Shriya Saran

Shriya Saran
File:Shriya Saran TIFF 2009.jpg Saran at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	Shriya Saran
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2001–present
Website	http://www.shriyasaran.com

Shriya Saran (born September 11, 1982) is an Indian film actress. She began her career acting in music videos, while also attending an acting studio to follow her dream to act. After her debut in 2001 with Ishtam, she gained Telugu cinema's attention in 2002 by playing the role of Bhanu in Santhosham, her first major hit. Following the film she appeared in several Telugu films with prominent actors, whilst, also making in-roads in Bollywood as well as the Tamil film industry. In 2007, Saran became a national figure after her performance alongside Rajinikanth in Sivaji: The Boss, after which she has signed several Bollywood, Kollywood and also a Hollywood film.

Saran performs predominantly in leading heroine roles in high-budget and major studio films, ranging from romantic comedies and drama to science fiction and action thrillers. Her most popular released films include Santhosham (2002), Tagore (2003), Sivaji: The Boss (2007) and Kanthaswamy (2009).

Career

Early career

Shriya's first opportunity to appear in front of the camera came whilst she studied her second year at the LSR College in Delhi, which she quit to participate for the shoot. Saran's first screen appearance was in the music video of Tirakthi Kyon Hawa by Reenu Nathan, which she was given a chance to perform in by her dance teacher who had recommended her. The video shot at Banaras gave her fame, prompting Ramoji Films to offer her the lead role of Neha in their film Ishtam starring and directed by newcomers. Saran despite wanting to only try one film eventually catapulted to fame. Before the release of Ishtam, Saran signed three mega-budget films; Santosham, Nuvve Nuvve and Tagore with the industry's top heroes, Nagarjuna, Tarun and Chiranjeevi respectively.

Film career

Shriya started her movie acting career with the Telugu film Ishtam (2001), produced by Usha Kiran Movies. This first film didn't fare too well at the box office, but she was noticed by many Telugu producers and directors. Soon she signed for Nagarjuna's Santosham (2002), which was a major hit and she didn't have to turn back since then. She was very lucky to get the most coveted chance to act opposite none other than Chiranjeevi at a very early point in her career. After the huge success of Tagore she became one of the top actresses of the south Indian film industry. Her later movies, such as Nuvve Nuvve and Bhageeratha, earned her many accolades. She had one of the biggest hits in her career with Chatrapati opposite Prabhas. Shriya is also endorses for large brands like LUX and Head&Shoulders.

She made her Tamil movie debut in Enakku 20 Unakku 18 (2003), cast along with Telugu actor Tarun, Trisha Krishnan. The film was an average hit at box-office, but it was more importantly a musical hit due to music composed by A. R. Rahman. She had plenty of glamorous roles lined up for her in Tamil, but instead continued with Tollywood for a year. She has made her comeback in Kollywood through the film Mazhai with Jayam Ravi. The movie did well at the box-office. She beat other top actresses for the much coveted role with Rajinikanth in Shankar's Sivaji: The Boss which is the most expensive Indian film till date after Dasavathaaram. Most recently she appeared opposite Vijay in Azhagiya Tamil Magan, and with Vikramin Kanthaswamy.

Personal life

Family

Saran was born in Haridwar and spent most of her life in a small colony at the foothills of the Shivalik range. Her father, Pushpendra Saran worked for the state-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited while her mother, Neeraja Saran was a chemistry teacher at the Delhi Public School, which Saran had attended. Her elder brother, Abhiroop Saran is four years older than her and currently works with an advertising firm, FCB Ulka, in Mumbai. He is married to Aarti, who Saran describes her relationship with her "like a house on fire".

As a kid, Saran claims to have "pooled her pocket money that she was given over a period of time and give it to a blind school". When Shriya was 17, her family moved to Delhi because she was passionate to learn kathak from eminent guru, Shovana Narayan.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Language	Other Notes
2001	Ishtam	Neha	Telugu
2002	Santosham	Bhanu	Telugu
	Chennakeshava Reddy	Preethi	Telugu
	Nuvve Nuvve	Anjali	Telugu
2003	Tujhe Meri Kasam	Girija	Hindi
	Neeku Nenu Naaku Nuvvu	Seeta Lakshmi	Telugu
	Tagore	Devaki	Telugu
	Ela Cheppanu	Priya	Telugu
	Ennaku 20 Unnaku 18	Reshma	Tamil
2004	Nenunnanu	Anu	Telugu
	Thoda Tum Badlo Thoda Hum	Rani	Hindi
	Arjun	Roopa	Telugu
	Shukriya: Till Death Do Us Apart	Sanam	Hindi
2005	Balu ABCDEFG	Anu	Telugu
	Naa Alludu	Meghana	Telugu
	Sadaa Mee Sevalo	Kanthi	Telugu
	Soggadu	Shriya	Telugu	Cameo appearance
	Subhash Chandra Bose	Svarajyam	Telugu
	Mogudu Pellam O Dongodu	Satyabhama	Telugu
	Mazhai	Shailaja	Tamil
	Chatrapathi	Neelu	Telugu	Nominated, Filmfare Best Telugu Actress Award
	Bhageeratha	Shweta	Telugu
	Bommalata	Swathi	Telugu	Cameo appearance
2006	Devadasu	Herself	Telugu	Special appearance
	Game		Telugu	Special appearance
	Boss	Sanjana	Telugu	Special appearance
	Thiruvilayadal Arambam	Priya	Tamil
2007	Munna	Dancer in the bar	Telugu	Item number in song
	Arasu	Ankita	Kannada	Cameo appearance
	Sivaji: The Boss	Tamizhselvi	Tamil
	Awaarapan	Aaliya	Hindi	Nominated, Filmfare Best Hindi Female Debut Award
	Tulasi		Telugu	Special appearance
	Azhagiya Tamil Magan	Abinaya	Tamil
2008	Indiralohathil Na Azhagappan	Pidariatha	Tamil	Special appearance
	Mission Istanbul	Anjali Sagar	Hindi	Winner, Stardust Exciting New Face Award
	The Other End of the Line	Priya Sethi	English
2009	Ek - The Power of One	Preet	Hindi
	Thoranai	Indhu	Tamil
	Kanthaswamy	Subbalakshmi	Tamil
	Cooking with Stella	Tannu	English
2009	Kutty	Geetha	Tamil	Filming
	Jaggubhai	Nikki	Tamil	Filming
	Pokkiri Raja		Malayalam	Filming
	Chikku Bukku		Tamil	Filming

External links

• Official website
• Shriya at IMDb
• Shriya Saran Kutty Movie Gallery