Shwetha Menon is an Indian actress, model and television anchor. She won '' Femina Miss India Asia Pacific 1994''. She has predominantly acted in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

and

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

language films, besides appearing in a number of

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 ...

and Tamil Language Films. She won two Kerala State Film Awards for Best Actress. She participated in '' Bigg Boss Malayalam Season 1''. Starting her career as an actress in Malayalam feature films in the early 1990s, she ventured into

modeling A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

and became noted, after participating and winning at several

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

s, which led to her debut in

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

. It was the film ''

Ishq Ishq ( ar, عشق, ''‘išq'') is an Arabic word meaning "love" or "passion", also widely used in other languages of the Muslim world and the Indian subcontinent. The word ''ishq'' does not appear in the Quran, which instead uses derivatives o ...

'' (1997) where she received notable attention as the dancer for the song, "Humko Tumse Pyaar Hai", featuring

Aamir Khan Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan (; born 14 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director and producer who works in Hindi films. Through his career spanning over 30 years, Khan has established himself as one of the most notable actors of Indian ci ...

and

Ajay Devgn Vishal Veeru Devgan (born 2 April 1969), known professionally as Ajay Devgn, is an Indian actor, film director and producer who works in Hindi cinema. Devgn has appeared in over a hundred films and has won numerous accolades, including four ...

and also in '' Bandhan'' (1998). Following appearances in over 30 Hindi films, in which she generally conveyed a glamorous image, her acting career took a turn by the mid-2000s, with her returning to Malayalam cinema and accepting substantial roles. She received critical praise and several accolades including the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress for her performances in '' Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha'' (2009) and ''

Salt N' Pepper ''Salt N' Pepper'' is a 2011 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy film directed by Aashiq Abu and produced for Lucsam Creations. The film stars Lal, Asif Ali, Shwetha Menon, and Mythili in the lead roles, while Baburaj and Vijayaraghava ...

'' (2011). In 2018, she contestant in the Malayalam reality TV series ''

Bigg Boss ''Bigg Boss'' is an Indian reality television game show franchise based on the Dutch reality show '' Big Brother''. It is produced by Endemol Shine India through Viacom18 and Disney Star. Subsequently, the various versions of the show are made ...

'' and was eliminated after 36 episodes aired on

Asianet Asianet may refer to: Disney Star channels *Asianet Communications, an Indian media company wholly owned by Disney Star **Asianet (TV channel), a Malayalam language general entertainment channel **Asianet Plus, a Malayalam language general entertai ...

, hosted by the veteran actor

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeare ...

.She simultaneously appeared in commercial films, television reality shows and parallel films.

Early life

Menon hails from

Valanchery Valanchery is a major town and one of the 12 municipalities in Malappuram district, Kerala, India. It is one of the four municipalities in Tirur Taluk, besides Tirur, Kottakkal, and Tanur. It is situated about southeast to Karipur Internation ...

Malappuram district Malappuram (), is one of the List of districts of Kerala, 14 districts in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala, with a coastline of . It is the most populous district of Kerala, which is home to around 13% of the to ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, but was born at Chandigarh to Malayali parents T. V. Naranankutty and Sarada Menon. Her father served in the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

while her mother remained a housewife. She studied in Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 1, East Hill, Kozhikode.

Career

Films

She started her career as an actress in the

Malayalam film Malayalam cinema is an Indian cinema, Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, ...

Anaswaram ''Anaswaram'' is a 1991 Malayalam-language film directed by Jomon and starring Mammootty and Shweta Menon . This was Shweta Menon's first movie in Malayalam. The movie was produced by Maniyanpilla Raju under the banner of Sarawathy Chaithanya ...

'' (1991), directed by Jomon, playing the female lead opposite

Mammootty Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (; born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. He has also appeared in Tamil l ...

