Sameera Reddy (born 14 December 1978) is a former Indian actress who primarily worked in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...

films, in addition to Tamil and

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

language films. Reddy made her film debut with the 2002 film '' Maine Dil Tujhko Diya''. She is best known for starring in films such as '' Darna Mana Hai'' (2003), '' Musafir'' (2004), '' Jai Chiranjeeva'' (2005), '' Taxi Number 9211'' (2006), '' Ashok'' (2006), '' Race'' (2008), ''

Varanam Aayiram ''Vaaranam Aayiram'' () is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon and produced by Venu Ravichandran of Aascar Films. The film stars Suriya in dual lead roles as father and son, with Sameer ...

'' (2008), '' De Dana Dan'' (2009), '' Aakrosh'' (2010), '' Vettai'' (2012) and '' Tezz'' (2012).

Early life

Sameera Reddy was born in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the '' de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the sec ...

(now Mumbai), Maharashtra to a

father and a Mangalorean mother. Her mother Nakshatra, referred to as Niki by her daughters and the media, was a

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and some types of par ...

and worked with an NGO. She has two siblings, Meghna Reddy, a former VJ and

supermodel A supermodel, also spelled super-model or super model, is a highly paid fashion model who usually has a worldwide reputation and often a background in '' haute couture'' and commercial modeling. The term ''supermodel'' became prominent in the ...

, and Sushama Reddy, a Bollywood actress and model, both elder to her. She did her schooling at Bombay Scottish School in

Mahim Mahim (Marathi pronunciation: aːɦiːm(Marathi: माहिम) is a neighbourhood in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The Mahim Junction railway station on the Western Railway and Harbour Railway of the Mumbai Suburban Railway network is the ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

and graduated from Sydenham College. Reddy described herself as a "

tomboy A tomboy is a term for a girl or a young woman with masculine qualities. It can include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and actively engage in physical sports or other activities and behaviors usually associated with boys or men ...

" and "the ugly duckling in the family", while citing: "I was plump, had glasses and my glam quotient was rather low till I was 19."

Career

Reddy first appeared in

ghazal The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...

singer

Pankaj Udhas Pankaj Udhas (born 17 May 1951) is an Indian ghazal and playback singer. He started his career with a release of a ghazal album titled ''Aahat'' in 1980 and subsequently recorded many hits like ''Mukarar'' in 1981, ''Tarrannum'' in 1982, ''Mehf ...

's "Aur Aahista" music video in 1997. She was meant to make her debut as an actress in Saravana Subbiah's Tamil film ''

Citizen Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

'', during early 2000s, but eventually did not feature. She caught the attention of Bollywood and was cast in a pivotal role in the 2002 Hindi film '' Maine Dil Tujhko Diya''. In 2004, she appeared in '' Musafir'', opposite

Anil Kapoor Anil Kapoor (born 24 December 1956) is an Indian actor and producer who works primarily in Hindi films, besides television and international films and television. In a career spanning over 40 years as an actor and since 2005 as a producer, Kap ...

, Aditya Pancholi and

Koena Mitra Koena Mitra (born 7 January 1984) is an Indian actress and model who appears in Bollywood films. She is mostly known for her item numbers and for her appearance as Julie in the movie ''Apna Sapna Money Money''. Early life Mitra was born in ...

. Reddy had a huge fan base in south India after her debut in

. Reddy is also the first Indian actress to have her own video game, Sameera the Street Fighter. This mobile video game can be downloaded by millions of fans and is available to cell phone users throughout India. Reddy was a judge for the Miss Sri Lanka Online contest in 2012.

Personal life

Reddy married Akshai Varde, an entrepreneur, on 21 January 2014, in a traditional Maharashtrian ceremony. They have a son and daughter. Being a fan of American talk show hostess Oprah Winfrey, Reddy met and presented a saree to Winfrey during her visit to India.

Filmography

Films

Music videos

Video games

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reddy, Sameera Living people 1978 births Actresses from Mumbai Indian film actresses Telugu actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Malayalam cinema Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Bengali cinema Indian expatriate actresses in the United Kingdom 21st-century Indian actresses