Nayantara

Nayantara

     Nayantara was born in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, to Malayali Syrian Christian parents Kurian Kodiyattu and Omana Kurian who hail from Tiruvalla, Kerala. Her brother, Leno, who is nine years elder to her, lives in Dubai. As her father was an Indian Air Force official, she studied in various parts of India, mainly in North India. She did her schooling in Jamnagar, Gujarat and Delhi. In Tiruvalla, she studied at Balikamadom Girls Higher Secondary School and then attended Marthoma College for her bachelor's degree in English Literature. While studying at college, Nayantara was working as a part-time model.

     She was spotted by director Sathyan Anthikkad, who had seen some of her modelling assignments and approached her to play a pivotal role opposite Jayaram in his film Manassinakkare (2003). Although she turned down the offer initially, as she was not interested in films, she gave in eventually and agreed to do "just that one film". Manassinakkare went on to become a high financial success and she continued to receive acting offers. Her both releases in 2004, Natturajavu by Shaji Kailas and Fazil's psychological thriller Vismayathumbathu saw her co-starring alongside Mohanlal; while she played the protagonist's adopted sister in the former, she portrayed a ghost in the latter. Her performance in Vismayathumbathu, in particular, was lauded, with critics claiming that she had "stolen the thunder with her author-backed role", and was "the revelation of the film". She also acted in Thaskara Veeran and Rappakal.

     She subsequently started appearing in Tamil and Telugu films. In 2005, she was cast opposite Sarath Kumar in Hari's Ayya, debuting in the Tamil film industry. The family drama film opened to positive critical response, fetching Nayantara positive feedback as well. Behindwoods.com claimed that she had made a "sensational debut in Tamil", while a reviewer from Nowrunning.com said that her "presence with her beautiful smile is crowd winning". While still shooting for Ayya, she was selected to portray the love interest of Rajinikanth in the comedy horror film Chandramukhi, after its director P Vasu's wife had seen Manassinakkare and recommended her. The film became one of the most successful Tamil films in history, running for over 800 days in theatres, eventually turning Nayantara into one of the most-sought after actresses in Tamil. Later that year her third Tamil film, A R Murugadoss' Ghajini, in which she played a secondary female character, again was a commercially highly successful venture. However, she later told that appearing in Ghajini was a big mistake and the "worst decision" she ever took. Nayantara then accepted to appear in an item number as herself in the Perarasu-directed masala film Sivakasi starring Vijay.

     Her first release in 2006 was Kalvanin Kadhali. Indiaglitz.com termed her performance as the "strength of the film". She next made her debut in Telugu, starring in the film Lakshmi, following which she performed in Boss, I Love You, alongside Venkatesh and Nagarjuna respectively. Three Tamil films in which she enacted the lead female characters – Vallavan, Thalaimagan and E – were released simultaneously during Deepavali 2006. All three films opened to mixed reviews; Nayantara mostly won praise for her performances. In Vallavan, she portrayed a lecturer who falls in love with a student younger than her. Sify wrote: "Nayanthara virtually walks away with the film and has never looked so beautiful. She looks gorgeous especially in songs and does justice to her well-etched out role". The science fiction thriller E featured Nayantara in the role of a bar dancer. Reviewers claimed that she made an impact, was "very adequate and impressive in a slightly complicated role", and that she had "come up with a good performance". In Thalaimagan, she played a news reporter, with critics agreeing that she did not have much to do in the film.

    She regained her star billing in Kollywood acting opposite Ajith Kumar in the Vishnuvardhan-directed gangster film Billa (2007). A remake of the same-titled 1980 Tamil film, it went on to become a blockbuster success at the box office, while Nayantara received many accolades for her performance as Sasha in her new glamour look. Sify heaped praise on her, describing her as a "show stopper". The reviewer further wrote: "Nayanthara has gone full throttle to look her sexiest best. She has a beautiful body which she flaunts daringly and is also able to bring out the cold aloofness and bitterness of her character. Similarly a critic from Nowrunning.com noted that she looked "great in mini-skirts, jacket, dark glasses and tall boots".

     In 2008 she had five releases, four of which were in Tamil. Her first release, the family entertainer Yaaradi Nee Mohini was critically acclaimed and one of the highest grossing Tamil films of the year. Nayantara's portrayal of Keerthi was appreciated by critics. Behindwoods dot com wrote: "Nayan dispels her bombshell act and proves that she can more than just that. She breaks into tears when needed, shows vicious contempt when rubbed the wrong way in the name of love, and looks endearing in songs". Nowrunning.com cited that she "exhibits her acting skills in full measure  gives a moving performance in emotional scenes", while Sify's critic wrote that she looked "sensational and has done a great job in perhaps the meatiest role she has done so far". She won the Vijay Award for Favourite Heroine for second consecutive year, as well as a nomination for the Best Actress prize at the 56th Filmfare Awards South. Her subsequent releases, however, Kuselan opposite Rajnikanth, Sathyam opposite Vishal and Villu opposite Vijay, were all unsuccessful, while Aegan became an average grosser. Her only two successful releases in 2009 were Aadhavan with Suriya which released in October of that year.

     In 2010, all her releases, which featured her as the female lead, turned out to be commercial successes: she had five box office hits in the four Southern languages – Adhurs (Telugu) Bodyguard (Malayalam), and Simha (Telugu), Boss Engira Bhaskaran (Tamil) and Super (Kannada). She won the Asianet Award for Best Actress for her performance in Bodyguard. The latter three, in particular, were exceptionally successful, with Simha becoming one of the highest-grossing Telugu films of the year and Boss Engira Bhaskaran releasing to highly positive reviews, and becoming a blockbuster. Upendra's Super, which marked her debut into the Kannada film industry opened to rave reviews, while her performance was also praised by critics. Her performances in Simha, Boss Engira Bhaskaran and Super eventually fetched her nominations for the Filmfare Best Actress Award in the respective languages. She also starred in Shyamaprasad's critically acclaimed Malayalam film Elektra. Her performance was well appreciated by critics when it was screened at the International Film Festival of India. The film was also screened at the Dubai International Film Festival.

