Padmapriya Janakiraman, (born 1983) better known

mononymous A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a polynym, a word which refers to one o ...

ly as Padmapriya, is an Indian actress and model. She has acted in over 50 feature films and in 7 different languages:

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, 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 ...

. She is also a trained bharatanatyam dancer. Padmapriya made her acting debut in the

film ''

Seenu Vasanthi Lakshmi ''Seenu Vasanthi Lakshmi'' is a 2003 Telugu tragedy drama film directed by E. Srinivas. The film stars R. P. Patnaik playing the eponymous character of a blind village singer, along with Padmapriya Janakiraman and Navaneet Kaur in other pro ...

'' in 2003. She has won a

National Film Award The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directora ...

, two

Kerala State Film Awards 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 ...

, two

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence in Tamil cinema in India. They were given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to the South Indian film industry by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The aw ...

, Three

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 ...

, as well as numerous other awards.

Early life

Padmapriya was born in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

to Janakiraman, a

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

in the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

, and Vijaya. She did her schooling at

Kendriya Vidyalaya The Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan () is a system of central government schools in India that are instituted under the aegis of the Ministry of Education, Government of India. , it has a total of 1,248 schools in India, and three abroad in Moscow ...

Trimulgherry Tirumalagiri, previously spelt as Trimulgherry, is a locality and a Mandal in the city of Secunderabad also it falls under Secunderabad Revenue Division, Earlier is a major suburb of Secunderabad, India. The name is an anglicization of Tirumalag ...

Secunderabad Secunderabad, also spelled as Sikandarabad (, ), is a twin cities, twin city of Hyderabad and one of the six zones of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Telangana. It ...

, Telangana and studied at

Loyola Academy Loyola Academy is a private, Catholic, co-educational college preparatory high school run by the USA Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus in Wilmette, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago, and in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago ...

Alwal Alwal is a major locality in Secunderabad city, and a suburb of Hyderabad. Earlier, Alwal was a part of Malkajgiri Mandal but in 2006, Alwal Municipality was merged into Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. After the district bifurcation Al ...

, Secunderabad, from which she graduated with a B.Com degree. Later, she pursued an

MBA degree A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

in finance at KIAMS,

Harihar Harihara ( also called ''Harihar'') is a city in Davanagere District in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Harihara Taluk. Harihara is famous for Harihareshwara temple, also known as "Dakshina Kashi", an ...

. She was then working for

GE Capital GE Capital is the financial services division of General Electric. The company currently only runs one division, GE Energy Financial Services. It had provided additional services in the past; however, those units were sold between 2013 and 2018 ...

as a risk consultant in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

and

Gurgaon Gurgaon (pronunciation: �ʊɽɡãːw, officially named Gurugram (pronunciation: �ʊɾʊɡɾaːm, is a city located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest of the nationa ...

. After GE she was with Symphony in Bangalore. During her free-time, she ventured into modelling, which would later pave her way to the film business and acting. She has also won Miss Andhra Pradesh in 2001. While studying in 12th class in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

, Padmapriya did a music album.Padmapriya: An Army Kid Turned Actor – Trivandrum News
. Yentha.com (6 January 2012). Retrieved 31 March 2012. She also holds a PG Diploma in Environmental Law from

National Law School of India University The National Law School of India University (NLSIU or simply NLS) is a public law school and a National Law University located in Bangalore, Karnataka. It was the first National Law University to be established in India as well as one of the f ...

and Masters in Public Administration from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

Career

Padmapriya made her acting debut in the 2003

Telugu film Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, Hy ...

'',a remake of the Malayalam film ''

Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njaanum ''Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njaanum'' () is a 1999 Indian Malayalam-language Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Vinayan based on a screenplay by J. Pallassery. The film features Kalabhavan Mani, Kaveri (actress), Kaveri, Prave ...

''. She played the role of a sexually exploited poor sister of a blind man in the film. Padmapriya says, she accepted this offer "for the sake of friendship". This made possible her entry into the

Malayalam film industry Malayalam cinema is an 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, '' Elippathayam ...

in the same year, starring in the film '' Kaazhcha'' alongside

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 ...