, after which she focused on modeling. She competed in the

Miss India Miss India may refer to: * Femina Miss India, the most prestigious and oldest surviving national beauty pageant in India that started in 1964. It sends its winner to Miss World. * Miss Diva, the national beauty pageant that sends its winners to Miss ...

contest in 1994 and finished third runner-up behind

Sushmita Sen Sushmita Sen (born 19 November 1975) is an Indian actress, model and the winner of the Miss Universe 1994 pageant. She is the first Indian to win the Miss Universe pageant. She was previously crowned Femina Miss India 1994 at the age of 18. A ...

Aishwarya Rai Aishwarya Rai Bachchan ( Rai; born 1 November 1973) is an Indian actress who is primarily known for her work in Hindi and Tamil films. The winner of the Miss World 1994 pageant, she has established herself as one of the most popular celebriti ...

and Fransesca Hart. She became the first Gladrags female super model in 1994 ( Kelly Dorjee was the male super model) and then, Miss Asia Pacific semi-finalist in 1994 in Manila Cebu Island,

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. She subsequently made her debut in

and appeared in over 30 films; some of her Bollywood films include ''

Asoka Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, s ...

'' (2001), ''

Maqbool ''Maqbool'' is a 2004 Indian crime drama film directed by Vishal Bhardwaj and starring Irrfan, Tabu, Pankaj Kapur, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Piyush Mishra, Murali Sharma and Masumeh Makhija in an adaptation of the play ''Macbeth'' by Shakesp ...

'' (2003) and ''

Corporate A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and re ...

'' (2006). Menon returned to Malayalam in 2006 with ''Thantra'' and then went on to do famous Malayalam films such as ''Keerthi Chakra'' (2006) and the award-winning ''Paradesi''. Her performance as Sarojini, a middle-class woman who fights against extreme odds, in ''

Madhya Venal ''Madhya Venal'' is a 2009 Malayalam film produced by Jahangir Shamz under the banner of Xarfnet Movies. The movie is directed by Madhu Kaithapram starring Manoj K. Jayan and Shweta Menon. Plot Sarojini is a house wife and is also a social worke ...

'' earned her a special mention by jury chairman

Bahman Ghobadi Bahman Ghobadi ( fa, بهمن قبادی; ; born 1 February 1969 in Baneh, Kurdistan province, Iran) is an Iranian Kurdish film director, producer and writer. He belongs to the " new wave" of Iranian cinema. Biography He was born in Baneh, a K ...

, a famous

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian director at the

International Film Festival of Kerala The International Film Festival of Kerala (abbreviated as IFFK) is a film festival held annually in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. This film festival started in 1996 and is hosted by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy ...

. In 2010, she won the Kerala State Government's Best Actress for her portrayal of Cheeru, a village woman in the film ''Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha'' directed by Ranjith. She won the

Mathrubhumi ''Mathrubhumi'' is a Malayalam newspaper that is published from Kerala, India. It was founded by K. P. Kesava Menon, an active volunteer in the Indian independence movement, Indian freedom struggle against the British Raj, British. The word "M ...

Amrita TV Amrita TV is an Indian Malayalam Language general Entertainment television channel owned by Mata Amritanandamayi Math. It was launched in 2005. Theme song The theme song, "Lokasamastha," was composed by Rahulraj for Mata Amritanandamayi's 50t ...

Special Jury Award and the

Asianet Film Award for Best Supporting Actress Asianet may refer to: Disney Star channels * Asianet Communications, an Indian media company wholly owned by Disney Star **Asianet (TV channel), a Malayalam language general entertainment channel **Asianet Plus, a Malayalam language general entert ...

for the same film. In 2011, Shweta Menon starred in the remake of '' Rathinirvedam'' an Erotic Movie, playing the titular character, originally played by

Jayabharathi Jayabharathi is an Indian actress. She is a two-time recipient of the Kerala State Film Award for best actress. Jayabharathi's first leading role was given by director P. Bhaskaran for his movie Kattukurangu in 1969. Later she became one of ...

