Sneha (actress)

Suhasini Rajaram Naidu (born 12 October 1981), popularly known by her stage name Sneha, is an Indian film actress, who works in the South Indian film industry. She is best known for her girl-next-door demure looks and appearing in female-oriented films. She debuted in the Malayalam film Ingane Oru Nilapakshi (2000), directed by Anil – Babu and was later signed for the Tamil film Virumbugiren, though it was only released two years later. She started getting offers in Tamil and moved her focus to Kollywood, and the movie Ennavale, where she starred opposite R. Madhavan, was released first in the same year. She had her first commercial success with Aanandham in the year 2001. She became one of Tamil cinema's contemporary lead actresses in the 2000s, following appearances in several commercially successful films, and she has shared screen space with all the leading Tamil actors like Kamal Hassan, Ajith, Vijay, Vikram, Suriya, Dhanush and R. Madhavan.
She debuted in Telugu in the year 2001 with the film Priyamaina Neeku, which was a commercial success. Following this, she appeared in many Tollywood films with leading stars like Nagarjuna, Venkatesh, Ravi Teja and Nandamuri Balakrishna, and established herself as one of the leading heroines in Telugu. She sporadically continued in Malayalam and starred opposite Malayalam super stars like Mammootty and Mohanlal. She has also appeared in a few Kannada language films.
She has won a Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award (Tamil) for her performance in Unnai Ninaithu (Autograph) (2002) and also received the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress twice, in 2001 for her performances in the films Virumbugiren, Aanandham, and Punnagai Desam, and later for Pirivom Santhippom (2008). She has also won Nandi Special Jury Award-Telugu for her performance in the movie Radha Gopalam.

Sneha was born as Suhasini in Mumbai to a Tamil Family to Rajaram and Padmavathy, and is the youngest of four children. Her family moved to Sharjah, United Arab Emirates soon after her birth, where she attended school. The family later settled in Panruti, Tamil Nadu where she owned a marriage hall.

Sneha was paired with Prasanna for the first time in Achchamundu! Achchamundu! (2009). Since then, there were numerous reports in the media on their affair. Prasanna was spotted in all her modeling shows and both were spotted together in movie previews. Though both denied it as a rumour, later, on 9 November 2011, Prasanna announced, "Yes... Sneha and I decided to marry soon with the blessings of our parents." They got married on 11 May 2012 in Chennai.

She currently resides in Chennai with her husband. On 10 August 2015, she gave birth to a baby boy.

2000–2004

Fazil nazeem recommended Sneha to Anil-Babu who was searching for a heroine for his love story Ingane Oru Nilapakshi (2000). The film featured Sneha as an aspiring dancer, with the actress performing for seven classical songs. She was signed by Susi Ganeshan for his directorial debut Virumbugiren in 2000, which however became long delayed and Ennavale opposite Madhavan became her first Tamil release. She won many accolades for her outstanding performance. Later that year, Sneha starred in N. Linguswamy's family drama Aanandham and won many awards, which featured her as part of an ensemble cast and in K. Balachandar's Parthale Paravasam. She finished the year with a foray into Telugu cinema, with an appearance in Priyamaina Neeku, followed by Tholi Valapu.

She was part a part of eight films that were released in 2002. M. Raja's Hanuman Junction became a major success. Other films that year included the Vasanth's Hey! Nee Romba Azhaga Irukke, Unnai Ninaithu and April Madhathil. The former bombed at the box office, while the latter emerged commercially successful. Her performance in Unnai Ninaithu led to her being awarded the first Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also won other award for her performance. Subsequently, she acted in lead role in King and a supporting role in Pammal K. Sambandam with Kamal Haasan and Abbas, respectively. Virumbugiren that featured Sneha as a rustic village belle, eventually released in December 2002 and went on to win several Tamil Nadu State Film Awards; Sneha herself won the Best Actress award.

Sneha acted in two films in 2003, Vaseegara with Vijay and a heroine-oriented double role in Parthiban Kanavu. While the former was a failure, the latter was a huge success. She received high praise for her performance in Parthiban Kanavu, with The Hindu writing: "Till date this is the best role that has come Sneha's way and the charming actress has utilised the opportunity well. With make-up or without it, Sneha sparkles".

2004 was a mixed year for the actress, with Jana, Bose and Adhu all failing at the box-office. However, Vasool Raja MBBS opposite Kamal Haasan and Autograph and the Telugu film Venky were huge successes and won several awards.

2005–2008

The years 2005 and 2006 saw her acting in Telugu films such as Sankranthi with Venkatesh, Radha Gopalam with Srikanth, Sri Ramadasu with Nagarjuna, and Thuruppu Gulan with Mammootty winning plaudits at box office, while others released in the respective years turning as average grosser at the box office. She played the role of a commercial sex worker in Selvaraghavan's Pudhupettai, starring Dhanush. With Thuruppu Gulan, she paired with Mammootty. In the year 2006, she made her debut into Kannada film industry through Ravi Shastri, which tanked at the box office.

In 2007, Sneha starred in Naan Avanillai a super hit, while her Telugu films Madhumasam which run over 100 days and Maharadhi and Tamil film Pallikoodam turned out to be above-average grosser at box office.

