Meena (actress)

Meena
Meena at Viscosity Dance Academy launch in 2015
Born	Meena Durairaj (1976-09-16) 16 September 1976 (age 48) Madras, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1982–present
Spouse	Vidyasagar ​ ​ (m. 2009;died 2022)​
Children	1

Meena Durairaj (born 16 September 1976), known professionally as Meena, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in South Indian films as well as Hindi cinema. She is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer. ^{[1] [ citation needed ]} Meena has acted in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi films ^[2] She is one of the most sought after actresses in the South Indian film industry. ^[3] In addition to acting, Meena is also a playback singer, TV judge, and occasional dubbing artist. ^[4] She has received numerous accolades, including two Filmfare Awards South, three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, two Nandi Award for Best Actress ^{[5] [6] [7]} and Cinema Express Awards. In 1998, she was honoured with the Kalaimamani Award by Government of Tamil Nadu. ^[8]

Early life

Meena was born on 16 September 1976 ^{[9] [10] [11] [12]} and was brought up in Chennai (then Madras), Tamil Nadu. Her mother Rajamallika is from Kannur district of Kerala while her father Durairaj is from Andhra. ^{[13] [ citation needed ]}

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 he saw her at a birthday party. ^[14] She has acted in several films along with Ganesan as a child artist. ^[14] She has acted with Rajinikanth in two movies namely Enkeyo Ketta Kural and Anbulla Rajinikanth as a child artist. 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. Her debut in Malayalam as a child artist was in the movie Oru Kochukatha Aarum Parayatha Katha, directed by P. G. Viswambharan. She appeared in over 45 films as a child. ^[14]

Lead female roles

Meena has been one of the top star pairing up with every big star down South. ^[15] She made her debut in Telugu beside Rajendra Prasad in Navayugam in 1990. While her Tamil admission as a heroine was in Oru Pudhiya Kadhai in the same year. Meena's first break came through the Tamil film En Rasavin Manasile (1991) opposite Rajkiran, which was directed by Kasthuri Raja. Meena's portrayal as Solaiyamma won her fans' hearts. Later, the movie was remade in Telugu as Moratodu Naa Mogudu (1992) with Meena reprising her role. ^{[16] [17] [18]}

Meena starred in the Malayalam industry with the movie Santhwanam (1991) where she played as Suresh Gopi's daughter in the film released in 1991. Its success attracted more roles with senior Malayalam heroes. Meena has expressed a wish to do more films in Malayalam. ^[14]

The Telugu film Chanti (1992), opposite Venkatesh was nominated for Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu and the movie was a big hit at the box office. ^[19] She made her Hindi cinema debut opposite Chunky Pandey in the film Parda Hai Parda (1992). This was followed by Allari Pilla (1992), directed by Kodi Ramakrishna. Allari Mogudu (1992) and Sundarakanda (1992), both directed by K. Raghavendra Rao. President Gari Pellam (1992) with Nagarjuna, directed by A. Kodandarami Reddy.

In 1993, another film was Rajeswari Kalyanam , directed by Kranthi Kumar. She won Nandi Award for Best Actress for her performance. ^[5] She followed it up with films like Muta Mesthri and Yejaman . This performance won her the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress. ^{[20] [21]} She plays Sudha, a smart and intelligent young wife in Abbaigaru . ^[22] She also appeared in the comedy film Allari Alludu .

In 1994, she has acted in P. Vasu's Sethupathi IPS co-starring Vijayakanth. ^[23] In her follow-up movie again with Rajinikanth in Veera and Muthu (1995). ^[24] Followed by movies as Maaman Magal (1995), Sengottai (1996) and Avvai Shanmugi (1996).

She debuted in Malayalam as a lead actress with the 1997 release Varnapakittu , where in she is in a romance with Mohanlal on screen. Later the duo was paired in Olympian Anthony Adam (1999), Mr. Brahmachari (2003), Natturajavu (2004), Udayananu Tharam (2005) and Chandrolsavam (2005) among others. ^[25]

Venkatesh and Meena, in particular, were a popular pair in Telugu cinema. ^[26]

In 2000, her role in Rhythm won her the Best Actress award at the Cinema Express Awards. ^[27]

Meena's releases in 2009 were Mariyadhai with Vijayakanth, directed by Vikraman, and Katha, Samvidhanam: Kunchacko with Sreenivasan.^{[ citation needed ]}