. In the same year, she got the Kerala State Award for ''

''. For her next movie, ''Naval Enna Jewel'', Shweta Menon has undergone a remarkable makeover as an elderly man. In 2010, Menon approached a local court and the Women's Commission in Kerala after the distributor of her movie tied up with Musli Power, a sex stimulant drug, to jointly promote the movie. "Met with Women's Commission regarding the ''Kayam'' ad and they offered me full backing. Thank you all and I hope justice will be done," she tweeted.

Television

Besides working in films, she has anchored several TV, stage and film awards shows. Menon rose to popularity after presenting the musical programme, ''Star Wars'' on

Kairali TV Kairali TV is an Indian Malayalam-language general entertainment television channel owned by Kairali TV Network (Malayalam Communications Limited). It is headquartered at Thiruvananthapuram. It was launched on 17 August 2000. The channel is bac ...

in 2008. She won the

Asian Television Award The Asian Television Awards (launched in 1996), is an appreciation to recognize and reward programming and production excellence in the Asian television industry. Held every December, the Awards comprises 56 categories across news, documentari ...

for Best Anchor for the same program. In Hindi, she hosted the group band based show, '' Razzmatazz'' on

Zee TV Zee TV (stylised as ZEE TV) is a Hindi general entertainment pay television channel in India. It was launched on 2 October 1992, as the first privately owned TV channel in the country. It is owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Zee TV also ...

with actor

Arshad Warsi Arshad Warsi (born 19 April 1968) is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films. He is the recipient of several awards including a Filmfare Award from five nominations and is noted for acting in varied film genres. Before making his acting deb ...

. The next television show she did was ''

Dancing Queen "Dancing Queen" is a Europop and disco song by the Swedish group ABBA, released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, ''Arrival'' (1976). It was written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson. Andersson and Ulvaeus al ...

'' in 2008 on Colors. In 2010, she anchored the Malayalam reality show, ''Honeymoon Travels'' on Surya TV. The show became an instant hit for Shwetha's accented Malayalam and her attempts to read from the original script without a formal learning in the language. Recently, she appeared as a contestant with her father in the game show, ''Deal or No Deal'' on Surya TV. She was the anchor of the family-based

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

''Veruthe Alla Bharya'' on

Mazhavil Manorama Mazhavil Manorama is an Indian Free-to-air Malayalam general entertainment television channel operated and owned by Malayala Manorama Television (MMTV), the publisher of the widely circulated ''Malayalam Manorama'' daily, and the Malayalam wom ...

. She has participated in the popular game show ''Ningalkkum Aakaam Kodeeshwaran'' on

. She was running popular comedy reality show ''Minto Goal Comedy Stars'' on

in 2015. She has acted in many

advertisements Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

. She was a contestant in the

season 1 Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughters album), 2012 * ''Season One'' (Saukrates album), 2012 See also * * * Season 2 (disambiguation) * Season 4 (disambiguati ...

of the reality TV show ''

'' aired on Asianet, from which she was eliminated after 36 episodes. In 2019 she made her TV comeback as the host for a family talent hunt show on Mazhavil Manorama titled ''Kusurthi Kudumbam''.

Personal life

She was married to Bollywood model, Bobby Bhonsle, but it ended up in divorce. On 18 June 2011, she married Sreevalsan Menon, a native of

Thrissur Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and t ...

, who works in

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 second- ...

. The ceremony took place at the Neythalappurath Sastha Ayappa temple,

, Kerala. She had her first child, a daughter, Sabaina Menon on 27 September 2012, at 5.27 pm at Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai. The delivery was recorded on camera as part of the film ''

Kalimannu ''Kalimannu'' is a Malayalam drama film written and directed by Blessy and starring Swetha Menon in the lead role and Biju Menon, Suhasini in Major Supporting roles. Inspired by the Puranic story of Abhimanyu and his mother Subhadra, the film ...

''.

