Meghana Raj

Meghana Raj is an Indian film actress, who works in the South Indian film industries. She made her acting debut in the 2009 Telugu film Bendu Apparao R.M.P.^[1][2]

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. Because of her mixed background, Meghana is fluent in both Kannada and Tamil, speaking Kannada at home and Tamil at her grandparents' house.^[2] She is currently pursuing her Bachelor's degree in psychology at Christ University, Bangalore.^[4]

Career

Meghana Raj first debuted as a theater 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 is now set to debut in the Kannada film industry as well, enacting the female lead role in the Kannada film 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 moderately successful at the Box office with its glamorously picturized songs on Meghana being the highlights. She is now working on two more Tamil projects, Nandha Nandhitha, which is a remake of the 2008 Kannada film Nanda Loves Nanditha and Kalla Siripazhaga, two Malayalam films, Achante Aanmakkal and Pachuvum Kovalanum, and one Kannada film titled Mynaa.^[8]

After a series of flops for most of 2011 Meghana reverted back to winning ways with the superhit Malayalam film Beautiful which was released in the first week of December. The film was a success both commercially and critically and is widely regarded as one of the best Malayalam movies of 2011.

Filmography

References

External links

• Official fan page
• Meghana Raj at the Internet Movie Database