Return to films

In 2010, Meena returns to the big screen with the Kannada film Hendtheer Darbar . This was her first film after her marriage. ^[28] In 2011, she played the role of Narain's sister in the film Thambikottai .^{[ citation needed ]}

Meena returned to Malayalam cinema, playing the role of wife to Mohanlal in Drishyam (2013) and Balyakalasakhi alongside Mammootty. She reprised her role in the 2014 Telugu remake, Drushyam . ^[29] Meena returned to Tamil cinema in Annaatthe (2021) with Rajinikanth. ^[30]

Other work

Music composing

Meena has been a playback singer for some albums with actor Manoj. Also she has been a playback singer in two pop albums called 16 Vayathinile, and Kadhalism, which she began recording in 2001 with actor Vikram. ^{[31] [32]}

Dubbing

Meena dubbed for Padmapriya Janakiraman in Cheran's movie Pokkisham .^{[ citation needed ]}

Personal life

Meena married Vidyasagar, a Bangalore-based software engineer, on 12 July 2009 at Arya Vysya Samaj Kalyana Mandapam.^{[ citation needed ]} The couple has a daughter Nainika who made her acting debut at the age of 5 in the film Theri (2016). ^[33] Vidyasagar died on 28 June 2022 due to lung related ailments. ^[34]