Controversies

Shwetha Menon was charged with insulting the Indian flag at a fashion show on 5 January 2004. The show was organized by NIFD at a resort, where Menon walked the ramp allegedly with the tricolour wrapped around her body. In 2011, she had filed a case against Kunnath Pharmaceuticals' managing director K. C. Abraham for misusing stills from her film '' Kayam'' (2011) for promoting their Ayurvedic aphrodisiac Musli Power Extra. The Ernakulam Central Police arrested Abraham. Shwetha allowed her delivery to be recorded for

Blessy Blessy Ipe Thomas is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Malayalam cinema. He has won one National Film Award and six Kerala State Film Awards for his feature films '' Kaazhcha'' (2004), '' Thanmathra'' (2005), and ''Pranayam' ...

's film ''

'' (2013). The act was condemned for commercializing the most private affair of a woman by the Kerala Film Exhibitors. On 4 November 2013, she filed a case against N. Peethambara Kurup of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

in a

groping In a sexual context, groping is the act of intentionally touching another person in a sexual manner without their consent. The term generally has a negative connotation in many societies, and the activity may be considered sexual assault or o ...

incident. Shweta later dropped her complaint against Kurup, saying the 71-year-old leader tendered a "personal apology" to her hours after she lodged the FIR against him.

Accolades

;

Kerala State Film Award The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala and since 1998 the awards have been bestowed by Kerala State Cha ...

s * 2009 –

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

– ''Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha'' * 2011 – Best Actress – ''

'' ;

Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassing ...

* 2009 – Best Actress – Malayalam – ''Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha'' ;

South Indian International Movie Awards South Indian International Movie Awards, also known as the SIIMA Awards, rewards the artistic and technical achievements of the South Indian film industry. It was launched in 2012 by Vishnu Vardhan Induri and Brinda Prasad Adusimilli to appre ...

* 2012 – SIIMA Award for Actress – Special Appreciation – '' Rathinirvedam'' * 2013 – SIIMA Award for Best Supporting Actress – ''

Ozhimuri ''Ozhimuri'' () is a 2012 Indian Malayalam-language period drama film, directed by Madhupal and written by Jeyamohan and starring Lal, Mallika, Asif Ali, Bhavana and Shweta Menon in lead roles. The original songs and background score were co ...

'' ;Other Awards * 2009 –

for Best

TV Anchor A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

* 2009 – Special Mention at

by Jury Chairman,

about performance in '' Madhyavenal'' * 2010 –

–

Special Jury Award – ''Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha'' * 2010 –

– ''Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha'' * 2013 –

Asianet Film Awards The Asianet Film Awards is an award ceremony for films presented annually by Asianet, a Malayalam-language television network from the south-Indian state of Kerala. Asianet says that awards ceremony has been instituted to honour both artis ...

for Best Character Actress – ''

'' * 2013 –

Asiavision Awards Asiavision Awards have been held annually since 2006 to honor the artistes and technicians of Indian cinema and television & is organized under the leadership of renowned journalist Nissar Syed. More than 40,000 people across United Arab Emirates ...

– Outstanding Performance – ''

'' *2018 : Milan Film Festival 2018 - Best Supporting Actress -Naval Enna Jewel

Filmography

Dubbing artist

In 2017, she lent her voice for the role of a police officer played by

Raashi Khanna Raashii Khanna (born 30 November 1990) is an Indian actress and playback singer who predominantly works in Telugu and Tamil film industries. She made her acting debut in a supporting role with the Hindi film ''Madras Cafe'' (2013) and subseq ...

film ''

Villain A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...

'' (2017)

Television

References

External links

Official website
*
Shweta Menon Photo Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Menon, Shweta Living people People from Malappuram district Actresses from Kerala Indian film actresses Femina Miss India winners Kerala State Film Award winners Actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Malayalam cinema Filmfare Awards South winners Kendriya Vidyalaya alumni 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses from Chandigarh Indian television actresses Actresses in Malayalam television Actresses in Hindi television Female models from Kerala Female models from Chandigarh Year of birth missing (living people) Bigg Boss Malayalam contestants Actresses in Kannada cinema