Meena (actress)


Meena is an Indian film actress who predominantly works in the South Indian film industry. Meena debuted as a child artist in the Tamil film Nenjangal in 1982 and has later appeared in films produced by various regional industries. She was popularly called Kannazhagi in the media
She has acted in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and several Hindi films. She is among the few actresses who have been successful in all the South Indian languages. She was one of the leading actresses of Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu cinema in the 90s. She has established herself as a great performer through the decades in the South Indian film industry.In addition to acting, Meena also a playback singer, TV judge and occasional dubbing artist. She won two Filmfare Awards South, four Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress, two Nandi Award for Best Actress, five Cinema Express Awards. In 1998 Government of Tamil Nadu honoured her with Kalaimamani award for her acting talent and numerous other awards

{{Citation|title=Alitho Saradaga 3rd April 2017 Full Episode Meena ETV Telugu|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pvYa9bljMg|language=en|access-date=2020-06-03}}Personal life

Meena was born in Chennai, She was brought up in Chennai by her Tamil father Durairaj and Malayali mother Rajamallika from Chirakkal Palace-Kannur district Kerala. She was enrolled in Vidyodhya schools in Chennai. Because of her busy acting schedule, she had to discontinue schooling in the 8th standard, later taking up private coaching and completing the 10th standard in vidyodaya schools in Chennai. She went on to get her master's in History from the University of Madras through the open university system in 2006. Meena is a trained Bharathanatyam dancer and speaks six languages: Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and English.
Meena married Vidyasagar, a Bangalore-based software engineer, on 12 July 2009 at Arya Vysya Samaj Kalyana Mandapam. The couple later visited Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, Andhra Pradesh. The couple came back to Chennai to hold a reception at Mayor Ramanathan Chettiar Hall, in which all leading southern Indian actors participated. The couple have a daughter, "Nainika Vidyasagar", who made her acting debut at the age of 5 in Theri alongside actor Vijay.

Career

Child artist

Meena started her career in 1982 as a child artist in the film Nenjangal, featuring Sivaji Ganesan in the lead role after Ganesan saw her at a birthday party. Meena was still very young at that time. Her mother Rajamallika brought her to A.M. Ratnam's office for an offer. Even though she looked chubby, they felt she fitted the bill. She has acted in several films along with Dr. Sivaji Ganesan and Rajinikanth as a child artist. Meena acted in Kollywood by appearing as a child artiste alongside Rajinikanth in the movie Anbulla Rajinikanth, in which she acted as a terminally ill child who warms up to
Rajinikanth —that became a major pointer in her career growth. After the success of that movie, she became a child artist in South Indian movies. She says of Ganesan that "I feel extremely proud to have been discovered by the legend". She appeared in over 45 films as a child.