Filmography

Films

Key

†	Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role	Language	Notes
1982	Nenjangal	Kidnapped child	Tamil	Child artist
	Enkeyo Ketta Kural	Meena
	Parvaiyin Marupakkam	Geetha
	Theerpugal Thiruththapadalam	Priya
1983	Thandikkapatta Niyayangal	Playful child
	Sumangali	Doll-selling girl
	Siripuram Monagadu		Telugu
1984	Thiruppam		Tamil
	Illalu Priyuralu		Telugu
	Yaadgar		Hindi
	Bava Maradallu		Telugu
	Kode Trachu	Roja
	Anbulla Rajinikanth	Rosy	Tamil
	Oru Kochukatha Aarum Parayatha Katha	Rajani	Malayalam
	Manasariyathe	Minimol
1985	Panneer Nadhigal		Tamil
	Uyire Unakkaga	Young Vijayanirmala Devi
	Rendu Rella Aaru	young Vighneswari	Telugu
	Khooni	Aruna
1986	Penn Simham		Malayalam
	Sirivennela		Telugu
	Lakshmi Vanthachu	Playful child	Tamil
1990	Kartavyam	Karuna	Telugu
	Navayugam	Sumathi		Debut as heroine
	Prajala Manishi	Roopa
	Oru Pudhiya Kadhai	Maha	Tamil
1991	Seetharamayya Gari Manavaralu	Seetha	Telugu
	En Rasavin Manasile	Cholaiamma	Tamil
	Indra Bhavanam		Telugu
	Idhaya Oonjal	Chithra	Tamil
	Idhaya Vaasal	Vaani
	Jagannatakam	Jhansi	Telugu
	Sandhwanam	Rajalakshmi	Malayalam
	Chengalva Pudanda		Telugu
1992	Chanti	Nandini
	Parda Hai Parda	Maya	Hindi
	Allari Pilla	Nandini	Telugu
	Allari Mogudu	Neelambari
	Sundarakanda	Nanchari
	President Gari Pellam	Swapna
	Pellam Chepte Vinali	Geetha
	Bangaru Maama	Kasthuri
	Moratodu Naa Mogudu
	Aswamedham	Dr. Bharati
1993	Rajeswari Kalyanam	Rajeshwari
	Konguchatu Krishnadu	Saccha
	Muta Mesthri	Buchamma
	Yejaman	Vaitheeswari Vaanavaraayan	Tamil
	Abbaigaru	Sudha	Telugu
	Allari Alludu	Sandhya
1994	Sethupathi IPS	Chandramathi	Tamil
	Rajakumaran	Selvi
	Anga Rakshakudu	Meenu	Telugu
	Bhale Pellam	Bharathi
	Veera	Devayanai	Tamil
	Punya Bhoomi Naa Desam	Swathi	Telugu
	Bobbili Simham	Venkatalakshmi
	Thai Maaman	Meena	Tamil
	Nattamai	Meena
1995	Putnanja	Rose	Kannada
	Oru Oorla Oru Rajakumari	Lakshmi Prabha	Tamil
	Chilakapachcha Kaapuram	Radha	Telugu
	Coolie	Vimala	Tamil
	Marumagan	Manjula
	Nadodi Mannan	Meenakshi, Priya
	Muthu	Ranganayaki
	Aalu Magalu	Mallika	Telugu
	Maaman Magal	Priya	Tamil
1996	Sengottai	Meena
	Avvai Shanmugi	Janaki
1997	Bharathi Kannamma	Kannamma
	Varnapakittu	Sandra, Alina	Malayalam
	Vallal	Annam	Tamil
	Muddula Mogudu	Sirisha	Telugu
	Cheluva	Meena	Kannada
	Pasamulla Pandiyare	Vellayamma	Tamil
	Panjaram		Telugu
	Mommaga	Gowri	Kannada
	Porkkaalam	Maragatham	Tamil
1998	Ulavuthurai	Meena
	Naam Iruvar Nammaku Iruvar	Indu
	Suryavamsam	Swapna	Telugu
	Kusruthi Kuruppu	Meera	Malayalam
	Harichandra	Nandhini	Tamil
	Gillikajjalu	Satyabhama	Telugu
	Pape Naa Pranam	Priya
1999	Sneham Kosam	Prabhavathi
	Velugu Needalu	Radha
	Friends	Padmini	Malayalam
	Periyanna	Shenbagam	Tamil
	Anandha Poongatre	Meenakshi
	Krishna Babu	Rama	Telugu
	Bobbili Vamsham	Rajyalakshmi
	Olympiyan Anthony Adam	Angel	Malayalam
	Iraniyan	Ponni	Tamil
	Unnaruge Naan Irundhal	Mahalakshmi
	Manam Virumbuthe Unnai	Priya
2000	Vanathai Pola	Gowri Muthu
	Palayathu Amman	Palayathu Amman
	Vetri Kodi Kattu	Valli Muthuraman
	Doubles	Meena
	Rhythm	Chitra
	Maayi	Bhuvaneswari
	Dreams	Nirmala Mathan	Malayalam
	Maa Annayya	Wife	Telugu
	Thenali	Meena (herself)	Tamil	Special appearance
	Anbudan	Shanthi		Guest appearance
2001	Rishi	Indu
	Citizen	Sevali
	Sri Manjunatha	Goddess Parvathi	Kannada
	Rakshasa Rajav	Meera	Malayalam
	Ammayi Kosam	Anjali	Telugu
	Shahjahan	Meena	Tamil	Special appearance
	Grama Devathe	Angala Parameswari	Kannada
2002	Angala Parameswari	Angala Parameswari Amman	Tamil
	Dhaya	Thulasi
	Simhadriya Simha	Deepa	Kannada
	Devan	Uma	Tamil
	Ivan	Meena Kumari
	Namma Veetu Kalyanam	Meena
	Padai Veetu Amman	Padai Veetu Amman, Muthu Maariamman
	Villain	Thangam
2003	Paarai	Mallika
	Swathi Muthu	Lalitha	Kannada
	Mr. Brahmachari	Ganga	Malayalam
	Simhachalam	Simhachalam's wife	Telugu
	Game for Love	Amrutha	Kannada
2004	Shock	Malini	Tamil
	Puttintiki Ra Chelli	Wife	Telugu
	Bharatasimha Reddy	Devudayya's wife
	Swamy	Swamy's wife
	Gowdru	Parvati	Kannada	Guest appearance
