Jyothika

Jyothika Saravanan (née Jyothika Sadanah on 18 October 1977) is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Tamil films. She also acted in a few Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi films. She gained prominence for her performances in Kushi, Snegithiye, Kaaka Kaaka, Perazhagan, Chandramukhi, June R, Pachaikili Muthucharam, Mozhi, and 36 Vayadhinile, winning three Filmfare Awards, three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, three Dinakaran Award, Cinema Express Awards, International Tamil Film Awards and other awards and nominations. She is also a recipient of the Kalaimamani award. Jyothika married co-actor Suriya in September 2006 after being engaged in a relationship for several years. She made a comeback in the film 36 Vayadhinile (2015), which received good reviews from the critics, especially for her performance. She became the first actress to win both Filmfare Award for Best Actress - Tamil & the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress.

Jyothika was born to Chander Sadanah, a film producer Seema Sadanah, in Mumbai, India. Actress Nagma is her half-sister. She completed her schooling in Learner's Academy, Mumbai. She later majored in Psychology at the Mithibai College in Mumbai. She also has a sister Roshini (born Radhika) and a brother Suraj, who is working as an assistant director for Priyadarshan.

Jyothika married actor Suriya on 11 September 2006, with whom she was paired in seven films; Poovellam Kettuppar, Uyirile Kalanthathu, Kaakha Kaakha, Perazhagan, Maayavi, June R and Sillunu Oru Kaadhal. The couple have two children, daughter Diya (born 10 August 2007) and son Dev (born 7 June 2010).

1998–2002

She made her acting debut in the Hindi film Doli Saja Ke Rakhna directed by Priyadarshan, but it did not do well commercially. In a 2000 interview with India Today, Priyadarshan said that he "lapsed into depression" after the film flopped.

Her first role was in Vaali (1999) for which she won Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut – South, and Dinakaran Best Female Debut, Cinema Express Award for Best New Actress – Tamil, "Amudha Surabhi" Best Actress New Comer Award. Later that year, she starred in Poovellam Kettuppar, in which she played the love interest of the protagonist, portrayed by her husband Suriya. The success of the film Kushi became a turning point in her career. A string of successful films followed between 2000 and 2002, among them Mugavaree, Dum Dum Dum and Snegithiye. Her characters had equal importance as the hero. She also acted with Kamal Haasan during this period, in the comedy film Thenali. She was awarded the Filmfare Best Tamil Actress Award and Cinema Express Award for Best Actress – Tamil for her role in Kushi. Her role in Rhythm though small, has been widely appreciated. After the success of Kushi, she was signed to play the female lead in Friends opposite Vijay but she was replaced by Devayani. She collaborated with Mani Ratnam for the first time by appearing in his production house Madras Talkies' romantic comedy Dumm Dumm Dumm alongside Madhavan. The film won positive acclaim and became a success not only in Tamil Nadu but also in Andhra with its dubbed version. She also made an appearance in Kannada film industry opposite Upendra. She had a dual role in this film. The Tamil thriller film directed by Priyadarshan made in all south languages.

2003–2006

In 2003, she starred in Dhool with Vikram, Kaakha Kaakha with Suriya, Thirumalai with Vijay, all of which did well at the box office, Kaakha Kaakha, in particular, being one of the biggest hits of her career. She was listed amongst the Best Actress nominees in Filmfare Awards South for her roles in Dhool and Kaakha Kaakha. She got International Tamil Film Awards Special Jury For Best Actress. Dhool, Kaakha Kaakha and Thirumalai were amongst the top 10 films of the year and The Hindu wrote that she was "virtually the undisputed queen of Kollywood". Actor Vikram referred her as Lady Kamal Hassan due to her dedication in Acting. In 2004, she acted in a double role in the critically acclaimed Perazhagan opposite Suriya. She won Several accolades including Dinakaran Best Actress Award, Tamil Nadu State Best Actress Award, Filmfare Best Actress Nominations & regional awards. In 2005, she acted in Manmadhan opposite Silambarasan. She also performed the lead female role in the Telugu film Tagore, opposite Chiranjeevi, which was screened at the International Indian Film Academy Awards, and was a commercial success.

Her most successful film to date is the Rajinikanth starrer Chandramukhi 2005 in which she played the title role. She won accolades for her performance in Chandramukhi including a Tamil Nadu State Film Awards & Filmfare Awards Nomination. She was also offered to act with Mohanlal in Udayon directed by Bhadran but she could not do it due to busy schedules in Tamil. Her first release in 2006 was Saravana opposite Silambarasan after Manmadhan. Her role in June R was noticed before the release of the film. Jyothika's performance is fine tuned and emotionally engaged. She has underplayed her emotions beautifully. Her films in 2006 include Vettaiyadu Villaiyadu, a crime-thriller film written and directed by Gautham Menon and Sillunu Oru Kaadhal opposite Suriya. Portrayal of bold characters in both of these films helped attain nominations for the Best Actress Category at Filmfare Awards. The former was dubbed into Hindi as The Smart Hunt.