Lead female roles

Meena has been one of the top star pairing up with every big star down South. She made her debut in Telugu beside Akkineni Nageswara Rao in Seetharamaiah Gari Manavaralu, where Meena played his granddaughter Seeta. The film was showcased among the Indian panorama section, at the 1991 International Film Festival of India. The film was made under the banner VMC Productions. She won Nandi Award for Best Actress from the Government of Andhra Pradesh for Seetharamaiah Gari Manavaralu.
While she made her debut as a leading lady in Tamil film Oru Pudhiya Kadhai and played heroine roles in more than three dozen films, and also starred in Malayalam and Kannada films, her first role in Malayalam that gained attention was in Sandhwanam directed by Sibi Malayil in 1991. She played Suresh Gopi's daughter in the film. Its success made her famous, which led to roles with senior Malayalam heroes. Meena has expressed a wish to do more films in Malayalam. She says of her transition from being a child star to being a heroine that "Memories as a child are fabulous and I still cherish them. And it is still more special as that phase is over. Now, I am enjoying my stint as a heroine." She made her Bollywood debut opposite Chunky Pandey in the comedy film Parda Hai Parda.
She has played the role of the leading heroines in Telugu and Tamil films since the early 1990s, often playing characters with unidimensional personality with no negativity or gray shades. She has generally avoided glamorous roles though she has acted in a few like Maaman Magal in Tamil opposite Sathyaraj and She was part of Successful movies Like Putnanja, Swathi Mutthu in Kannada.She has worked with Ravichandran, Vishuvardhan in Kannada Cinema. In the Kannada remake of Autograph as My Autograph, were directed, produced and enacted by Sudeep. In this film, Meena starred Sneha's role of Divya.
Meena has the unique distinction of starring opposite legendary actors of different generations across various languages. She has acted with Rajinikanth, Dr. Kamal Haasan, Dr. Mohanlal, Dr. Mammootty, Chiranjeevi, Dr. Vishnuvardhan, Krishna, Balakrishna, Ravichandran and other stars like Vijayakanth, Akkineni Nagarjuna, Venkatesh, Vijay, Ajith Kumar, Sathyaraj, Prabhu Deva, Sarathkumar, K. Bhagyaraj, Jayaram, Suresh Gopi, Prashanth, Kichcha Sudeep, Raviteja. She had hits with the films Nattamai film directed by K. S. Ravikumar. It starred Sarath Kumar, Meena and Kushboo in the lead roles. The film was successful and completed a 175-day run at the box office. She just grabs the continuous offer and the opportunity to act in films like Avvai Shanmughi with Kamal Haasan, Porkkaalam with Murali, Bharathi Kannamma with Parthiban and so on. Telugu audience remembers her for a variety of roles that called for mature acting that seemed tailor-made for her. The peppy girl who wins over her unrelenting grandfather with her endearing ways in Seetharamaiah Gari Manavaralu, the protected sister in Chanti the innocent housewife in Sundarakanda, the renowned poet and devotee ‘Tarigonda Vengamamba’ are but just few of the many characters she played with relative ease and subtle charm. The combo of Victory Venkatesh and Meena is said to be one of the most successful combinations in Tollywood. They have 5 Blockbuster hits to their credit. Another excellent performance in the movie Rhythm. This movie makes the most impact on multiple viewings. Meena was an exceptionally brilliant performance in each scene. Strangely enough, she looks the best in this movie in terms of makeup and this movie had her in her best performance to date. While she picked up Best Actress at the Cinema Express Awards.
Meena has acted both as a child and as an adult opposite Rajinikanth. Her first hit with Rajinikanth was Yejaman, where she plays the role of Vaitheeswari, a simple village girl. She always played the quiet, serious woman. In one Interview Meena said that Rajinikanth was shocked to see her fan following in Telugu after the release of her film Chanti. When Meena and Rajinikanth were shooting for Yejaman in Andhra, she was surrounded by a huge number of fans- mostly female- which shocked Rajnikanth. In one interview in 1992 Rajinikanth himself said that Meena is a superstar in Telugu In her follow-up movie with Rajini, Veera, Meena again dazzled. Romantic-comedy film. Rajinikanth, Meena and Roja in the lead role. This film was controversial for its climax but went on to become one of the highest-grossing films in 1994. But the film that brought her true recognition and fame was Muthu, one of Rajini's biggest hits. The movie was successful across Japan. Ranganayaki as the talkative, cheeky street theatre actress won the hearts of the audience. The film was directed by K. S. Ravikumar and produced by K. Balachander, and became the first Tamil film to be dubbed into Japanese, as Mutu: Odoru Maharaja. The film grossed a record $1.6 million in Japan in 1998 and was responsible for creating a large Japanese fan-base for Rajinikanth and Meena. Following the release of Muthu in Japan and its commercial success, Meena's popularity rose in Japan.
Meena agreed to appear in as herself in the K. S. Ravi – directed film Shahjahan starring Vijay. She has acted with almost all leading actors in South India. A role in Kadha Parayumbol and in its Tamil and Telugu remakes, Kuselan and Kathanayakudu respectively, were well received by audiences. Meena has expressed regret about Kuselan, after her part was overshadowed.
Meena has said that her favorite roles were in Bharathi Kannamma and Shock in Tamil, Seetharamaiah Gari Manavaralu in Telugu, Sandhwanam in Malayalam and Swathi Muthu in Kannada, "though every film of mine is close to my heart." Meena became heroine in 1990 and even 2020, she has the highest-grossing movies as lead heroine in Malayalam, and making her most promising heroine after 30 years also.. No other heroine has that credit in the history of Indian cinema.