     Her only release in 2011 was the mythological film Sri Rama Rajyam by Bapu, in which she played the role of Sita. She received critical acclaim for her performance in the film with Rediff.com noting that "Nayanthara is the surprise package of the film. As Sita, she too has played the role of her lifetime. She gave a fine understated performance conveying a kaleidoscope of emotions", while Sify commented "Nayanthara gave a fitting answer to all, unleashing grace and accomplishing the assignment with absolute perfection." Subsequently, she was awarded the Nandi Award for Best Actress and the Filmfare Award for Best Telugu Actress. The film was dubbed in the media as her swan song and considered to be her last release before her marriage as she was reported to quit acting thereafter. She won the style icon award for south scope style award 2009 and she bought the best couple award for south scope style award 2010.

     Nayanthara began shooting for Krish's Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum in March 2012 after an 11-months sabbatical. She portrayed the role of a journalist in this film and her performance was also praised, with a reviewer from Sify stating that "Nayanthara does not play the normal commercial glam-doll for a change and she is good. As a reporter, she looks good and her chemistry with Rana is perfect". Her first release in 2013 was Greeku Veerudu. Her next film, Raja Rani was her first Tamil release after three years that had her in a lead role, which was followed by Vishnuvardhan's Arrambam. Both films became very successful at the box office making it as a dream comeback for Nayanthara. In 2014, she appeared in Idhu Kathirvelan Kadhal which was directed by S R Prabhakaran. Her next release was the bilingual thriller Anamika (Telugu)/Nee Enge En Anbe (Tamil) directed by Shekhar Kammula for which her work was mostly praised by critics.

     In 2015, she starred in the Tamil romantic comedy Nannbenda starring Udhayanidhi Stalin. Her next release was Bhaskar the Rascal starring Mammootty in Malayalam. Her next release was the horror comedy Masss co-starring Suriya which became a Disaster. Her next was the Blockbuster action flick Thani Oruvan starring Jayam Ravi. She followed it with the horror film Maya which also eventually became a Super Hit. Both of them were Huge Critical Successes as well along with commercial success. She is acting in the following upcoming Tamil projects: Vignesh Shivan's Naanum Rowdydhaan starring Vijay Sethupathi, the romance film Idhu Namma Aalu starring Silambarasan, and Kashmora starring Karthi. In early August 2015 she signed a Telugu project starring along with actor Venkatesh for the third time.

Personal Life:

     Nayanthara started dating actor-director Prabhu Deva in 2008. In 2010, Prabhu Deva's wife Latha filed a petition at the family court, seeking directions against Deva from live in relationship with Nayantara and requesting a reunion with him. Furthermore, she threatened to go on hunger strike if Prabhu Deva married Nayantara, while several women's organisations conducted protests against Nayantara for bringing disrepute to Tamil culture, burning an effigy of her. In 2012, Nayantara confirmed that she had ended her relationship with Prabhu Deva.

     Nayantara was born and brought up as a Syrian Christian. On 7 August 2011, she converted to Hinduism at the Arya Samaj Temple in Chennai. She went through Shuddhi Karma, a procedure involving a Vedic purification and a Homam where Nayantara chanted the hymns from Veda and Gayatri Mantra under the guidance of the priest. After the purification ceremony, a Certificate of Conversion to Hinduism was issued to her and her stage name, Nayantara, became her official name. She also visited a number of holy places, including Haridwar and Rishikesh in May 2014.

Tamannaah Bhatia

Tamannaah Bhatia

     Tamannaah Bhatia was born on 21 December 1989 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, to Santhosh and Rajani Bhatia and she has an elder brother, Anand. Her father is a diamond merchant. She is of Sindhi descent. She did her schooling in Maneckji Cooper Educational Trust School, Juhu, Mumbai. She later changed her screen name for numerological reasons, varying it slightly to Tamannaah. She has been working since the age of 13, when she was spotted at her school’s annual day function and offered a lead role, which she took up, and then also became a part of Mumbai's Prithvi Theatre for a year. She also appeared in Abhijeet Sawant's album song "Lafzo Mein" from the album Aapka Abhijeet which was released in the year 2005.

     Tamannaah made her acting debut in 2005 at the age of 15, playing the female lead in Chand Sa Roshan Chehra which was a commercial failure at the box office. The same year, she made her debut in Telugu cinema with Sri and in Tamil cinema with Kedi in 2006. Though both of them were commercial failures, her performance in the latter fetched her critical acclaim. IndiaGlitz in ints review called Tamannaah as the "real scene-stealer" and stated that she "walks away with all honors", adding that her characters have shades of the characters played by Vijayashanti in Mannan (1992) and Ramya Krishnan in Padayappa (1999).

     Her first release of 2007 was Shakti Chidambaram's Viyabari in which she played the role of a journalist who wants to write an article about a successful entrepreneur played by S. J. Suryah. The film opened to negative reviews and flopped at the box office, but Tamannaah received praise for her performance. She got her breakthrough with Sekhar Kammula's Happy Days and Balaji Sakthivel's Kalloori, both of them featuring Tamannaah as a college student. She won critical acclaim for her performances in both the films. The commercial success of Happy Days and Kalloori established her career as an actress in both Telugu and Tamil films. Her performance in the latter earned her a nomination at the 56th Filmfare Awards South in the Best Tamil Actress category.

     Her first release of 2008 was the Telugu film Kalidasu directed by debutante G. Ravicharan Reddy. She was paired with debutante Sushanth, the grandson of actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao. Upon release, the film opened to moderate reviews and critics felt that she looked good and bery romantic but had less scope to perform. The film was an average grosser at the box office. She later made a cameo appearance in the Telugu film Ready followed by another cameo appearance in the Telugu - Tamil bilingual Ninna Nedu Repu titled Netru Indru Naalai in Tamil.