. For her portrayal of a mother of a young girl, who struggles to accommodate another child, a victim of the

Gujarat earthquake The 2001 Gujarat earthquake, also known as the Bhuj earthquake, occurred on 26 January, India's 52nd Republic Day (India), Republic Day, at . The epicentre was about 9 km south-southwest of the village of Chobari in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch ...

, she received rave reviews and the Asianet Award for Best Female New Face of the Year. In 2005, she acted in her first Tamil-language film, ''

Thavamai Thavamirundhu ''Thavamai Thavamirundhu'' () is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by Cheran. The film stars Rajkiran, himself and Padmapriya with Saranya, Senthil Kumar, and Meenal portraying supporting roles. The music was compose ...

'', a drama that dealt with familial bond, depicting a father-son relationship, in which she was paired opposite actor-director Cheran. She played a simple college girl in the film, which garnered highly positive reviews and won several awards at major Indian award ceremonies, including a

( for Best Film on Family Welfare). Padmapriya herself was awarded the Filmfare Award for Best Debut Actress for her critically acclaimed performance. She next starred in the Malayalam film ''

Rajamanikyam ''Rajamanikyam'' is a 2005 Indian Malayalam-language action comedy film directed by Anwar Rasheed and written by T. A. Shahid. It stars Mammootty in the title role along with Rahman, Manoj K Jayan, Cochin Haneefa, Ranjith, Salim Kumar, Sai ...

'' again alongside Mammootty. The

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

, featuring also Rahman and

Sindhu Menon Sindhu Menon is an Indian actress, who has starred in Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil films. Early life Sindhu Menon was born in Bangalore, Karnataka, India into a Malayali family. She has an elder brother, Karthik, who worked as a Kanna ...

, was a success. In 2006, she appeared in 6 films. Her first release that year was ''Vadakkum Nathan'', which Padmapriya considers as her debut film, citing: "I started taking this career seriously with that movie". She next starred in the Tamil film ''

Pattiyal ''Pattiyal'' () is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language crime thriller film written and directed by Vishnuvardhan and produced by Punnagai Poo Gheetha. It stars Bharath, Arya, Pooja Umashankar, and Padmapriya Janakiraman while Cochin Haneefa and Santhan ...

'', in which she portrayed a salesgirl at a garment company. The Vishnuvardhan-directed gangster film, in which she shared screen space with

Arya Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...

, Bharath and

Pooja Umashankar Pooja Gauthami Umashankar, mononymously known as Pooja, is an Indian-Sri Lankan actress, who has primarily appeared in Tamil, Sinhala and Malayalam language films. Early and personal life Pooja's mother, Sandhya, is a Sri Lankan Sinhalese and h ...

, was a commercial and critical success, becoming one of the highest-grossing Tamil films of the year. Later that year, she acted in the Malayalam-language film '' Karutha Pakshikal'' and ''Yes Your Honour'', which both were well appreciated by critics. Padmapriya's performance in both the films received positive reviews, particularly her portrayal as Poongodi, a street beggar, in the former fetched her rave accolades and earned her several awards including a

Filmfare Best Actress Award The Filmfare Award for Best Actress is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise the female actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role. The award was first given in 1954 ...

. In 2007, she had 7 releases, the first being '' Anchil Oral Arjunan''. Next she starred in '' Veeralipattu'' and ''

Satham Podathey ''Satham Podathey'' () is a 2007 Tamil-language psychological thriller film written and directed by Vasanth and produced by Shankar and Senthilnathan. It stars Prithviraj, Padmapriya and Nithin Sathya whilst Nassar, Suhasini, Premji and Raaghav ...

'', a Tamil film. The latter was a

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a genre combining the thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting. In terms of context and co ...

directed by

Vasanth Vasanth is an Indian director well known in Tamil language films for directing films such as ''Keladi Kanmani'' (1990), ''Aasai'' (1995), ''Nerrukku Ner'' (1997), ''Rhythm'' (2000) and ''Satham Podathey'' (2007). Career Vasanth began his car ...

