Meghana Raj

Meghana Raj is an Indian film actress, who works mainly in Malayalam and Kannada films and occasionally in the other South Indian languages. She made her acting debut in the 2009 Telugu film Bendu Apparao R.M.P.^[1][2] She is noted for her flexibility in portraying various kinds of roles in her short career so far.

Early life

Meghana Raj was born in Bangalore, Karnataka as the only daughter to film actors Sundar Raj and Pramila Joshai. Her father Sundar Raj has acted in more than 180 films, predominantly in Kannada language,^[3] while her mother Pramila Joshai is a noted Kannada film actress and film producer. .^[2] She completed her Bachelor's degree in psychology at Christ University, Bangalore.^[4]

Acting career

2009–11: Debut, breakthrough and setback

Meghana Raj debuted as a theatre artist, when she was a child, acting alongside her father Sunder Raj in the play Jokumaraswamy. During the audio launch function of the Tamil film Poi in February 2006, she was invited by its director K. Balachander to pursue an acting career, starring in one of his forthcoming films. Accepting his offer, she was given the lead female role in the Tamil film Krishnaleelai, a Balachander production, directed by Selvan.^[5] However, despite continuing shooting throughout 2008, which was completed in early 2009, the film got stuck in production hell, and its release got delayed for various reasons.

Even before the release of that film, she commenced shooting for a Telugu film Bendu Apparao R.M.P, which would eventually be her first feature film release. She played the character of a school teacher in the comedy entertainer, starring Allari Naresh and Kamna Jethmalani as well, which released in October 2009 and went on to become highly successful at the box office.^[6] She debuted in the Kannada films by enacting the female lead role in Punda, a remake of the 2007 Tamil film Polladhavan.^[4] Meghana's next release was her debut Tamil film, the Boopathy Pandian-directed Kaadhal Solla Vandhen, which was a commercial failure, while she also signed up her first Malayalam project, the horror film Yakshiyum Njanum under Vinayan's direction, which was released in August 2010.^[7] The film was an average grosser, but its glamorously picturised songs on Meghana was a hit among the youth. During that time she also acted in two more Tamil projects, Nandha Nanditha, which is a remake of the 2008 Kannada film Nanda Loves Nanditha and Kalla Siripazhaga.

2011–13: Beautiful and commercial success

After a series of flops for most of 2011 where she was seen repeatedly cast merely as a glamour actress, Meghana reverted to winning ways with the Malayalam film Beautiful which was released in the first week of December. The film was a success both commercially and critically and critics widely regarded it as one of the best Malayalam movies of 2011.^[8] Meghana's portrayal of Anjali, a home nurse in the film won her very good reviews. Since getting noticed with Beautiful, Meghana got a lot of Malayalam films offers.^[9]

Meghana then underwent a total physique revamp by going through a strict diet and exercise regime. She made this decision partly because she was getting constantly ignored in Kannada films (her mother tongue) and the reason told was she was fat.

Her 2012 Malayalam film Namukku Parkkan did a decent business at the box office. Subsequent films Mullamottum Munthiricharum, Banking Hours 10 to 4, Maad Dad, Madirasi and Red Wine failed to perform. However, her next film Memories opposite Prithviraj Sukumaran opened to overwhelmingly positive reviews and was a box office success.

2013 onwards: 2nd wind in Sandalwood and continuing success

After almost four years, Meghana Raj returned to Kannada films in late 2013 with the successful film Raja Huli,^[10] which she followed with another hit, Bahuparak; her performances in both films were well appreciated.^[11] Meghana's latest Kannada movie Aatagara was released in late August 2015 to both critical and commercial acclaim and thus achieving a hat-trick of hits in Sandalwood. ^[12]

Future Projects

Meghana is currently concentrating in Kannada movies as she has been roped in to play the lead role in 4 films out of which she has completed the shoot for Vamshodharaka and is busy with the shoots of 'Allama, Bhujanga & Lakshmana

Injury while rehearsing

While rehearsing classical dance for the film Allama, Meghana, who is a Khatak dancer by profession, has had a bit of an accident during rehearsals and is now nursing a swollen ankle that got twisted while she was rehearsing. ^[13]

In a recent interview with The Times Of India Meghana explained how she is thrilled seeing that people often approach her with complex characters rather than easy ones. ^[14]

Filmography

Awards

• 2011: The Kochi Times Film Award for Promising Newcomer in Beautiful^[18]

• 2011 : Suvarna Film Award for Best Debut Actress in Kannada for the movie Punda

References

External links

• Meghana Raj at the Internet Movie Database