2007–2008

Her last films were Gautham Menon's Pachaikili Muthucharam and the critically acclaimed Mozhi, both in 2007. Her roles in these two films, as a negative character in the former (which she played for the first time) and as a deaf and mute in the latter earned her widespread appreciation. Among these Mozhi won her acclaim. Her performance took her very close to winning the National Film Award for Best Actress. However, she lost the award by a narrow margin at the end. In Pachaikili Muthucharam had a crucial role and pulls off a memorable performance. Her Malayalam films Raakilipattu and Seetha Kalyanam were released in 2007 and 2009 respectively after languishing in development hell for years. Jyothika later made a come back through television adverts. In 2008, she appeared in a short film Herova? Zerova?. The film was written and produced by her father-in-law Sivakumar and also starred Vijay, R. Madhavan and Suriya.

2015–present (comeback)

Jyothika made her comeback to Tamil Cinema with 36 Vayadhinile, a remake of the hit Malayalam film How Old Are You?. The film opened to mixed reviews, both from fans and critics, but she received critical acclaim for her performance in the film as a middle-aged housewife who sets out to stand on her own. She went to receive Filmfare Award for Best Actress - Critics and also received many nominations for best actress. The film went on to become a moderate success at the box office. In the audio release of 36 Vayadhinile, and also at the successful release of the film, Jyothika credited Suriya, her husband, and some of her close friends as the major motivation for her comeback. Recently, in a Tamil TV show named Koffee with DD, Jyothika said that we can expect her in future as an artist, not as a heroine.

Telgu career

Jyothika's first Telgu entry as the lead female role was in the Telugu film Tagore, opposite Chiranjeevi in which she played his wife.The film was screened at the International Indian Film Academy Awards, and was a commercial success. She was offered either of the lead roles opposite him in Indra but she couldn't act along with that offer due to busy schedules in Tamil and her Kannada debut opposite Upendra. Though she debut with Chiranjeevi in Telgu her first Straight Telgu film is One Two Three which was a trilingual film. She was given the lead roles opposite Nandamuri Balakrishna in Lakshmi Narasimha and Maharadhi and the Telgu remake of the 2003 Tamil film success Kaakha Kaakha as Gharshana to reprise her role in the original but she was unable to accept the offer due to date clashes. She acted along with Nagarjuna Akkineni in Mass directed by debutant Raghava Lawrence. She won Nominations in the Best Actress Category at Filmfare Awards. The film was dubbed into Tamil with the title Veeran, which also became a blockbuster and Hindi as Meri Jung–One Man Army. The film recorded as Super Hit at the box-office.

She was approached by producer M.S. Raju for the female lead opposite Prabhas in his film Varsham but she rejected the offer due to a date problem and commitments with Chandramukhi along with Superstar Rajnikanth. She became Lady Superstar with the success of Chandramukhi.Her last film in Telgu was Shock opposite to Ravi Teja. It was produced by Ram Gopal Varma. and she was again nominated for Best Actress at Filmfare Awards. She missed again the opportunity to work with Chiranjeevi in Telgu film Stalin. She was selected as the lead actress opposite Nagarjuna in Sri Ramadasu and Venkatsh in Lakshmi but refused the offers due to busy schedules.

She was asked to act along with Venkatsh again in Adavari Matalaku Ardhalu Verule directed by Tamil film director Sri Raghava (aka Selvaraghavan), making his directorial debut in the Telugu film industry. Jyothika opted out after signing the contract due to her wedding arrangements and it later came to the hands of Trisha Krishnan.

Her Mozhi film was released in Telugu under the title Maataranai Mounamidi which won Critical accolades for her performance and was a commercial success.

Other work

Jyothika has endorsed several brands like Idhayam oil and Paragon footwear in the past. She was also the brand ambassador for RmKV silk sarees and Wardrobe Hub in Chennai. Later, she appeared in adverts for Aircel and Nescafé along with her husband Suriya. She also appeared in commercials for Comfort and Santoor Soap.

Wins

• 1999 – Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut – South: Vaali
• 1999 Dinakaran Award For Best Newcomer: Vaali
• 1999 Amudha Surabhi Best New Comer: Vaali
• 1999 - Cinema Express Awards for Best New Actress – Tamil: Vaali
• 2000 – Filmfare Award for Best Actress - Tamil: Kushi
• 2000 - Cinema Express Award for Best Actress – Tamil: Kushi
• 2001 - Cinema Express Awards Best Onscreen Couple (Shared with Madhavan): Dumm Dumm Dumm
• 2004 – Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress: Perazhagan
• 2004 — International Tamil Film Awards Special Jury For Best Actress: Kaaka Kaaka
• 2004 – Dinakaran Best Actress: Perazhagan
• 2005 – Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress: Chandramukhi
• 2005 – Kalaimamani Award
• 2005 – Dinakaran Best Actress: Chandramukhi
• 2007 – Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress: Mozhi
• 2015 – Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress South: 36 Vayadhinile