     Tamannaah's first release of 2009 was the Tamil film Padikkadavan directed by Suraj co-starring Dhanush which was named after Rajinikanth's 1985 film of the same name. The film received mixed reviews from critics but Tamannaah's performance in a limited role won praise. Padikkadavan however became a commercial success. Her next release was the Telugu film Konchem Ishtam Konchem Kashtam directed by Kishore Kumar Pardasany co-starring Siddharth. The film received positive reviews from critics and she received critical acclaim for her performance, earning a nomination at the 57th Filmfare Awards South in the Best Telugu Actress category. The film however was an average grosser at the box office. Her next release, K. V. Anand's Ayan, co-starring Suriya became the only major commercially successful Tamil film of the year.

     She later appeared in Gandhi Krishna's Ananda Thandavam which was based on the novel Pirivom Santhippom serialised by Sujatha Rangarajan. She was paired with Siddharth Venugopal in the film marking the latter's debut. The film opened to negative reviews, and was her only commercial failure in 2009. However Tamannaah's performance was critically acclaimed. Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff.com stated that Tamannaah's "would-be innocence when she's playing up to Sidharth, and slight cunning when she chooses Radhakrishnan is perfect" adding that she brought her character Madhumitha "to life, an alluring mix of child and woman; irritating, sly, yet arousing your sympathy in the climax".

     Tamannaah later appeared in R. Kannan's Kanden Kadhalai, the official remake of Jab We Met (2007) co-starring Bharath and her voice was dubbed by playback singer Chinmayi. Kanden Kadhalai opened to decent feedback from critics and Tamannaah's performance won praise from them. A reviewer from Sify stated, "Funny and full of life, it is Tamannaah who is the heart and soul of this love story. She has come up with a live wire performance and the magic of the film lies in her performance", adding that no actress in Tamil cinema could play that role better than her though she did not look like a Thevar girl hailing from Theni. Her performance in the film earned her a nomination at the 57th Filmfare Awards South in the Best Tamil Actress category, making her the only actress to earn two nominations in two different languages at that event. She also won the South Scope award for the same. During this phase, she was established as an undisputed top actress in Tamil cinema.

     Tamannaah's first release of 2010 was N. Linguswamy's Paiyaa co-starring Karthi which was a Tamil road movie. The film opened to positive reviews from critics and was a commercial success.[37] She earned a nomination each at the 58th Filmfare Awards South and 5th Vijay Awards in the Best Tamil Actress category. Her other two releases of 2010 were S. P. Rajkumar's Sura co-starring Vijay and M. Raja's Thillalangadi co-starring Jayam Ravi, the former being Vijay's 50th film as an actor and the latter being the official remake of Surender Reddy's Kick (2009). Both the films flopped at the box office.

     Tamannaah's first release of 2011 was Siva's Siruthai co-starring Karthi which was the official remake of S. S. Rajamouli's Vikramarkudu (2006). Her character was received poorly by critics, with Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff.com citing that she offered "little more than arm-candy". The film, however, was commercially successful. She followed it with a cameo appearance in a song Aga Naga from K. V. Anand's Ko.

     She made her comeback to Telugu cinema after a two-year gap in the same year with Sukumar's 100% Love co-starring Naga Chaitanya in which she played the role of a village girl visiting her cousin's house in Hyderabad for pursuing higher education. She won praise for her performance from the critics. A reviewer from IndiaGlitz stated that Tamannaah "stole the show in the film" and "doesn't over act or underplay her role anywhere". The reviewer added that She "is drop dead gorgeous and steals your heart with her beauty" and "wins on two counts-one is her endearing action and two is her insanely adorable looks". The film became one of the biggest commercial successful Telugu films of 2011. She earned a nomination each at the 59th Filmfare Awards South and 1st South Indian International Movie Awards in the Best Telugu Actress category. She also won the Best Actor Female awards at CineMAA Awards 2012 and The Hyderabad Times Film Awards 2011.

     Her next release of 2011 was V. V. Vinayak's Badrinath co-starring Allu Arjun. Her looks in the film became debatable considering her girl-next-door looks sported in her previous films. The film received mixed to negative reviews from critics. Suresh Kavirayani of The Times of India felt that Tamannaah was "energetic, but there was unnecessary skin show even in scenes that didn't seem to require it". However the film became a notable success at the box office. She earned a nomination at the CineMAA Awards 2012 in the Best Actor Female category. She played the role of a village girl in Hari's Venghai co-starring Dhanush which she called a "subtle and underplayed" character. Both the film and her performance opened to mixed reviews from critics, with Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff.com stating that Tamannaah "appears neatly attired in classy dresses but suddenly takes to wearing skimpy clothes that display her midriff" and looks "so dazzlingly white that you want to reach for your sun-glasses". Her next release Oosaravelli co-starring N. T. Rama Rao Jr. and directed by Surender Reddy opened to mixed reviews from critics, and was a commercial failure.

     Tamannaah starred in four Telugu films in 2012, the first one being Sampath Nandi's Racha co-starring Ram Charan in which she played the role of a rich girl living in a protected world whose character's layers get revealed as the film progresses. Upon release, Tamannaah received praise from the critics with Sify's reviewer calling her the film's "major asset", and Karthik Pasupulate of The Times of India stating that she "does the needful" and "does add more than glamour value to the film". The film was declared a major commercial success by the end of its 50-day run. She earned a nomination each at 60th Filmfare Awards South and CineMAA Awards 2013 in the Best Actor Female category.

