Keerthi Suresh

Keerthi Suresh is an Indian film actress working in Malayalam cinema.^[1] Keerthi was a child actress in the early 2000s and, after completing her studies and pursuing a degree in fashion design, she returned to acting in lead roles. She played her first lead role in the 2013 Malayalam film Geethaanjali and has signed up films in Tamil and Telugu languages as well.

Early life

Keerthi Suresh was born to noted Malayalam film producer Suresh Kumar and actress Menaka.^[2] She has an elder sister, Revathy Suresh,^[3] who works in Shahrukh Khan's production house Red Chillies.^[4] She studied in Kendriya Vidyalaya, Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram and later joined the Pearl Academy, New Delhi where she completed her degree in fashion design.^[5] Despite making a career in acting, she has stated that she was also "seriously considering a career in designing".^[6]

Career

In the early 2000s, Keerthi worked as a child actress in a few of her father's productions such as Pilots (2000), Achaneyanenikkishtam (2001) and Kuberan (2002).^[7] 11 years after Kuberan she made her debut as a lead actress in Priyadarshan's horror comedy Geethaanjali,^[8] in which she had a dual role. She was still studying during that time and shot for Geethaanjali during her semester break.^[9] Reviews on the film and her performance were mixed, with Sify writing that she "does put in some effort but make only limited impression in a double role",^[10] while Rediff wrote that she "has got a plum role but whether she impresses with her acting prowess is another matter".^[11] In 2014, Keerthi had her next release, Ring Master directed by Rafi of Rafi Mecartin duo in which she shared screen space with Dileep. She played the role of a blind girl,^[12] which she said was much more challenging than her double role in Geethanjali.^[13] The film was a commercial success,^[14][15] being termed a "super hit" by Sify.^[16]

She is currently working on the art film Darboni in which she would be seen as a Kashmiri girl.^[17] In 2014, she accepted her first projects outside of Malayalam. She initially signed up two Tamil films, A. L. Vijay's next project,^[18] and Maane Thaene Paeye directed by Krishna,^[19] but later opted out of the latter to be part of the Thirrupathi Brothers production Rajini Murugan starring Sivakarthikeyan.^[20] That year, she also signed up her first Telugu film, Randu Jella Sita to be directed by Ramprasad Ragutu. Keerthi termed the film "a sweet love story, on the lines of the Ramayana", in which she would be playing a character similar to Sita, named Janaki, a "bubbly playful character".^[21]

Filmography

Awards

• 2014: Asianet Film Award for Best New Face of the Year (Female) - Geethaanjali^[25]
• 2014: South Indian International Movie Award for Best Female Debutant - Geethaanjali
• 2014: Vayalar Film Award for Best Second Actress - Geethaanjali, Ring Master^[26]
• 2014: Nana Film Awards for Best Female Debutant - Geethaanjali^[27]

References