Meena (actress)

Meena started her career in 1982 as a child artist in the film Nenjangal, featuring Sivaji Ganesan in the lead role after Ganesan saw her at a birthday party.[13] She has acted in several films along with Dr. Sivaji Ganesan as a child artist.[13] She has acted with Rajinikanth in two movies namely Engeyo Ketta Kural and Anbulla Rajinikanth as a child artist. Anbulla Rajinikanth, in which she acted as a terminally ill child who warms up to Rajinikanth —that became a major pointer in her career growth. After the success of that movie, she became a notable child artist in South Indian movies. She says of Ganesan that "I feel extremely proud to have been discovered by the legend". She appeared in over 45 films as a child.[13]

Meena has been one of the top star pairing up with every big star down South .[14] She made her debut in Telugu beside Rajendra Prasad in Nava Yugam. Her career's turning point in Telugu was Seetharamaiah Gari Manavaralu, where she played Akkineni Nageswara Rao's grand daughter. The film was showcased among the Indian panorama section, at the 1991 International Film Festival of India. The film was made under the banner VMC Productions. She won critical accloade for her role. Telugu film Chanti opposite actor Venkatesh was a milestone in her career and the film ran for more than 200 days. While her Tamil admission as a heroine was in Oru Pudhiya Kadhai. Meena was introduced to the Malayalam film industry by director Sibi Malayil in Sandhwanam 1991. She played Suresh Gopi's daughter in the film released in 1991. Its success made her famous which lead to roles with senior Malayalam heroes. Meena has expressed a wish to do more films in Malayalam.[13] She made her Bollywood debut opposite Chunky Pandey in the film Parda Hai Parda (1992). She appeared in her Kannada debut Putnanja, opposite Ravichandran. and she was part of many successful movies Like Swathi Muthu, Simhadriya Simha, My Autograph, etc. She has worked with Ravichandran, Vishuvardhan, Sudeep in Kannada Cinema.

Meena has the unique distinction of starring opposite legendary actors of different generations across various languages. She has acted with Rajinikanth, Dr. Kamal Haasan, Dr. Mohanlal, Dr. Mammootty, Chiranjeevi, Dr. Vishnuvardhan, Krishna, Balakrishna, Ravichandran, Vijayakanth, Nagarjuna, Venkatesh, Vijay, Ajith Kumar, Sathyaraj, Prabhu Deva, Sarathkumar, K. Bhagyaraj, Jayaram, Suresh Gopi, Prashanth, Harish Kumar, Kichcha Sudeep, Raviteja. She had hits with the films Nattamai film directed by K. S. Ravikumar. The film was successful and completed a 175-day run at the box office (1994). She just grabs the continuous offer and the opportunity to act in films like Avvai Shanmughi (1996) with Kamal Haasan, Porkkaalam with Murali (1997), Bharathi Kannamma (1997) with Parthiban and so on. Telugu audience remembers her for a variety of roles that called for mature acting that seemed tailor-made for her. The peppy girl who wins over her unrelenting grandfather with her endearing ways in Seetharamaiah Gari Manavaralu, the protected sister in Chanti, the bold housewife in Sundarakanda, the renowned poet and devotee ‘Tarigonda Vengamamba’. The combo of Victory Venkatesh and Meena is said to be one of the most successful combinations in Tollywood. They have 5 Blockbuster hits to their credit.[15] Another excellent performance in the movie Rhythm (2000). This movie makes the most impact on multiple viewings. Meena was an exceptionally brilliant performance in each scene. Strangely enough, she looks the best in this movie in terms of makeup and this movie had her in her best performance to date. While she picked up Best Actress at the Cinema Express Awards.

Meena has acted both as a child and as an adult opposite Rajinikanth. Her first hit with Rajinikanth was Yejaman, where she plays the role of Vaitheeswari, a simple village girl. She always played the quiet, serious woman. In one Interview Meena said that Rajinikanth was shocked to see her fan following in Telugu after the release of her film Chanti. When Meena and Rajinikanth were shooting for Yejaman in Andhra, she was surrounded by a huge number of fans- mostly female- which shocked Rajnikanth. In one interview in 1992 Rajinikanth himself said that Meena is a superstar in Telugu[16] In her follow-up movie with Rajini, Veera, Meena again dazzled. Romantic-comedy film. Rajinikanth, Meena and Roja in the lead role. This film was controversial for its climax but went on to become one of the highest-grossing films in 1994. But the film that brought her true recognition and fame was Muthu, one of Rajini's biggest hits. The movie was successful across Japan. Ranganayaki as the talkative, cheeky street theatre actress won the hearts of the audience. The film was directed by K. S. Ravikumar and produced by K. Balachander, and became the first Tamil film to be dubbed into Japanese, as Mutu: Odoru Maharaja.[47] [48] The film grossed a record US$1.6 million in Japan in 1998 and was responsible for creating a large Japanese fan base for Rajinikanth and Meena. Following the release of Muthu in Japan and its commercial success, Meena's popularity rose in Japan.

She has acted with pretty much all the top superstars from South Indian cinema. But, one hero that she couldn't act with was Vijay. Especially after being approached for 3 to 4 movies. She was supposed to act with him in a few films but it was missed due to the date problem. She was part of an item dance number in one of Vijay's movies Shahjahan in 2001 after the director and producer recommended it.

Meena has the highest-grossing movies as the lead heroine in Malayalam and making her most promising heroine after 30 years also.[17]. No other heroine has that credit in the history of Indian cinema.

Meena's releases in 2009 were Mariyadhai with Vijayakanth, directed by Vikraman. Katha, Samvidhanam: Kunchacko with Sreenivasan.[18] She played in Telugu as Saint Vengamamba in Tarigonda Vengamamba, directed by Uday Bhaskar.[19]

In 2011, she played the role of Narain's sister in the film Thambikottai. Her role in this movie was very good and well accepted.[20][21][22]

After marriage, she paired with Ramesh Aravind in the film Hendtheera Darbar, which was a remake of Varavu Ettana Selavu Pathana

In 2012, Udaya Bhaskar made a film titled Sri Vasavi Vaibhavam Telugu devotional film. Meena playing as a Goddess in the film. This marks her re-entry to films after a long period.[23]

She has agreed to star in an ad film with Prakash Raj. The commercial is being directed by producer Siva. She had played a cameo in J.K. Bharavi's Jagadguru Adi Shankara-devotional film lastly and did justice to her roles.[24] [25]

After a brief hiatus, Meena returned to Malayalam cinema and will be seen playing the role of wife to Mohanlal in Drishyam (2013). Directed by Jeethu Joseph, she will be portraying the role of a mother of two daughters, of which the elder is pursuing her plus two. The actress will also be seen in Pramod Payyanur's Balyakalasakhi alongside Mammootty. The actress would be playing Drishyam's remake in Telugu with Venkatesh.[26] Meena will playing a leading role in Allari Naresh's upcoming movie Mama Manchu Alludu Kanchu.[27][28]

Meena has been a playback singer for some albums with actor Manoj. Meena has composed music and sung and recorded two pop albums, 16 Vayathinile, and Kadhalism, which she began recording in 2001 with actor Vikram.[29][30] Meena has been a playback singer in the music of D. Imman in the movie sena and the song is "indru intha kalayil en nenjil echo aachu", a super hit song.

Meena dubbed for Cheran's movie Pokkisham. Meena has rendered voice for Padmapriya Janakiraman.[31]