     Her next release, A. Karunakaran's Endukante Premanta! co-starring Ram, opened to negative reviews and was a commercial failure. However critics praised hers and Ram's performance in the film, with Y. Sunita Chowdary of The Hindu stating that they have "done their best to bring some semblance of reality to this fantasy", and Radhika Rajamani of Rediff.com calling them as the film's "heart and soul". Her third release, Raghava Lawrence???'??s Rebel co-starring Prabhas, in which she was seen as a hip hop dance teacher, opened to mixed reviews and was a commercial failure and escalation of budget was cited as one of the primary reasons. Her last release of 2012 was Puri Jagannadh's Cameraman Gangatho Rambabu co-starring Pawan Kalyan in which she played the role of a tomboyish media cameraman. The film was one of the biggest commercial successful Telugu films of 2012.

     Tamannaah's first release of 2013 was Sajid Khan's Himmatwala co-starring Ajay Devgan which was the remake of the 1983 Hindi film of the same name where she reprises the role of Sridevi from the original. Khan chose her considering her popularity in the South Indian cinema and the film marked her comeback to Hindi cinema. The film opened to negative reviews from critics, who felt that she matched Sridevi in terms of glamour but failed in terms of acting skills which they termed as "below average". Himmatwala became a commercial failure at the box office.

     Her other release of 2013 was Kishore Kumar Pardasany's Tadakha co-starring Naga Chaitanya, Sunil and Andrea Jeremiah, the official Telugu remake of N. Lingusamy's Vettai where she reprises the role played by Amala Paul in the original. The film opened to moderate reviews from critics, and was commercially successful. She earned a nomination at the 3rd South Indian International Movie Awards in the Best Actor Female category.

    She made her comeback to Tamil cinema in 2014 after a sabbatical of three years with Siva's Veeram co-starring Ajith Kumar. She said in an interview that she was in talks for a lot of Tamil films and would be signing a few soon. Veeram received positive reviews from critics, and became one of the highest grossing Tamil films of 2014. She again collaborated with Sajid Khan for the film Humshakals as one of the female leads co-starring Saif Ali Khan, Ram Kapoor, Riteish Deshmukh, Bipasha Basu and Esha Gupta. The film received poor reviews from critics, and flopped at the box office. She performed her first item number in V. V. Vinayak's Alludu Seenu featuring Bellamkonda Sai Sreenivas and Samantha Ruth Prabhu in the lead roles which she accepted to do upon Vinayak's request after walking out of the film initially due to changes in its script. That song, titled "Labbar Bomma", was well received by the audience.

     In her next release Entertainment directed by Sajid-Farhad co-starring Akshay Kumar, she played the role of a television actress. While the film was a semi-hit at the box office, Tamannaah received a nomination at the 7th Golden Kela Awards in the worst actress category. Her last release of 2014 was Srinu Vaitla's Aagadu co-starring Mahesh Babu in which she played the role of a village belle owning a chain of sweet shops. The film opened to mixed reviews and was a commercial failure at the box office. She later made a cameo appearance as herself in Jagadish's Nannbenda starring Udhayanidhi Stalin and Nayantara. She also dubbed her own voice for the same. In July 2015, the first part of S. S. Rajamouli's two-part multilingual fictional epic film Baahubali, co-starring Prabhas, Rana Daggubati and Anushka Shetty was released. In Baahubali, she played the role of Avanthika, a warrior princess of an unspecified era. For her role, she had to lose five to six kilos of weight and also, special care was taken regarding the looks, costumes and jewellery of her character. The film received positive reviews from critics and Tamannaah was praised for her performance. The movie collected around ?600 crore (US$91 million) and eventually became the top grosser of Telugu cinema and third highest grossing Indian film. Her next release was M. Rajesh's Vasuvum Saravananum Onna Padichavanga co-starring Arya, N. Santhanam and Bhanu in which she would showcase her own jewellery designs from Wite & Gold. The film received negative reviews from the critics.

     She is currently filming for Sampath Nandi's Bengal Tiger co-starring Ravi Teja for the first time. She also replaced Shruti Haasan in the film Oopiri which is a remake of The Intouchables, directed by Vamsi Paidipally and co-starring Akkineni Nagarjuna and Karthi being filmed in Telugu and Tamil simultaneously 

Shruti Haasan

Shruti Haasan

     Shruti Haasan was born on 28 January 1986 to actors Kamal Haasan and Sarika Thakur in Chennai, India before their marriage in 1988. Her father is a Tamil while her mother is half Marathi and half Rajput. Her younger sister Akshara represents India nationally for Ballroom Latin dancing. Haasan studied at Abacus Montessori School in Chennai and moved to Mumbai to study psychology at St. Andrew's College.

     Shruti Haasan focused on cinema and music, and eventually traveled to the USA to continue to learn music at the Musicians Institute in California, before returning to Chennai. Shruti Haasan's first appearance in a feature film was a cameo role as the daughter of Vallabhbhai Patel in the Tamil-Hindi bilingual Hey Ram, based on a murder attempt of Mahatma Gandhi, directed by her father Kamal Haasan. After rejecting prominent film offers, most notably the lead role in Venkat Prabhu's Saroja, reports suggested in late 2007 that Haasan was set to make her actual acting debut in 2008 with a film opposite Madhavan directed by Nishikanth Kamat. Despite Madhavan admitting that the news "was premature", she eventually did sign up to the film, which was titled Endrendrum Punnagai, only to be stalled prior to production.

     Shruti Haasan eventually signed up to feature in Soham Shah's Hindi film Luck opposite Imran Khan in July 2008, and shot for the film for nearly a year. Imran Khan, her childhood friend, had recommended her name to the director and Haasan signed on after listening to the entire script and accepted to play a dual role in the action film. Shruti took part in action scenes during filming, while she also worked out to get a toned body for a sequence in which she appears in a bikini in the film. The film opened in July 2009 to unanimously poor reviews from critics and took a poor opening at the box office, with critics stating that she "deserved a better launch vehicle". Reviewers were critical of her performance with Rajeev Masand of IBN stating that she delivers "dialogues with deadpan expressions", while another critic added that she is perhaps"synthetic and fails to impress". Haasan then went on to appear alongiside Blaaze in the promotional videos for Unnaipol Oruvan and Eenadu, the bilingual films starring her father, which she had composed the music for. She made a further appearance in a promotional video for the horror film Hisss starring Mallika Sherawat, where she had also sung a song composed by Dave Kushner.

