20 Dec 2013
Shriya Saran (born 11 September 1982), also known by the mononym Shriya, is an Indian film actress and model. She has acted in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi language films, as well as a few films in English and Kannada. Saran made her film debut in 2001 with the Telugu film Ishtam, and had her first commercial success with Santhosham (2002). She subsequently appeared in several more Telugu films, while making in-roads in the Hindi and Tamil film industries.
In 2007, Saran starred in Sivaji, the highest-grossing Tamil film at that time. She also gained critical acclaim for her role in the 2007 Bollywood film Awarapan. In 2008, Saran played the lead role in her first English film, the American-Indian co-production The Other End of the Line. Her following projects included popular films such as Kanthaswamy (2009) in Tamil, and Pokkiri Raja (2010) in Malayalam, her roles in which have established her as one of the leading actresses in the South Indian film industries.
Apart from her work in films, Saran has been the brand ambassador for several stores across India, endorsing beauty and health products. Among other activities, she has volunteered for a number of charity organisations , and in 2011 opened a spa employing visually challenged people.
Early life
Shriya Saran was born in the Dehradun / Haridwar region of Uttarakhand in Northern India to Pushpendra Saran and Neeraja Saran. Her father worked for Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited and her mother was a chemistry teacher in Delhi Public School, Ranipur in Haridwar and Delhi Public School, Mathura Road, New Delhi. Saran completed her schooling from both schools where her mother had taught. Her family lived in the small town of BHEL colony in Haridwar when she was growing up. She later studied at Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in literature. Saran is an accomplished dancer. She was first trained as a child by her mother in Kathak and Rajasthani folk dance, and later trained in Kathak style by Shovana Narayan. She was involved with many dance teams in college and with her teacher. They would incorporate social issues into their dance routines. She has an older brother named Abhiroop who lives in Mumbai.
Career
Early career
While in her sophomore year at the LSR College in Delhi, Saran got her first
opportunity
to appear in front of the camera for a video shoot. Following her dance teacher's recommendation, she was invited to appear in the music video of Renoo Nathan's "Thirakti Kyun Hawa". Shot in Banaras, the video was seen by Ramoji Films who offered her the lead role of Neha in their film Ishtam. Saran accepted the part, and even before it was released she was signed to four more films, including Nuvve Nuvve, in which she played a millionaire's daughter who falls for a middle class man. In 2002, she starred in Santosham, co-starring Nagarjuna, Prabhu Deva and Gracy Singh, which was her first commercial success. The film took the Nandi Award for Best Feature Film and Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu). Saran played a girl who lets someone she loves go with another, but wins him back later in life. For her performance, she earned a nomination for the CineMAA Award for Best Actor- Female, giving her a good foothold in the Telugu industry in the early part of her career.
In 2003, Saran acted a supporting role in her first Hindi film, Tujhe Meri Kasam, starring debutants Ritesh Deshmukh and Genelia D'Souza in leading roles. She also performed the lead female role in several Telugu films including Tagore, which was screened at theInternational Indian Film Academy Awards, and was a commercial success. She followed it with her Tamil film debut in Enakku 20 Unakku 18, alongside Tarun and Trisha Krishnan, which was simultaneously shot in Telugu as Nee Manasu Naaku Telusu, in which she played a football coach. Though she acted in films in three languages that year, overall eight of the first ten films of her career were in Telugu.
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