	Aalukkoru Aasai	Eshwari	Tamil
	Natturajavu	Maya	Malayalam
2005	Mahasadhvi Mallamma	Mallamma	Kannada
	Kannamma	Kannamma	Tamil
	Udayananu Tharam	Madhumathi Udayabhanu	Malayalam
	Chandrolsavam	Indulekha
2006	My Autograph	Divya	Kannada
	Karutha Pakshikal	Suvarnna	Malayalam
2007	Kadha Parayumbol	Sridevi Balan
	Black Cat	Meenakshi
2008	Kuselan	Sridevi Balakrishnan	Tamil
	Kathanayakudu	Sreedevi	Telugu
	Magic Lamp	Anupama	Malayalam
2009	Mariyadhai	Radha	Tamil
	Katha, Samvidhanam: Kunchacko	Ann Mary	Malayalam
	Vengamamba	Tarigonda Vengamamba	Telugu
2010	Dasanna	Malli
	Hendtheer Darbar	Radha	Kannada
2011	Thambikottai	Shanmugapriya	Tamil
2012	Sri Vasavi Vaibhavam	Goddess Lakshmi	Telugu
2013	Sri Jagadguru Aadi Sankara	Gangadevi
	Drishyam	Rani George	Malayalam
2014	Balyakalasakhi	Majeed's mother
	Drushyam	Jyothi	Telugu
2015	Mama Manchu Alludu Kanchu	Suryakantham
2017	Munthirivallikal Thalirkkumbol	Annyamma	Malayalam
2020	Shylock	Lakshmi Ayyanar
2021	Drishyam 2	Rani George		[35]
	Annaatthe	Mangayarkarasi	Tamil
	Drushyam 2	Jyothi	Telugu	[36]
2022	Bro Daddy	Annamma	Malayalam	OTT release Disney+ Hotstar [37]
2024	Aanandhapuram Diaries	Nandhini	Malayalam	[38]
TBA	Rowdy Baby†	TBA	Tamil	Filming [39]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Awarded for	Result	Ref.
1991	Cinema Express Awards	Best Actress	Seetharamayya Gari Manavaralu	Won	[40]
1992	Nandi Awards		Rajeswari Kalyanam	Won	[5]
1993	Tamil Nadu State Film Awards	Best Actress	Ejamaan	Won	[8]
1996	Dinakaran Film Awards	Best Actress	Avvai Shanmugi	Won	[41]
1997	Tamil Nadu State Film Awards	Best Actress	Porkkaalam	Won	[8]
1997	Filmfare Awards South	Best Actress	Bharathi Kannamma	Won	[42]
1997	Filmfans Association Awards	Best Actress	Bharathi Kannamma	Won	[43]
1998	Kalaimamani Awards	Kalaimamani	Contribution to Tamil Cinema	Won	[20]
2000	Cinema Express Awards	Best Actress	Rhythm	Won	[44]
2002	Tamil Nadu State Film Awards	Best Actress	Ivan	Won	[ citation needed ]
2003	Filmfare Awards South	Best Kannada Actress	Swathi Muthu	Won	[45]
2006	53rd Filmfare Awards South	Best Kannada Actress	My Autograph	Nominated	[ citation needed ]
2009	Ugadi Puraskar Awards TSR – TV9 Film Awards	Special Jury Award	Venkamamba	Won	[46] [ citation needed ]
2013	Filmfare Awards South	Best Actress	Drishyam	Nominated	[47]
2013	Asianet Film Awards Vayalar Awards	Best Character Actress Vayalar Film Award for Best Actress	Drishyam	Won	[48]
2014	TSR – TV9 Film Awards	TSR – TV9 Special Jury	Drushyam	Won	[ citation needed ]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Language	Channel	Notes
1990	Anbulla Amma (co-starring with actress Manorama)	Shyamala	Tamil	Doordarshan	TV serial
2005	Housefull	Show Host		Jaya TV	TV show
2006-2008	Lakshmi	Lakshmi		Sun TV	TV serial
2007	Mastana Mastana season 1	Judge			Dance show
2009	Kalyanam	Meera/Sujatha			TV serial
	Tarikonda Venkamamba	Tarikonda Venkamamba	Telugu	SVBC TV
	Boys VS Girls season 2	Judge	Tamil	Vijay TV	Dance show
2011	Jodi Number One Season 5	Special Judge		Vijay TV
2012	Nee Kongu Bangaram Ganu	Host	Telugu	MAA TV	TV show
	Veera	Judge	Telugu	ETV	Dance show
	Super Kudumbam	Judge	Tamil	Sun TV	TV show
	Anubandhalu	Sharada	Telugu	Gemini TV	TV serial
2013	Bharthakkanmarude Sradhakku	Judge	Malayalam	Asianet	TV show
2014	Super Kutumbam	Judge	Telugu	Gemini TV	Dance show
2015	Manada Mayilada season 10	Judge	Tamil	Kalaignar TV
2016	Dance Dance	Special Judge	Kannada	Star Suvarna
2017	Junior Senior	Judge	Tamil	Zee Tamil	Reality show
	Ningalkkum Aakaam Kodeeshwaran	Contestant	Malayalam	Asianet	Game show
2019	Lolluppa	Judge	Tamil	Sun TV	TV Programme
	Extra Jabardasth	Judge	Telugu	ETV
	Karoline Kamakshi	Kamakshi	Tamil	ZEE5	Web series
2021	Top Singer	Judge	Malayalam	Flowers TV	Music Reality Show
2022	Panam Tharum Padam	Contestant		Mazhavil Manorama
2023	Ammayum Makalum	Special Judge		Amrita TV
2023	Ente Amma Supera	Judge		Mazhavil Manorama

References

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External links

• Meena at IMDb