    She made her Telugu debut in January 2011, acting opposite Siddharth in the fantasy adventure film Anaganaga O Dheerudu directed by Prakash Kovelamudi son of director K. Raghavendra Rao. The film, co-produced by Walt Disney Pictures, saw Shruti play a gypsy woman whose life coincides with a task that a blind swordsman, played by Siddharth. The film opened to positive reviews, with her performance being praised with a critic noting "Shruti looks quite attractive and makes a wonderful screen presence," while a reviewer from Rediff.com wrote that she "looks beautiful and has a mystical aura about her". The film however became a commercial failure at the box office, and the film failed to capitulate on a hefty promotional campaign that had been undertaken. Her second Hindi feature film, Madhur Bhandarkar's romantic comedy Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji, saw her appear in an extended guest appearance alongside an ensemble cast of Emraan Hashmi, Ajay Devgn and Shazahn Padamsee.

     The film portrayed her as Nikki Narang, the step-daughter of an ex Miss India model, with Hashmi's character falling for both mother and daughter. Shruti's performance gained poor responses from critics with a reviewer citing that her character has been "reduced to post-interval surfacing, last-ditch glamour" whilst another labelled hers as "so fake that she offers only disappointment"; however the film went on to become a commercial success at the box office. In mid-2010, Shruti was signed by A. R. Murugadoss to star opposite Suriya in his next film 7aum Arivu, and the film's shoot began in June later that year. The director signed after he felt she looked the part of the scientist, mentioning that she seemed "intelligent and beautiful". Shruti played Subha Srinivasan, a young scientist in the film, who hopes to re-activate the genes of 5th century Buddhist monk Bodhidharma and her performance in the film won appreciation from critics. The film opened to mixed reviews, but became commercially successful. A critic from The Hindu noted "rarely is a heroine given near-equal footing in Tamil films," describing her as "ravishing but that she ought to work harder on spontaneity, and fine-tune her Tamil accent", but concluded "the point is the actor shows promise". Her next Telugu release was Oh My Friend, a romantic comedy film alongside Siddharth again, which also co-starred Hansika Motwani and Navdeep. The film told the story of childhood friends and that of their platonic friendship that went on in their adulthood as well and for the role Shruti Haasan went on to learn the dance of Kuchipudi. The film opened to average reviews with several critics claiming the film evoked a sense of "déjà vu", though a reviewer noted "Shruti, on her part displays the same conviction.

     Shruti Haasan was next seen in Aishwarya Dhanush's directorial debut 3, a romantic drama film co-starring Dhanush. Aishwarya revealed that she had written the script with Shruti Haasan in mind but date problems meant that the film began its shoot with Amala Paul instead. However, in a turn of events, Shruti was re-signed to play the character of Janani, and the film gained much hype prior to release due to the collaboration of herself and Aishwarya, being the daughters of the two leading contemporary Tamil actors Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth as did the success of the song Why This Kolaveri Di?. The film opened in March 2012 to positive reviews with a critic noting "Shruti Hassan has come a long way," though the film only garnered average returns at the box office. Her second release in 2012 was Harish Shankar's Telugu film Gabbar Singh, a remake of the 2010 Hindi film Dabangg, with the version featuring her alongside Pawan Kalyan. Shruti had signed the film in November 2011 replacing Ileana D'Cruz who had opted out, and played the role of Bhagyalakshmi, a village girl, which had been played by Sonakshi Sinha in the original version. The film went on to become a major commercial success at the box office and brought in more film offers for Haasan. Critics also gave her performance a favourable verdict citing that she "justifies her role" and "though she didn't have much of a role, she has left her mark.

     In 2013, she appeared in the Telugu action film Balupu opposite Ravi Teja, which eventually became a "super hit" at the Indian box office. Haasan mainly received positive reviews for her performance, with critics noting that she "provides the fun in the film with glamor and verve". Later that year, Shruti Haasan made a comeback to Hindi films, with Prabhu Deva's Ramaiya Vastavaiya and Nikhil Advani's D-Day. The films emerged as moderate successes and Haasan received generally positive reviews for her performances.

     Her first release of 2014, the Telugu film Yevadu opposite Ram Charan Teja, emerged as a major commercial success. Her second Telugu release of the year, Race Gurram, had Shruti Haasan star opposite Allu Arjun for the first time in her career. The film was released on 11 April 2014, and eventually emerged as a "blockbuster" success. Along with the rest of the film, Shruti Haasan received positive reviews for her performance, with one critic noting that she "plays her part well and looks glamorous".

     As of 2015, Shruti Haasan has completed work on the Hindi language action drama Gabbar is Back opposite Akshay Kumar, and is currently shooting for three other Hindi language films, Anees Bazmee's comedy Welcome Back opposite John Abraham, Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar, Tigmanshu Dhulia's drama Yaara opposite Devshakti Swain, Amit Sadh and Irrfan Khan,[42] and Rocky Handsome, opposite John Abraham. Haasan is also currently shooting for Poojai, a Tamil action masala film opposite Vishal, and the Telugu action comedy film Aagadu opposite Mahesh Babu and Tamannaah, in which she appears in a special song.She has Signed for the high budget Tamil production Fantasy film directed by Chimbudevan co-starring actor Vijay in the lead role along with Hansika Motwani. In April 2015 she signed a film named Vedhalam opposite Ajith Kumar marking her first collaboration with the actor. In early September 2015 she signed Singam 3 starring opposite Suriya for the second time after 7aum Arivu.