Recent roles

Meena's releases in 2009 were Mariyadhai with Vijayakanth, directed by Vikraman, who earlier directed hits like Poove Unakkaga and Vanathai Pola. and with Sreenivasan. She played in Telugu as Saint Vengamamba in Tarigonda Vengamamba, directed by Uday Bhaskar.
In 2011, she played the role of Narain's sister in the film Thambikottai, in which Poonam Bajwa is the pair for Narain. Other actors in this movie include Prabhu and Santhanam. Her role in this movie was very good and well accepted.
After marriage, she paired with Ramesh Aravind in the film Hendtheera Darbar, which was a remake of Varavu Ettana Selavu Pathana that starred Nassar, Radhika, Goundamani, Senthil, Vadivelu and Kovai Sarala.
In 2012, Udaya Bhaskar made a film titled Sri Vasavi Vaibhavam with Meena playing the Goddess' role in the film which also stars Suhasini, Priyahassan, Suman, Saikiran, Kannada Sridhar, Raghunatha Reddy, and others. Meena plays the lead role in this Telugu devotional film. This marks her re-entry to films after a long period. After being a mother, we will get to see the sizzling Meena in this one. There are many graphic-significant episodes. The film has music by Arjun Sharma. Cinematography is by Raman Ji. Directed by Uday Baskar. The film is said to be released around mid-August.
Meena, all-time favorite actress of actor Vijay, was rumored to have been roped into a movie name Sattam oru iruttarai, which was a remake of the movie under the same name by his father and director, S. A. Chandrasekhar. The movie is said to be produced by actor's Vijay new launched production house, Ghilli Productions. But since Meena refused the offer, Reema Sen was finalized to play the role of a Police Officer in this film and the sister to the hero.
The actress was approached by a Mollywood director to play Lal's wife with a woman-centric film with several actresses, including Rima Kallingal. "It had an interesting subject, but I wanted something more for my character. There were a lot of women in the film and everybody's got a story. I was more interested in a story focussing on a single woman character and that's why I haven't signed up for the movie," she says.
Meena who had taken a temporary break from acting will be facing the arc lights once again.
It seems she has agreed to star in an ad film, and she is currently shooting near Kovalam with Prakash Raj.
The commercial is being directed by producer Siva. Meanwhile, Meena is currently in a Telugu film, Sri Vasavi Vaibhavam. She had played a cameo in J.K. Bharavi's Jagadguru Adi Shankara-devotional film lastly and did justice to her roles.
After a brief hiatus, Meena returned to Malayalam cinema and will be seen playing the role of wife to Mohanlal in Drishyam. Directed by Jeethu Joseph, she will be portraying the role of a mother of two daughters, of which the elder is pursuing her plus two. The actress will also be seen in Pramod Payyanur's much-awaited movie, Balyakalasakhi alongside Mammootty. The actress confirmed that she would be playing Drishyam's remake in Telugu with Venkatesh. Meena will playing a leading role in Allari Naresh's upcoming movie Mama Manchu Alludu Kanchu.

Other work

Music composing

Meena has been a playback singer for some albums with actor Manoj. She sang a song for the Tamil film Kadhal Sadugudu. Meena has composed music and sung and recorded two pop albums, 16 Vayathinile, and Kadhalism, which she began recording in 2001 with actor Vikram. Meena has been a playback singer in the music of D. Imman in the movie sena and the song is "indru intha kalayil en nenjil echo aachu", a super hit song.

Dubbing

Meena dubbed for Cheran's movie Pokkisham. Meena has rendered voice for Padmapriya Janakiraman.