, where she enacted the role of a helpless wife, who gets kidnapped by her former husband, whom she had divorced due to his alcohol addiction. Following ''Satham Podathey'', she appeared in the films ''

Naalu Pennungal ''Naalu Pennungal'' (''Four Women'') is a 2007 Malayalam film produced and directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan based on four short stories written by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai. The film stars Padmapriya, Geethu Mohandas, Manju Pillai, and Nandi ...

'' in Malayalam, directed by

Adoor Gopalakrishnan Adoor Gopalakrishnan (born 3 July 1941) is an Indian film director, script writer, and producer and is regarded as one of the most notable and renowned filmmakers in India. With the release of his first feature film '' Swayamvaram'' (1972), Go ...

and ''

Mirugam Mirugam () is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language masala film written and directed by Samy. The film stars debutant Aadhi and Padmapriya. The music was composed by Sabesh–Murali with editing by Suresh Urs and cinematography by Ramnath Shetty. The fil ...

'' in Tamil, directed by Samy. In ''Naalu Pennungal'', which fetched its director the

National Film Award for Best Direction The National Film Award for Best Direction is an honour presented annually at India's National Film Awards ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF), an organisation set up by the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Since ...

, she played the role of a street prostitute, whilst in ''Mirugam'', she played a tomboyish wife to a ruffian, who behaves like an animal, for which she won the Tamil Nadu State Film Special Award for Best Actress. In 2010, Padmapriya debuted into Hindi films by playing a bar owner in '' Striker'', as well as into Kannada films as a human rights activist in '' Thamassu''. She also starred in the Tamil cowboy-based film ''

Irumbukkottai Murattu Singam ''Irumbukkottai Murattu Singam'' () is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language Western comedy film directed by Chimbu Deven, starring choreographer-turned-actor Raghava Lawrence, Padmapriya, Lakshmi Rai, and Sandhya alongside an ensemble supporting cast in ...

'' as an army officer's daughter,'''' and in the Malayalam Kutty Shrank with

. In 2011, she starred in

Naayika ''Naayika'' ( en, Heroine) is a 2011 Malayalam drama film directed by Jayaraj. The film stars Urvasi Sharada, Jayaram, Padmapriya and Mamta Mohandas in the lead roles. Plot ''Naayika'' tells the life and times of a yesterdays' heroine of Malaya ...

with a performance that won critical acclaim. NDTV wrote that her "beauty and acting skills helped in portraying the role to perfection and 'young Gracy' ends as the saving 'grace' of the film". She has acted in some advertisements.

Personal life

On 12 November 2014, Padmapriya married Jasmine Shah 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- ...

. He is from Gujarat and works as the Policy Head for South Asia at

Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fi ...

, which is headquartered in

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

. She met him while both were pursuing their Master's from Columbia and

Filmography

Awards and nominations

National Film Awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...

* 2010 -

Special Mention Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * ''Specia ...

– Pazhassiraja

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence in Tamil cinema in India. They were given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to the South Indian film industry by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The aw ...

*2007 -

Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize Recipients Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won. * The year mentioned refers to the year in which the films released. This is the list of Winners of Jury's Special Award See also * Tamil cinema * Cinema of Indi ...

– ''

Kerala State Film Awards 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 ...

*2006 - Second Best Actress – '' Karutha Pakshikal'' *2009 - Second Best Actress – '' Pazhassiraja''

Kerala Film Critics Awards The Kerala Film Critics Association Awards are presented annually by the Kerala Film Critics Association to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Malayalam language film industry of India. The awards were instit ...

*2006 -

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 awar ...

- Karutha Pakshikal *2007 -

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 ...

*2005 - Best Female Debut (South) – ''

'' *2006 - Best Actress – Malayalam – '' Karutha Pakshikal'' *2009 - Best Supporting Actress – Malayalam – '' Pazhassiraja''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Janakiraman, Padmapriya 20th-century Indian actresses Indian film actresses Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Malayalam cinema Kerala State Film Award winners Living people Actresses from Delhi Actresses from Hyderabad, India Bharatanatyam exponents Filmfare Awards South winners Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners Kendriya Vidyalaya alumni 21st-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian dancers Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Bengali cinema Actresses in Hindi cinema Dancers from Delhi Women artists from Delhi 21st-century Indian women artists Special Mention (feature film) National Film Award winners 1980 births