Kajal Agarwal

Kajal Agarwal

     Kajal Aggarwal (born 19 June 1985) is an Indian film actress and model. Primarily known for her work in Telugu and Tamil films, Kajal has also appeared in Bollywood films. Through her successful film career, Kajal has become one of the most popular celebrities in South India. In addition to acting, Kajal participates in stage shows and is a prominent celebrity endorser for brands and products.

     Kajal made her acting debut with the 2004 Bollywood film Kyun...! Ho Gaya Na and had her first Telugu film release in 2007 Lakshmi Kalyanam. In the same year, she starred in the box office hit Chandamama, which earned her critical acclaim. She subsequently earned wide critical recognition for her Dual portrayal in 2009 historical fiction Telugu film Magadheera. The film rank among the highest-grossing Telugu films of all time and fetched her Best Actress nominations at several award ceremonies including Filmfare. She followed with a series of box-office hits in Telugu and established herself as one of the leading and highest-paid actresses in Tollywood.

     Kajal achieved further success by featuring as the female lead in the high-profile Tamil projects Maattrraan (2012), Thuppakki (2012), Jilla (2014) and emerged as a leading actress in Tamil cinema as well. She made a comeback to Bollywood with Singham (2011) which was a blockbuster while her next film Special 26 (2013) was also declared a box-office success.

Kajal made her acting debut in the 2004 Bollywood film Kyun...! Ho Gaya Na, in which she enacted a minor supporting role as the friend of Diya, following which she signed veteran Tamil director Bharathiraja's Bommalattam, alongside Arjun Sarja. The film, however, got delayed and released in late 2008.

     She made her debut in the Telugu film industry and played her first leading role in 2007 in Teja's Lakshmi Kalyanam alongside Kalyan Ram, which did not fare well at the box office. Later that year, she appeared in the Krishna Vamsi-directed film Chandamama, which opened to positive reviews and became her first major successful film. In 2008, she had her first Tamil film release, Perarasu's action entertainer Pazhani, co-starring Bharath. Following this film, she had two more Tamil releases that year with Venkat Prabhu’s comedy-thriller Saroja, in which she did a guest appearance, and Bharathiraja's investigative thriller Bommalattam. Although the former went on to become a commercial as well as a critical success, both films failed to boost her career as her roles were too insignificant. Both her Telugu releases, Pourudu and Aatadista opposite Sumanth and Nitin, respectively, neither received positive reviews while the former and latter, both was successful at the box office.

Kajal had four releases in 2009. she first starred in another Tamil film Modhi Vilayadu, opposite Vinay Rai which garnered mixed reviews and was a financial failure, following which she appeared in the high budget Telugu historical drama Magadheera, alongside Ram Charan Teja, which saw her playing double roles for the first time. The film, directed by S. S. Rajamouli, received universal critical acclaim, while Kajal, particularly, was praised for her portrayal of a princess in the film. Kajal was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress in Telugu and was also nominated for the award for Best Telugu Actress in the South Scope Awards for her performance in the film. The film was also highly commercially successful and broke several records, emerging as the highest-grossing Telugu film of all time. Magadheera's enormous success turned Kajal into one of the most sought-after actresses in Telugu cinema and catapulted her into the main foray of leading Telugu actresses. The film was released again in Tamil as Maaveeran in 2011, which was also successful at the box office. Her subsequent releases Ganesh Just Ganesh, opposite Ram and Arya 2 opposite Allu Arjun received mixed reviews from critics, while her performance garnered positive feedback.

     Kajal's first 2010 release was A. Karunakaran's romantic comedy Darling, which featured her alongside Prabhas and received favorable response, becoming a commercial success at the box office, with Kajal receiving her second Filmfare nomination for Best Actress for her performance. Later that year, she appeared in the Tamil thriller film Naan Mahaan Alla opposite Karthi, which was based on a real life incident and opened to unanimously positive reviews. The film was a box office success. The chemistry between Karthi and Kajal in the film was widely praised. It was later dubbed in Telugu as Naa Peru Siva, in Andhra Pradesh and became a success there too. Kajal's final release in 2010 was another romantic comedy Brindavanam opposite Jr. NTR and Samantha, which received critical acclaim and went on to become an economical success as well, while fetching Kajal the CineMAA Award for Best Actress.

     In 2011, she was paired with Prabhas for the second time in the romantic comedy Mr. Perfect, directed by Dasaradh. The film became a critical and commercial success. Kajal's performance in the film as a conservative doctor and her chemistry with Prabhas won appraisal by critics. Kajal received her third Filmfare nomination for Best Actress in Telugu for her performance. In May, she appeared in Veera opposite Ravi Teja that received negative reviews and failed at the box office.

     In July that year, Kajal made her Bollywood comeback after seven years with a leading role in the police story Singham, a remake of the same-titled 2010 Tamil film, opposite Ajay Devgn. The film received mixed reviews from critics, as did her portrayal of a Goan girl Kavya Bhosle, with critics stating that Kajal had not much to offer in the hero-centric film. Komal Nahta noted that "Kaajal Aggarwal acts with effortless ease. Her performance is good", while Filmfare wrote that "Kajal who looks pretty and has done what she has been told to, but probably deserved a meatier debut". Nevertheless, the film was blockbuster at the box office. She was nominated for 2 awards for her performance in the film- the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut and the Zee Cine Award for Best Female Debut. Kajal finished 2011 with the Telugu film Dhada opposite Naga Chaitanya, which failed at the box office.

     In early 2012, Kajal appeared in the Telugu gangster film Businessman alongside Mahesh Babu, directed by Puri Jagannadh. The film, a Sankranthi release, opened to positive reviews and turned out to be a blockbuster. Kajal's performance in her role in the film, though limited, was praised by critics.