Filmography

YearMovie titleRoleLanguageNotes
1982NenjangalKidnapped childTamilChild artiste
1982Enkeyo Ketta KuralDaughter to RajinikanthTamilChild artiste
1982Theerpugal ThiruththapadalamDaughter to SivakumarTamilChild artiste
1982Parvaiyin MarupakkamDaughter to the PriestTamilChild artiste
1983Thandikkapatta NiyayangalPlayful childTamilChild artiste
1983SumangaliDoll-selling girlTamilChild artiste
1983Siripuram MonagaduBaby MeenaTeluguChild artiste
1984ThiruppamBaby MeenaTamilChild artiste
1984Illalu PriyuraluBaby MeenaTeluguChild artiste
1984YaadgarBaby MeenaHindiChild Artist
1984Bava MaradalluBaby MeenaTeluguChild artiste
1984Kode TrachuTeluguChild artiste
1984Anbulla RajinikanthRosyTamilChild artiste
1984Oru Kochukatha Aarum Parayatha KathaRajaniMalayalamChild artiste
1984ManasariyatheMinimolMalayalamChild artiste
1985Panneer NadhigalTamilChild artiste
1985Uyire UnakkagaNadhiya as a childTamilChild artiste
1985Lakshmi VanthachuPlayful childTamilChild artiste
1985Rendu Rella AaruBaby MeenaTeluguChild artiste
1985KhooniBaby MeenaTeluguChild artiste
1986SirivennelaBaby MeenaTeluguChild artiste
1988VasanthiBaby MeenaTamilChild artiste
1989Prajala ManishiTeluguChild artiste
1990Oru Pudhiya KadhaiLover to a writerTamil
1990NavayugamSumathiTelugufirst debut as heroine
1990KartavyamKarunaTelugu
1990DharamaTelugu
1990Indra BhavanamTelugu
1991En Rasavin ManasileCholaiammaTamil
1991Seetharamayya Gari ManavaraluSeethaTeluguNandi Award for Best Actress
Nominated – Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu
1991Idhaya OonjalWife of a widowerTamil
1991Idhaya VaasalVaaniTamil
1991SandhwanamRajalakshmiMalayalam
1991JagannatakamJhansiTelugu
1991Chengalva PudandaTelugu
1992ChantiNandiniTeluguNominated - Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu
1992Parda Hai PardaMayaHindi
1992Allari PillaNandiniTelugu
1992Allari MoguduNeelambariTelugu
1992SundarakandaNanchariTelugu
1992President Gari PellamSwapnaTelugu
1992Pellam Chepte VinaliGeethaTelugu
1992Bangaru MaamaKasthuriTelugu
1992Moratodu Naa MoguduTelugu
1992AswamedhamDr. BharatiTelugu
1993Muta MesthriBuchammaTelugu
1993YejamanVaitheeswari VaanavaraayanTamilTamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress
Nominated – Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil
1993AbbaigaruSudhaTelugu
1993Allari AlluduSandhyaTelugu
1993Rajeswari KalyanamRajeshwariTeluguNandi Award for Best Actress
1993Konguchatu KrishnaduTelugu
1994Sethupathi IPSChandramathiTamilTamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress
1994VeeraDevayanaiTamil
1994Thai MaamanMeenaTamil
1994RajakumaranSelviTamil
1994NattamaiMeenaTamilCinema Express Award for Best Actress – Tamil
1994Punya Bhoomi Naa DesamSwathiTelugu
1994Anga RakshakuduMeenuTelugu
1994Bhale PellamBharathiTelugu
1994Bobbili SimhamVenkatalakshmiTelugu
1995Maaman MagalPriyaTamil
1995Oru Oorla Oru RajakumariLakshmi PrabhaTamil
1995MarumaganManjulaTamil
1995CoolieVimalaTamil
1995Seral Irumboraiyin Tamil KadhalTamil
1995Nadodi MannanMeenakshi,
Priya		Tamil
1995MuthuRanganayakiTamilCinema Express Award for Best Actress – Tamil
Nominated – Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil
1995Aalu MagaluTelugu
1995Chilakapachcha KaapuramRadhaTelugu
1995PutnanjaRoseKannada
1996SengottaiMeenaTamil
1996Avvai ShanmugiJanakiTamilCinema Express Award for Best Actress – Tamil
Nominated – Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil
1997VallalAnnamTamil
1997MommagaKannada
1997CheluvaMeenaKannada
1997PorkkaalamMaragathamTamilTamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress
Nominated – Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil
1997Pasamulla PandiyareVellayammaTamil
1997Bharathi KannammaKannammaTamilTamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress
Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil
