K. V. Srilekha Nair (born 23 April 1986), better known by her

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Sshivada is an Indian actress who appears 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

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

films.

Personal life

Sshivada was born as K. V. Srilekha Nair to Vijayarajan and Kumari, a Malayali family, in

Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu Tiruchirappalli () (Renaming of cities in India, formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headqu ...

, where she studied till Grade 5. After grade 5, her family moved to

Angamaly Angamaly (''Aṅkamāli''), , Malayalam : അങ്കമാലി Situated about north of the city centre, the town lies at the intersection of Main Central Road (MC Road) and National Highway 544. MC Road, which starts from Thiruvananthapu ...

and there she was educated at Viswajyothi CMI Public School, Angamaly. She is a Computer Science engineering graduate from

Adi Shankara Institute of Engineering Technology The Adi Shankara Institute of Engineering and Technology (ASIET), is a self-financing college, situated in Kalady, in Ernakulam district of Kerala. The college started on 31 August 2001. ASIET is affiliated to APJ Abdul Kalam Technological Uni ...

. She is married to her longtime boyfriend Murali Krishnan and has a daughter named Arundhathi.

Career

Sshivada started her acting career through a small role in 2009 Malayalam anthology film ''

Kerala Cafe ''Kerala Cafe'' is a 2009 Indian Malayalam-language anthology film produced by Ranjith and directed by a team of ten directors including Lal Jose, Shaji Kailas, Anwar Rasheed, Shyamaprasad, B. Unnikrishnan, Revathy, Anjali Menon, M. Padmakuma ...

''. But she didn't get enough recognition. Later when working as a VJ in television, she was spotted by Malayalam director Fazil, who cast her as the female lead in his 2011 film '' Living Together''. Then she auditioned for the Tamil film ''

Nedunchaalai ''Nedunchalai'' ( Highway) is a 2014 Tamil language thriller film written and directed by N. Krishna and produced by Aaju, C. Soundarajan and Dheeraj Kher. This film features Aari Arujunan and Sshivada in the lead roles, with Thambi Ramiah and ...

''. Though her mother tongue is Malayalam, Sshivada managed to dub for her first film. She says, "I was born in

Trichy Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bein ...

and studied in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

till my fifth standard before moving to Kerala. So, I'm comfortable speaking Tamil." Sshivada received praise for her portrayal of Manga, a Malayalam village girl, who runs a

dhaba A dhaba is a roadside restaurant in the Indian subcontinent, primarily across Pakistan and India. They are on highways, generally serve local cuisine, and also serve as truck stops. They are most commonly found next to petrol stations, and mos ...

. While

Sify Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...

wrote "new find Shivada...steals the show. She lights the screen as she executes the loud, aggressive and righteous Manga with a lot of style and élan",

Baradwaj Rangan Baradwaj Rangan is an Indian film critic, writer, and formerly the deputy editor of ''The Hindu''. He later became a senior editor of Film Companion. Rangan won the National Film Award for Best Film Critic in 2006. Before joining ''The Hindu'' ...

called her a "terrific newcomer". In her next film ''Zero'', a supernatural thriller directed by debutant Shiv Mohaa, a former assistant of

Bharat Bala Bharath Bala is an Indian film director, screenwriter and film producer based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Career Bharat Bala produced the acclaimed album ''Vande Mataram'' and '' Jana Gana Mana Video'' and heads BharatBala Productions based in Che ...

, she plays Priya, "a modern-day wife, who is also orthodox and holds on to some traditional values". In March 2017, Sshivada signed new project which is to be directed by ''

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...

'' fame Ashwin Saravanan to star along with S J Suryah and

Wamiqa Gabbi Wamiqa Gabbi (born 29 September 1993) is an Indian actress, who works in Punjabi, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu films. She made her screen debut in the Hindi film ''Jab We Met'' (2007) with a small role. But her major success came with ' ...

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{authority control Living people Actresses in Tamil cinema 21st-century Indian actresses Actresses from Tiruchirappalli 1986 births Actresses in Malayalam cinema Indian film actresses