     Kajal made a comeback to Tamil cinema later that year with two high-profile action flicks; the first was Maattrraan directed by K. V. Anand and starring Suriya. The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Her performance was well received; a review carried by The Indian Express summarised "Kajal does with utmost sincerity as the foreign language translator Anjali. It's this trait and her graceful demeanour which makes Kajal a pleasant watch". The second was A. R. Murugadoss's Thuppakki, starring Vijay, in which she played the role of a boxer. The film received mostly positive reviews from the critics and was a major commercial success, becoming the second Tamil film ever to collect over ?100 crore (US$15 million). Her final release in 2012 was the Telugu romance film Sarocharu, opposite Ravi Teja for the second time in her career. Although her performance in the film was praised by critics, the film received poor reviews and did below-average business at the box office.

     In early 2013, she starred in V. V. Vinayak's action film Naayak opposite Ram Charan Teja and Amala Paul. Upon release, the film received positive reviews and was a major commercial success. She later starred in the Hindi film Special 26, a heist drama directed by Neeraj Pandey. The film went on to be a major critical and commercial success. She later appeared in Srinu Vaitla's Baadshah opposite Jr. NTR for the second time in her career. Upon release critics appreciated her performance. The Times of India commented "Kajal is as usual an eye-candy. She's got a good role and has done justice to her performance. Also she looks stunning in the songs." The film was also a financial success, cementing her position in Telugu cinema. Her final release in 2013 was All in All Azhagu Raja opposite Karthi which released on Diwali to negative reviews from critics.

     In early 2014, she starred in R. T. Neason's masala film Jilla, in which she played a police officer. She then featured in a cameo appearance in the Telugu action thriller film Yevadu. Her next release was Krishna Vamsi's family drama Govindudu Andarivadele which released in October to positive reviews. The film grossed ?416.5 million (US$6.3 million) at the box office and became one of the highest grossing Telugu films of 2014.

     In early 2015 she starred in Puri Jagannadh's action film Temper opposite N. T. Rama Rao Jr. which released on 13 February to positive reviews and was declared a blockbuster. Next, she is going to appear in Tamil films, Balaji Mohan's comedy flick Maari and Suseenthiran's action film Paayum Puli. In late June 2015 she signed another Telugu film Brahmotsavam which also features Mahesh Babu, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Pranitha Subhash in lead roles.

Samantha Ruth

Samantha Ruth

     Samantha Ruth Prabhu was born to a Telugu father Prabhu and a Malayali mother Ninette Prabhu and was brought up in a typical middle-class household, in the Chennai suburb of Pallavaram, Tamil Nadu, becoming fluent in the Tamil language. Commenting on her sense of identity, the actress has stated that despite her Telugu and Malayalam background she sees herself as a Tamil, as she was brought up speaking the language along with English at home. Samantha attended and completed her schooling at St.Stephens Matriculation School, Pallavaram, Chennai Srimathi Sundaravalli Memorial School, Chromepet, and Holy Angels Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School, T.Nagar, Chennai. In High School, she was very good at economics hailed by her teachers. She then went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Stella Maris College, Chennai. Samantha has said that she did modelling for earning pocket money, and that's how her acting career came about.

     Samantha's first release was Indira Productions' Gautham Menon directed Telugu film, Ye Maaya Chesave. The film, simultaneously made in Tamil as Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa, created much anticipation prior to release, due primarily to the first-time-collaboration between Gautham Menon and composer A. R. Rahman. The actress was signed up for the project in mid August 2009 and completed shoots across India and the United States, and the film was released on 26 February 2010. In the film, Samantha plays the lead character Jessie, which was also the working title of the film, a Malayali Saint Thomas Christian girl living in Hyderabad, with whom the male protagonist, played by Naga Chaitanya, falls in love. Upon release of the film, Samantha received very positive reviews for her portrayal, with the film itself garnering much critical acclaim. Critics at Sify praised Samantha as a "scene-stealer" and her beauty as "alluring", adding that "she was the girl to watch out for". Jeevi, from the Idlebrain reviews site, wrote that "Samantha's debut is one of the best heroine debuts in Telugu cinema" and noted that the "minute expressions she gave spoke volumes about her", whilst labelling the film as a "classic". Samantha, alongside her co-star, Naga Chaitanya, also appeared in a cameo role in the Tamil version of the film. Both the Telugu and the Tamil versions of the films proved to be grand successes, propelling Samantha's career into bigger projects. She followed up her collaborations with Gautham Menon and A. R. Rahman by appearing in the music video for the World Classical Tamil Conference 2010 promotional song, Semmozhiyaana Tamizh Mozhiyaam, which Menon directed and Rahman composed.

     Samantha's next release was the Sathya Jyothi-produced romantic drama, Baana Kaathadi, opposite Adharvaa. The film was actually the third Tamil project signed by the actress, but its release preceded the first two that she was contracted for due to delays in their completion. Following terms agreed upon in early 2009, the film continued shoots for a year, and after several postponements finally released in August 2010 to positive response. In the film, Samantha plays a student of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), the first such role in Tamil cinema. Her next release was Ravi Varman's Moscowin Kavery, originally her very first contract. The shooting for the film began in August 2007, with Samantha, then briefly credited with the screen name Yasodha, joining the team later in the year. The film introduced a host of new actors, with the music scored by Thaman, who was making his debut as a film music director. In an interview, much prior to release in 2008, Ravi Varman mentioned that he had decided that Samantha would be the lead actress for his film within three minutes after viewing one of her commercial assignments.

