perarasu and Hari, which both offered only limited roles for her, with the former becoming a major commercial success. In her second Telugu project, the sentimental drama Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana, she starred alongside Siddharth. The film, being Prabhu Deva's directorial debut, opened to rave reviews, with Trisha receiving unanimous praise for her portrayal as the village girl Siri, which earned her three Best Actress prizes, including her second consecutive Filmfare Award and her first Nandi Award. Idlebrain noted that she was "just great. Her tender looks, innocent face and Telugu traditional costumes make her a treat to watch", further labelling her expressions and "naughty antics" as excellent, while Sify wrote of Trisha that she was "amazing as Siri It is her career best performance and she has excelled throughout." The film eventually secured eight Southern Filmfare Awards, the most ever by any Telugu film, while also emerging highly successful at the box office.


     Trisha later went on to reprise the role in its Tamil remake as well. Her subsequent releases, N. Lingusamy's Ji and Aathi, which saw her pairing with Ajith Kumar and Vijay, respectively, were both critical and economical failures, while Aaru was a moderate success and was received well by critics. The successes of Varsham and Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana led to Trisha being cast in the third consecutive M. S. Raju film, with the producer stating that she was "one of the most talented and beautiful actress I have ever worked with", going on to draw comparisons to the works of Savitri, Nargis and Sophia Lauren. The film, Pournami, directed by Prabhu Deva again, featured her in the titular role alongside a star cast and bombed at the box office. Her sole Tamil release of 2006, Unakkum Enakkum, the remake of Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana, where she acted opposite Jayam Ravi, did very well at the box office. She starred in the Telugu film Stalin with Chiranjeevi, following which her Telugu film Sainikudu with Mahesh Babu was released.


     Her next release was Aadavari Matalaku Ardhalu Verule where she was cast opposite Venkatesh. The film, Selvaraghavan's first Telugu venture, was a family entertainer and received good response especially from the family audience. Trisha's performance was critically acclaimed and won her accolades, eventually resulting in her third Filmfare win. In Kireedam with Ajith Kumar, Trisha tried comedy and received rave reviews. Kireedam opened with high expectations and received good reviews from media and audience and was declared a success. Her 2008 Tamil films, Bheema and Kuruvi failed to succeed at the box-office. In Telugu Krishna with Ravi Teja, opened to rave reviews, and became a blockbuster. Her other release Bujjigadu starring Prabhas, directed by Puri Jagannadh was released during Summer and made a decent run. Trisha was praised for her performance in Radhamohan's Abhiyum Naanum. King starring Akkineni Nagarjuna directed by Sreenu Vaitla was a December release and it became a blockbuster.


     Her 2009 films Sarvam with Arya and Sankham opposite Gopichand did not do well and became just average grossers. Trisha had a major role, starring as a Syrian Christian Malayali girl Jessie, in Gautham Menon's 2010 Tamil romantic drama film Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, which was a big commercial success at the box office. The film centers around the complicated relationship between a Syrian Christian Malayali girl and a Tamil Hindu assistant director, who falls in love with her, only to be met by her indifference and reluctance as they belong to different religions and her strict conservative family will never consent to their marriage. Her performance was well received by critics, earning her the 2010 Vijay Award for Favourite Heroine. Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff commented, "Trisha is a revelation. Shorn of her filmi make-up, she dazzles in Nalini Sriram's simple costumes." Sify remarked, "Trisha looks good and delivers her career best performance in a knock-out role."
     Namo Venkatesa was her sole Telugu release in 2010. In the same year, she starred in Manmadhan Ambu with Kamal Haasan and R. Madhavan and made her debut in Bollywood with the Priyadarshan film Khatta Meetha. Upon release, the film received mixed reviews from critics and Box Office India declared it an average performer at the box office. She was part of two commercially successful ventures in 2011, Theenmaar in Telugu and Venkat Prabhu's Mankatha in Tamil. The latter was the highest-grossing Tamil film of the year and in Trisha's career.

     She had two Telugu releases in 2012-Bodyguard, a remake of the same-titled Malayalam film, which saw her being paired with Daggubati Venkatesh for the third time, and Dammu opposite Jr. NTR-and two Tamil releases in 2013-Samar starring Vishal, and the comedy drama Endrendrum Punnagai starring Jiiva. She signed on two "women-centric" bilingual projects featuring female lead casts, titled Rambha Urvasi Menaka and Kannaale Kannan. Although both films were commenced, they were stalled in 2013.

     Her upcoming films include Boologam in Tamil and Adipathi, which is a remake of the Telugu film Dookudu and will mark Trisha's Kannada film debut. She is currently shooting Cheekati Rajyam with Kamal Haasan.