Cinema Express Award for Best Actress – Tamil
1997VarnapakittuSandra,
Alina		Malayalam
1997Muddula MoguduSirishaTelugu
1997PanjaramTelugu
1998UlavuthuraiMeenaTamil
1998Naam Iruvar Nammaku IruvarInduTamil
1998Kusruthi KuruppuMeeraMalayalam
1998GillikajjaluSatya bhamaTelugu
1998SuryavamsamSwapnaTelugu
1998HarichandraNandhiniTamil
1999Sneham KosamPrabhavati 'Prabha' 'Guddiya'Telugu
1999PeriyannaShenbagamTamil
1999IraniyanPonniTamil
1999Anandha PoongatreMeenakshiTamil
1999Olympiyan Anthony AdamAngelMalayalam
1999FriendsPadminiMalayalam
1999Krishna BabuRamaTelugu
1999Bobbili VamshamTelugu
1999Velugu NeedaluTelugu
1999Unnaruge Naan IrundhalMahalakshimi Tamil
1999Manam Virumbuthe UnnaiPriyaTamil
2000Vanathai PolaGowri MuthuTamil
2000Pape Naa PranamPriyaTelugu
2000Palayathu AmmanPalayathu AmmanTamil
2000Vetri Kodi KattuValli MuthuramanTamil
2000DoublesMeenaTamil
2000RhythmChitraTamilCinema Express Award for Best Actress – Tamil
2000MaayiBhuvaneswariTamil
2000DreamsNirmala MathanMalayalam
2000Maa AnnayyaWifeTelugu
2000ThenaliMeena TamilSpecial Appearance
2000AnbudanShanthiTamilGuest appearance
2001RishiInduTamil
2001CensorHindiGuest appearance
2001CitizenSevaliTamil
2001Sri ManjunathaGoddess ParvathiKannada
2001Rakshasa RajavMeeraMalayalam
2001Ammayi KosamAnjaliTelugu
2001DasuTelugu
2001ShahjahanMeenaTamilSpecial appearance
2001Grama DevatheAngala ParameswariKannada
2002Angala ParameswariAngala Parameswari AmmanTamil
2002DhayaThulasiTamil
2002Simhadriya SimhaKannada
2002DevanUmaTamil
2002IvanMeena KumariTamilTamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress
Nominated – Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil
2002Namma Veetu KalyanamMeenaTamil
2002Padai Veetu AmmanPadai Veetu Amman,
Muthu Maariamman		Tamil
2002VillainThangamTamil
2003PaaraiMallikaTamil
2003Swathi MuthuLalithaKannadaFilmfare Award for Best Actress – Kannada
2003Mr. BrahmachariGangaMalayalam
2003SimhachalamSimhachalam's wifeTelugu
2003Game for LoveKannada
2004ShockMalini VasanthTamil
2004Puttintiki Ra ChelliWifeTelugu
2004Anbu SagotharanTamil
2004Bharath Simha ReddyTelugu
2004SwamyTelugu
2004GowdruKannadaGuest appearance
2004Aalukkoru AasaiEshwariTamil
2004NatturajavuMayaMalayalam
2005Mahasadhvi MallammaMallammaKannada
2005KannammaKannammaTamil
2005Udayananu TharamMadhumathi UdayabhanuMalayalam
2005Chandrolsavam IndulekhaMalayalam
2005PrayatnamTelugu
2006My AutographDivyaKannada
2006Karutha PakshikalSuvarnnaMalayalam
2007Kadha ParayumbolSridevi BalanMalayalam
2007Black CatMeenakshiMalayalam
2007GoalSam's motherMalayalamCameo
2008KuselanSridevi BalakrishnanTamil
2008KathanayakuduSreedeviTelugu
2008Magic LampAnupamaMalayalam
2008ManidhanTamil
2009MariyadhaiRadhaTamil
2009Ann MaryMalayalam
2009VengamambaSaint VengamambaTelugu
2010DasannaMalliTelugu
2010Hendtheer DarbarRadhaKannada
2011ThambikottaiShanmugapriyaTamil
2012Sri Vasavi VaibhavamTelugu
2013Sri Jagadguru Aadi SankaraGangadeviTelugu
2013DrishyamRani GeorgeMalayalamAsianet Award for Best Character Actress
JaiHind TV Movie Award for Best Actress
Vayalar Film Award for Best Actress
Nominated – Filmfare Awards South for Best Actress
Nominated – SIIMA Award for Best Actress
2014BalyakalasakhiMajeed's motherMalayalam
2014DrushyamJyothiTeluguRemake of Malayalam Film Drishyam
2015Mama Manchu Alludu KanchuSuryakanthamTelugu
2017Katha Veendum ParayumbolSridevi BalanMalayalam
2017Munthirivallikal ThalirkkumbolAnnyammaMalayalam
2018SaakshyamViswa's motherTelugu
2020ShylockLakshmi AyyanarMalayalam
2020Annaatthe TamilFilming
2020Drishyam 2 MalayalamFilming

Television

Awards and honours

; Tamil Nadu Government
; Filmfare Awards South
; Tamil Nadu State Film Awards
; Nandi Award for Best Actress
; Cinema Express Awards
; Asianet Film Awards
; TSR TV9 awards 2010
; Ugadi Puraskar awards