Pirivom Santhippom, which saw her collaborating with Karu Pazhaniappan again, was her first film in 2008. Co-starring Cheran, the film opened to critical acclaim and emerged a sleeper hit, while fetching Sneha plaudits and several accolades. A review from Sify noted that she was "superb as Sala a woman torn by the dualities of her existence", labelling it as her "career best performance". She won her second Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress, besides the Vijay Award for Best Actress and nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress Award. Her Cameo appearance in the film Kuselan with Rajinikanth marked her 50th film in her career. She tried highly glamorous roles with Pandi and Inba, both turning out to be average grossers. She paired with Silambarasan in Silambattam which gave her another commercial success. Her Telugu films Nee Sukhame Ne Korukunna and Pandurangadu turned out to be average grossers while Adivishnu flopped at the box office.

2009–2012

The thriller films Achchamundu Achchamundu, co-starring Prasanna and Hollywood actor John Shea, and Amaravathi, were her only releases of 2009 in Tamil and Telugu, respectively. Both films won many plaudits for dealing with bold themes of pedophiles and womb stealing, respectively. The former film won many awards in the International Panorama and the latter grossed average at box office.

In 2010, she starred in Venkat Prabhu's Goa. She again forayed into a glamorous ultra-modern chick role with a few shades of grey. She made cameo appearances in Vishal's Theeratha Vilayattu Pillai and the critically acclaimed Vasanthabalan directorial Angadi Theru. She also appeared in three Malayalam films. She acted in Pramani with Mammootty and paired up with Mohanlal for the first time in Shikkar, The Hunt, which was a huge success and considered as a milestone in Mohanlal's history. Her last release of 2011 was Vande Mataram. Starring opposite Mammootty again, she played an aviator in the film, which released to mixed critical response and bombed at the box-office.

In 2011, she was first seen as a tough Police Officer in Bhavani IPS, which opened to mixed reviews and bombed at the box office, although Sneha received praise for her performance. Ponnar Shankar, a period film penned by M. Karunanidhi, where she appeared as a warrior-princess, opened to mixed reviews and didn't do well at the box-office. Rajanna, a period film based on Telangana issue opposite Nagarjuna for the second time, released on 22 December 2011 to stupendous reviews.

In 2012, she appeared in a guest role along with actor Vikram for the film Marina and as an Air Hostess in a cameo role in the movie Oru Kal Oru Kannadi. Her long canned movie, Murattu Kaalai with Sundar C was released on 15 June 2012 to mixed reviews, being her first movie post marriage.

Post-marriage (2013 – present)

In 2013, she acted in a critically acclaimed movie Haridas. The movie opened to critical acclaim and performed well at the box office. Sneha was nominated for Filmfare Best Actress Award for her performance in the movie.

In 2014, she starred in a cameo role in Vijay Sethupathi's Pannaiyarum Padminiyum. Her next release was a trilingual made in Kannada, Tamil and Telugu – Un Samayal Arayil, the official remake of the Malayalam blockbuster Salt N' Pepper, where she starred opposite Prakash Raj and a bunch of debutantes. The Kannada version turned out to be a blockbuster while the other two versions tanked at the box office. Sneha's performance in the movie was widely praised. Sneha later hosted a Tamil reality television show Melam Kottu Thali Kattu and the show was aired for 2 seasons.

In 2015, Sneha appeared in a Telugu film S/O Satyamurthy with Allu Arjun, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Nithya Menen opposite Upendra directed by Trivikram Srinivas which turned out to be a blockbuster. That was her only release in 2015 and she has been in maternity break since then.

In 2016, after her maternity break for 1 year, Sneha signed a Malayalam movie opposite Mammootty produced by actors Prithviraj Sukumaran and Arya. She has also signed a Tamil movie to be directed by Mohan Raja alongside Sivakarthikeyan and Nayanthara. Both the movies are in pre-production stages. Sneha has also been signed up to judge a Tamil reality TV show alongside Raadhika Sarathkumar.

She has 10 days of shoot left in her much delayed movie Vidiyal opposite R. Sarath Kumar. She is also reported to have been hearing scripts to star opposite her husband Prasanna. The couple is also in talks for opening their own Production House.

Other assignments

Sneha was to make her Bollywood debut with Mad Dad, alongside Naseeruddin Shah and Ayesha Takia to be directed by Revathy S Varma. Sneha was also roped in to play Sita in Rajkumar Santoshi's Ramayan featuring Ajay Devgn in lead. However, both the projects failed to take off. She was also reported to play a major role in Kochadaiyaan to be written by K. S. Ravikumar and directed by Soundarya Rajinikanth. In December 2011, Sneha confirmed in an interview that she will be starring opposite Rajinikanth. But later, she opted out of the project to allocate dates for the film Haridas to which, is already committed.

Modeling

She has appeared in many commercials like Saravana Stores, Horlicks, Roobini Oil, Aashirvaad, Idhayam Dots, Jos Aalukkas, Power Shampoos, Shree Devi Textiles, Preethi Mixi, GRB Udhayam Ghee, Papilon, Vencobb Chicken, Nisha Fairness Cream, Kellogg's Chocos, Tata Salt etc. In 2010, she was announced the brand ambassador for Dabur Amla Nelli Hair Oil and Cavin Kare's Chinni's Pickle. Post marriage, Sneha along with her husband Prasanna worked on Univercell commercials which created viral response.

She also appeared in numerous fashion shows like Chennai International Fashion Week, Sydney Sladen Fashion Week and other shows which were held in Chennai and Mumbai.