Catherine Tresa Alexander (born 10 September 1989) is an Indian actress and model. She has established her career predominantly in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

films. She made her debut in 2010 in the

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

film ''

Shankar IPS ''Shankar IPS'' is a 2010 Indian Kannada language action - crime film written and directed by M. S. Ramesh and produced by K. Manju. The film stars Duniya Vijay along with Catherine Tresa, a model making her debut, and Ragini Dwivedi in the lea ...

''. Catherine has been nominated four times for the

Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassing ...

Early life

She has acted in successful films such as '' Godfather'' (2012), ''

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

'' (2014), ''

Sarrainodu ''Sarrainodu'' () is a 2016 Indian Telugu-language action film written and directed by Boyapati Srinu and produced by Allu Aravind's Geetha Arts. The film stars Allu Arjun, Rakul Preet Singh, Catherine Tresa, Srikanth, and Aadhi Pinisetty. Br ...

'' (2016), '' Nene Raju Nene Mantri'' (2017), ''

Kalakalappu 2 ''Kalakalappu 2'' is a 2018 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language comedy film written and directed by Sundar C and produced by Khushbu. It is a spiritual successor, spiritual sequel to the 2012 film ''Kalakalappu''. The film features Jiiva, Jai ...

'' (2018). Catherine Tresa was born to

Malayali The Malayali people () (also spelt Malayalee and also known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala in India, occupying its southwestern Malabar coast. They are predomin ...

parents, Frank Mario Alexander and Tresa Alexander in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, wikt:دبي, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates#Major cities, most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 ...

. She was born as a Christian. She did her Class 12 in Dubai and moved to

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

for higher education. While studying, she learnt to play piano, and got trained in singing,

dancing Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoi ...

ice skating Ice skating is the self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. Ice skating may be per ...

and debating, stating that she believes that she is "good at anything I put my mind to". In Dubai, Catherine was an Emirates Environment volunteer. At the age of 14, Catherine did some amateur modelling for fashion design graduate students. After coming to India, she modeled for Nalli Silks, Chennai Silks, Fast Track, Josco Jewellers and Deccan Chronicle. She has also shot for Srikantadatta Wodeyar's Maharaja Calendar and had participated with

Prasad Bidapa Prasad Bidapa is a Bangalore based fashion stylist and choreographer for various fashion events and shows. He is known to be a fashion consultant, choreographer, image consultant and stylist. Career He is the pioneer in the Indian Fashion Ind ...

in numerous ramp shows across India.

Career

Catherine made her acting debut in 2010 Kannada film ''

'' opposite

Duniya Vijay B R Vijay Kumar, who is professionally known as Duniya Vijay and Duniya Viji, is an Indian actor who appears in Kannada films. He began his career playing small roles until he got his big break in '' Duniya'' (2007). He is noted for his perform ...

. Catherine went on to act in the

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

films, '' The Thriller'' and '' Uppukandam Brothers: Back in Action''. In 2011, she did a role in the Kannada film ''Vishnu'' that she said was "equally opposite to her real life". It was followed by the Kannada film '' Godfather'' opposite

Upendra Upendra (Devanagari: उपेन्द्र) is an Indian masculine given name. The meaning of the Sanskrit word ' is "younger brother of Indra" and refers to either Krishna or Vishnu, who as a son of Aditi (or in the Vamana avatar) was born subs ...

, which was directed by cinematographer turned film-maker Sethu Sriram. Catherine's character in the film was that of an older mentally challenged woman. Her performance earned her her first nomination for an award in the Best Supporting Actress category at the

60th Filmfare Awards South The 60th Filmfare Awards South ceremony honouring the winners and nominees of the best of South Indian cinema in 2012 is an event that held on 20 July 2013 at the Hyderabad International Convention Center. The Black lady was unveiled by actress ...

. She next signed up for ''

Chammak Challo "Chammak Challo" is a song performed by Akon and Hamsika Iyer, and composed by Akon, Giorgio Tuinfort as well as music director duo Vishal–Shekhar (Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani) and by Gobind Singh, as a part of the soundtrack for t ...

'' directed by Neelakanta, in which she played "an urbane, bold and dynamic girl". It released in February 2013 and failed at the box office, but she got noticed and received positive reviews. APHerald.com called her "a treat to watch" and 123telugu.com noted that "she has the potential to be a superstar in future if she plays her cards right". Catherine played one of the female leads in

Puri Jagannadh Petla "Puri" Jagannadh (born 28 September 1966) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer, who works primarily in the Telugu film Industry. He made his directorial debut with the Telugu film '' Badri'' starring Pawan Kalyan, Renu ...

's Telugu film '' Iddarammayilatho''. The film released in June 2013 and won her rave reviews. Times of India reported "Catherine Tresa perfectly suits the character of Akanksha". Shirirag.com called her "cigarette smoking hot" while Idlebrain Jeevi in his review noted "with a bit of fine-tuning she can become big in Telugu films". Catherine next appeared in ''

Paisa Paisa (also transliterated as ''pice'', ''pesa'', ''poysha'', ''poisha'' and ''baisa'') is a monetary unit in several countries. The word is also a generalised idiom for money and wealth. In India, Nepal, and Pakistan, the ''Paisa'' currently equa ...

'' by

Krishna Vamsi Pasupuleti Venkata Bangarraju, know professionally as Krishna Vamsi, is an Indian film director, producer and choreographer known for his work in Telugu cinema. Vamsi started his career as an assistant director to Ram Gopal Varma. He made his d ...

playing a Muslim in the film, "who is sweet, very inhibited and talks a lot with her eyes" and called it "a total contrast to what I play din ''Chammak Challo''". In 2014, she made her foray into the Tamil film industry with ''

'' in which she starred opposite

Karthi Karthik Sivakumar (born 25 May 1977), better known by his stage name Karthi, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. He has won three Filmfare Awards South, an Edison Award, a SIIMA Award and a Tamil Nadu State Film Aw ...

. The second Tamil film is the S Thanu production, ''

Kanithan ''Kanithan'' () is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by T. N. Santhosh and produced by S. Thanu. The film stars Atharvaa and Catherine Tresa. Sivamani composed the film's music. Having begun production in 20 ...

'' directed by débutante Santosh in which she will be starring opposite

Atharvaa Atharvaa Murali is an Indian actor who works in Tamil cinema. The son of actor Murali and grandson of director S. Siddalingaiah, Atharvaa began his acting career with ''Baana Kaathadi'' (2010). He then garnered critical acclaim for his perform ...

. She then appeared in two Telugu films:

Gunasekhar Gunasekar (born 2 June 1964) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his works in Telugu cinema. He has directed films in action, romance, mythological, and historical drama genres. He has won a National Film Award, multiple N ...

's '' Rudhramadevi'', the first Indian 3D historic film, and ''

Erra Bus ''Erra Bus'' () is a 2014 Indian Telugu-language film directed and produced by veteran actor and director Dasari Narayana Rao under his banner Tharaka Prabhu Films, it was his final film as director. The film stars Vishnu Manchu and Catherine ...

'', directed and produced by

Dasari Narayana Rao Dasari Narayana Rao (4 May 1947 – 30 May 2017) was an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, lyricist, and politician known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema, in addition to Hindi cinema. He has directed more than 150 ...

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tresa, Catherine Living people 1989 births People from Dubai Indian expatriates in the United Arab Emirates Actresses from Bangalore Female models from Bangalore Indian film actresses Malayali people Indian Christians Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Malayalam cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Filmfare Awards South winners South Indian International Movie Awards winners 21st-century Indian actresses