     In the interview, he went on to describe her as an actress with "intelligence" and "potential", whilst drawing comparisons with the noted actress, Revathi. However, due to Ravi Varman's prior commitments as cinematographer in other projects, the film languished in development hell, eventually releasing in August 2010. The film earned poor reviews from critics unanimously. However Samantha's performance was credited as one of the sole highlights that the film offered. In August 2008, while still completing her last three projects, Samantha also signed up to play the lead role of a modern girl in the Narain starrer, Pookada Ravi. However, despite the shooting following schedule at regular intervals the project has stalled since 2009, and the film seems unlikely to be released. Samantha went on to feature in Vamsi Paidipally's Telugu film Brindaavanam in which she had a supporting role alongside NTR Jr and Kajal Aggarwal. She had signed for the film in October 2009 much before her firlst release [Ye Maaya Chesave]. Her performance as Indu was well received despite the role having a shorter screen time than the ones she had played in her previous films, and the film became her second successful one in Telugu.

     In 2011, Samantha made a guest appearance as a mentally ill patient in Gautham Menon's Nadunisi Naaygal, before featuring in the big budget Telugu film, Dookudu, alongside Mahesh Babu. The film was a blockbuster. The film opened to positive review with critics from CNN-IBN labelling the film as "a treat for Mahesh's fans", adding that Samantha "looks good in song sequences" The Times of India also praised the film mentioning that "Samantha looks beautiful and has done a great job, though her role as Prashanthi isn't too lengthy". The film took the largest ever opening for a Telugu film and grossed ?125.8 million on the first day of its release. Samantha was then signed as the female lead in two big budget projects in Tamil, Mani Ratnam's Kadal and Shankar's Ai but was forced to opt out from both films, since she was suffering from a skin disease and could not work for two months.

     In 2012, she made a guest appearance in Gautham Menon's Ekk Deewana Tha which was a remake of the director's own films, Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa and Ye Maaya Chesave, repeating her role from Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa. She then featured in S. S. Rajamouli's live action Telugu-Tamil bilingual project Eega/Naan E The film was a high commercial success—according to The Economic Times it grossed more than ? 1.25 billion and went on to be dubbed in several foreign and Indian languages. Idlebrain in their review wrote, "Samantha's run of success continues as she did extremely well as a bereaved lover." She then signed on Gautham Menon's trilingual project, playing the female lead in all three languages – Telugu, Tamil and Hindi and shooting all scenes thrice with different co-actors across languages The Telugu and Tamil versions titled Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu and Neethaane En Ponvasantham released in December 2012, while the Hindi version, Assi Nabbe Poorey Sau has been shelved.

     In the beginning of 2013, she appeared in Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu that featured Venkatesh and Mahesh Babu in the lead, marking her second film with Mahesh Babu. The film was critically and commercially successful and her performance was praised by critics along with the other female lead, Anjali. Mahesh S Koneru of 123telugu.com commented on her performance stating "Samantha is beautiful and adorable in this movie. Her cute expressions and romantic scenes with Mahesh Babu make you want to root for her". IBN Live too commented positively on her performance stating "Good to see Samantha shed her glamorous side and welcome performance-oriented roles, which she only handles with deftness and ease". Later, in February, she played the lead role in Nandini Reddy's Jabardasth co-starring Siddharth. The film, which was an unofficial remake of the 2010 Hindi film Band Baaja Baaraat was commercially successful. Oneindia Entertainment in their review commented "Samantha has good scope in the film and her bubbly characterisation is entertaining. The actress will surely impress you in both romantic and emotional sequences. She then starred in Trivikram Srinivas' Attharintiki Daaredhi with Pawan Kalyan, which released to positive reviews and became the highest-grossing Telugu film of the year. Samantha's next film Ramayya Vasthavayya directed by Harish Shankar, featuring NTR Jr released to mixed reviews on 11 October 2013.

     Samantha's first 2014 release Manam saw her playing the role of a mother for the first time in her career.The film received highly positive reviews and Samantha's performance was praised by the critics. Deccan Chronicle wrote, "for Samantha, this is going to be one of her best performance till date. She perfectly fits into the two characters she played and steals the show". Her next film was the long delayed Autonagar Surya under the direction of Deva Katta that saw her pairing with Naga Chaitanya for the third time. The film, which had been in production since 2010, opened to mixed reviews. Her next releases were the high budget action-masala films Alludu Seenu directed by V. V. Vinayak and Rabhasa directed by Santosh Srinivas in Telugu and N. Lingusamy's Anjaan in Tamil. Anjaan opened to negative reviews but had good opening at the box office at the box office, although the film was average. Her performance was panned by critics[63] and Rabhasa, which was Samantha's third film with producer Bellamkonda Suresh in a three film contract, opened to decent reviews. Samantha's next release was the Tamil action thriller Kaththi directed by AR Murugadoss, which received positive reviews and was a box office success.

     Trivikram Srinivas's S/O Satyamurthy was her first release of 2015. In spite of mixed reviews, the film was a high commercial success. Samantha has a handful of Tamil projects coming up. She is a part of Vijay Milton's road film 10 Endrathukulla, and Samantha has said that her role in the film was the toughest she has played till date. The film will be releasing on October 21, 2015. She is also a part Velraj's Untitled Velraj Project opposite Dhanush. Samantha said that it will be her best work to date. In 24, she is collaborating with its director Vikram Kumar and her co-star Suriya for the second time. She is a part of Brahmotsavam (film), she will be collaborating with Mahesh Babu for 3rd time. The movie has 3 heroines, she will be playing the lead heroine. The filming of it had began on September 16, 2015. Samantha will be working with Dhanush again after Untitled Velraj Project, the movie is titled 'Vada Chennai' and the filming will begin in Early 2016. She is currently shooting for Vijay 59, which has Vijay in the lead role and it will be directed by Atlee. Samantha will be playing a cameo role in Arjun, Divya Matrum Karthik, remake of Bangalore Days. Samantha is also part of Trivikram Srinivas's next A... Aa - Anasuya Ramalingam Vs Anand Vihari, she will be pairing up with Nithin for the first time. She will be seen as Anasuya Ramalingam playing one of the title role. Shooting will start on October 10, 2015.