Personal life:

     Trisha resides in Chennai with her parents and grandmother. Her mother tongue is Tamil, and she converses fluently in Hindi, French, and English. Her mother Uma Krishnan, had been offered various roles by several Tamil film makers and actors including Kamal Hassan, but turned them down, as she wanted to concentrate on Trisha's career. She accompanies Trisha on film shoots, events, and functions, and they have appeared together only in a commercial advertisement. About her relationship with her mother, Trisha remarks, "She has been the pillar of my strength and has stood by me like a rock through thick and thin. Everyone in the industry and my friends know how close I'm to my mom." On 23 January 2015 she became engaged to Varun Manian, a Chennai-based businessman. In May 2015, she confirmed that the couple had ended their engagement.

Nithya Menon

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Nithya Menon
     Nithya Menen was born in Bangalore, Karnataka to a Malayali family and studied journalism at the Manipal Institute of Communication. She once said in an interview that she never wished to become an actress but a journalist as she was "an idealist", but felt journalism was "not what it used to be". She then decided to become a filmmaker as she could express her ideas "better through films", and enrolled for a course in cinematography at the FTI Pune. During the entrance examination, she met Nandini Reddy, who "brainwashed" and convinced her to take up acting. Nandini Reddy would later turn director and sign Nithya for the lead female role in her first project.


     Menen appeared first on screen as a child artist when she was ten in the Indian English language film, The Monkey Who Knew Too Much (1998), playing the younger sister to Tabu's character. The 2008 off-beat film Aakasha Gopuram, directed by National Film Award-winning director K. P. Kumaran, marked her debut in a leading role, in which she was paired with Mohanlal. She was in the midst of her 12th class exams when she was offered the role, after Mohanlal had spotted her on the front cover of a tourism magazine, Stark World Kerala. Her performance was well received, with critics writing that she shows "sparkle in her debut venture" and "makes her entry in an impressive role", though the film, based on the Norwegian play The Master Builder, got mixed reviews and was a financial failure. She next made her Kannada debut with the film Josh. She played a supporting role in the film, which received rave reviews, and became a commercial success as well, with her performance garnering her a nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category at the 57th Filmfare Awards South.



     In 2011, her first release was Nandini Reddy's romantic comedy Ala Modalaindi, which was Nithya's maiden Telugu venture as well. The film opened to favourable reviews by critics and turned out to become a sleeper hit, while Nithya received critical praise for her performance. Idlebrain‍ '​s Jeevi in his review cited that she "epitomized Nitya character with her fabulous performance", "looks beautiful in all kinds of dresses" and was "the best debut in recent years of Telugu cinema after Samantha in YMC", while another critic wrote that she was a "charming find" and "...quite the Genelia replacement that our cinema so badly needs right now." She eventually won the Nandi Award for Best Actress for her performance. Further more, she also sang two songs for the soundtrack album of the film, tuned by Kalyani Malik. Nandini Reddy, later, went on to describe Nithya as "the discovery of the decade". Following Ala Modalaindi, she starred in Santosh Sivan's historical fiction Urumi as part of an ensemble cast. 



     She portrayed a Chirakkal princess named Bala, playing the love interest of Prabhu Deva's character, which gained positive remarks, with a Sify review claiming that she "looks pretty and is a scene stealer". Nithya quoted that much of her character was based on "Santosh's perception of who I am", with Sivan stating that he had written that role for her and that only she could play it. She next appeared in ad-filmmaker Jayendra's bilingual venture 180/Nootrenbadhu, made and released in Tamil and Telugu, in which she played a photo journalist named Vidhya. She described the character as "bubbly, full of life, nosey, wide-eyed and innocent in life" and to be similar to herself. Later the year, she was seen in Sibi Malayil's Violin in Malayalam and the Gautham Menon-produced Veppam in Tamil.



     Her first 2012 release was the Telugu romance film Ishq with Nitin Reddy. She acted in Karmayogi, a Malayalam adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet. For the Kannada film Aidondla Aidu she had sung and also choreographed one of the songs, titled "Payasa". She was seen in two Malayalam projects, T. K. Rajeev Kumar's Thalsamayam Oru Penkutty, in which she portrayed a village woman whose daily life is filmed and broadcast as a reality show for a month, and Ustad Hotel directed by Anwar Rasheed.


     In 2013, she starred in three Telugu films, Okkadine, Jabardasth and Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde. She played a character with two shades in Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde and she dubbed for her as well as for the character of her co-star Isha Talwar. In 2014, she made a cameo in the Malayalam movie Bangalore Days, which became the highest grosser of that year.


     She has paired up with Sharwanand for the 2015 Telugu movie Malli Malli Idi Rani Roju. She did a minor role in the film S/O Satyamurthy, directed by Trivikram'. She appeared opposite Dulquer Salmaan in two films in 2015, 100 Days of Love, a romantic Malayalam film and OK Kanmani, bilingual film directed by Mani Ratnam'. Dulquer and Nithya's on-screen chemistry was praised in the reviews of both films.

     Her upcoming releases include Vikram Kumar's 24 and K. S. Ravikumar's bilingual project titled Kotigobba 2.

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