Jyothika

For her fresh debut she was nominated for Best Female Debut at 44th Filmfare Awards, which was lost to Preity Zinta for

Dil Se.. and Soldier.

Jyothika Saravanan (born 18 October 1978) is an Indian actress and film producer who predominantly appears in Tamil films in addition to Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi films.

Jyothika has received several accolades including a National Film Award, four Filmfare Awards South, six Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and the Kalaimamani Award Jyothika is regarded as one of the most prolific actresses in Tamil cinema, and has been ranked among the best actresses of South India by the media.

Jyothika was born on 18 October 1978 to a Punjabi Hindu father and a Maharashtrian Muslim mother.

Her father is Chander Sadanah, a film producer and her mother is Seema Sadanah.

Actress Nagma is her half-sister.

She also has a sister Roshini (born Radhika) and a brother Suraj, who is working as an assistant director for Priyadarshan.

Jyothika completed her schooling from the Learner's Academy, Mumbai.

She later majored in Psychology at the Mithibai College in Mumbai.

She made her acting debut in the Hindi film Doli Saja Ke Rakhna, directed by Priyadarshan, but it did not do well commercially.

Jyothika debuted in films with the Hindi film Doli Saja Ke Rakhna (1997), directed by Priyadarshan.

She starred in her first Tamil film Vaali (1999) and her first Telugu film Tagore (2003), opposite Chiranjeevi.

She received her first Filmfare Award for Vaali (1999) as Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut – South.

Her first role in Tamil was in Vaali (1999), for which she won Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut – South.

and Dinakaran Award for the Best Female Debut.

Later that year, she starred in Poovellam Kettuppar, in which she played the love interest of the protagonist, portrayed by her future husband Suriya.

The success of the film Kushi became a turning point in her career.

She was awarded the Filmfare Best Tamil Actress Award for Kushi (2000).

A string of successful films followed and gained prominence for her performances in Kushi (2000), Dumm Dumm Dumm (2001), Poovellam Un Vasam (2001), Kaakha Kaakha (2004), Perazhagan (2004), Chandramukhi (2005) and Mozhi, (2007), for the latter three she won Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress.

For the movie, Mozhi, she was in the final three for National Film Award for Best Actress for her outstanding performance, however she lost the award to Umashree for the Kannada film Gulabi Talkies.

She has a record of holding maximum number of nominations with 16 for Best Tamil Actress at South Filmfare Awards.

A string of successful films followed between 2000 and 2002, among them Mugavaree, Dumm Dumm Dumm and Snegithiye. She also acted with Kamal Haasan during this period, in the comedy film Thenali.

She was awarded the Filmfare Best Tamil Actress Award for her role in Kushi.

Her role in Rhythm though small, has been widely appreciated.

After the success of Kushi, she was signed to play the female lead in Friends, opposite Vijay, but she was replaced by Devayani.

She collaborated with Mani Ratnam for the first time by appearing in his production house Madras Talkies' romantic comedy Dumm Dumm Dumm, alongside Madhavan.

The film won positive acclaim and became a success not only in Tamil Nadu, but also in Andhra with its dubbed version.

She also made an appearance in the Kannada film industry opposite Upendra in Nagarahavu.

She had a dual role in this film.

Later, she appeared in the Tamil thriller film Snegithiye, directed by Priyadarshan, made in Tamil and Malayalam.

In 2003, she starred in Dhool with Vikram, Kaakha Kaakha with Suriya, Thirumalai with Vijay, all of which did well at the box office, Kaakha Kaakha, in particular, being one of the biggest hits of her career.

She was listed amongst the Best Actress nominees in Filmfare Awards South for her roles in Dhool and Kaakha Kaakha.

She got International Tamil Film Awards Special Jury For Best Actress.

Dhool, Kaakha Kaakha and Thirumalai were amongst the top 10 films of the year and The Hindu wrote that she was "virtually the undisputed queen of Kollywood".

Actor Vikram referred to her as Lady Kamal Haasan due to her dedication in acting.

In 2004, she acted in a double role in the critically acclaimed Perazhagan, opposite Suriya.

Jyothika left the industry at the peak of her career marrying Tamil actor Suriya on 11 September 2006, after being engaged in a relationship for several years, and with whom she was paired in seven films.

She made a comeback in the film 36 Vayadhinile (2015) where her performance was given strong reviews and she received Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress and Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress – South for the movie.

After the success of 36 Vayadhinile, she appeared in a series of women centric movies like Magalir Mattum (2017), Naachiyaar (2018), Kaatrin Mozhi (2018), Raatchasi (2019), and Ponmagal Vandhal (2020) and also played a lead female role in Mani Ratnam's multi-starrer Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (2018).