Meena Durairaj (born 16 September 1976), known professionally as Meena, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in the

South Indian film industry The Cinema of South India refers collectively to the six distinct film industries based in Southern region of India namely Tamil, Telugu, Tulu, Kannada, Konkani, and Malayalam. Although these industries developed independently for a long p ...

as well as Hindi cinema. Meena has acted in

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, nativ ...

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 S ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

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 ...

, and

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

films. In addition to acting, Meena is also a playback singer, TV judge, and occasional dubbing artist. She has received numerous accolades, including two Filmfare Awards South, three

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards Tamil Nadu State Film Awards were given for excellence in Tamil cinema in India. They were given annually to honour the best talents and provide encouragement and incentive to the South Indian film industry by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The aw ...

, two

Nandi Award for Best Actress The Nandi Award for Best Actress was commissioned in 1977. The winner is awarded a "Silver Nandi" and a cash award of 30,000. Most Awards were received by Vijayashanti and Jayasudha (4 awards each). List of winners of Nandi Awards for Best Ac ...

and

Cinema Express Awards Cinema Express Awards are presented annually by Indian Express Group on behalf of Cinema Express film magazine to honour artistic excellence of professionals in the south Indian film industry which comprises Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam ...

. In 1998, she was honoured with the

Kalaimamani Award The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the ''Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram'' (literature, music and theatre), a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of ...

Government of Tamil Nadu Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, l ...

Early life

Meena was born in 1976 and was brought up in

Chennai 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 ...

(then Madras),

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

. Her mother rajamallika from Kannur district of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

while her father Durairaj is from

Andhra Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

Career

Child artist

Meena started her career in 1982 as a child artist in the film ''

Nenjangal ''Nenjangal'' () is a 1982 Indian Tamil-language film, directed by Major Sundarrajan and produced by Vijayakumar. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Lakshmi , Manjula and Vijayakumar. Cast *Sivaji Ganesan *Lakshmi *Manjula * Vijayakumar * Jyothi ...

'', featuring

Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Ga ...

in the lead role after he saw her at a birthday party. She has acted in several films along with Ganesan as a child artist. She has acted with Rajinikanth in two movies namely ''

Enkeyo Ketta Kural ''Enkeyo Ketta Kural'' () is a 1982 Indian Tamil-language drama film, directed by S. P. Muthuraman. The film stars Rajinikanth in the lead role, with Ambika and Radha playing his love interests and Meena as their daughter. The film was later re ...

'' and ''

Anbulla Rajinikanth ''Anbulla Rajinikanth'' () is a 1984 Indian Tamil-language children's drama film directed by K. Natraj in his debut. The film stars Rajinikanth as himself, Meena, and Ambika. It was released on 2 August 1984, and received positive reviews, w ...

'' as a child artist. ''

'', in which she acted as a terminally ill child who warms up to Rajinikanth —that became a major pointer in her career growth. Her debut in Malayalam as a child artist was in the movie Oru Kochukatha Aarum Parayatha Katha, directed by P.G. Viswambharan. She appeared in over 45 films as a child.

Lead female roles

Meena has been one of the top star pairing up with every big star down South. She made her debut in Telugu beside

Rajendra Prasad Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, Indian independence activist, journalist & scholar who served as the first president of Republic of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian Nationa ...

in ''Navayugam'' in 1990. While her Tamil admission as a heroine was in '' Oru Pudhiya Kadhai'' in the same year. Her first break was through Tamil film ''

En Rasavin Manasile ''En Rasavin Manasile'' () is a 1991 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by Kasthuri Raja in his directorial debut. The film stars Rajkiran and Meena. The film, produced by Rajkiran, had musical score by Ilaiyaraaja and was relea ...

'' (1991) opposite

Rajkiran J. Mohideen Abdul Khadar, known by his stage name Rajkiran, is an Indian actor, producer and director, who has acted in more than 30 Tamil films. Early life Rajkiran was born as J. Mohideen Abdul Khadar on 16 March 1959 at Keelakarai into a Mu ...

, which was directed by

Kasthuri Raja Kasthuri Raja is an Indian film director. He is the father of director Selvaraghavan and actor Dhanush. He worked as an assistant director with Director K.S.G. Most of the films he directed were either village based or infatuation of youngster ...

. Meena's portrayal as Solaiyamma won her fans' hearts. Later, the movie was remade in Telugu as ''Moratodu Naa Mogudu'' (1992) with Meena reprising her role Meena starred in the Malayalam industry with the movie '' Santhwanam'' (1991) where she played as

Suresh Gopi Suresh Gopi (born 26 June 1958) is an Indian actor, politician, playback singer and television presenter. He works predominantly in Malayalam cinema and has also appeared in some Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bollywood films. Suresh made his acti ...

's daughter in the film released in 1991. Its success attracted more roles with senior Malayalam heroes. Meena has expressed a wish to do more films in Malayalam. Telugu film '' Chanti'' (1992), opposite Venkatesh was nominated for

Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu The Filmfare Best Actress Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Telugu films. The awards were extended to "Best Actress" in 1972. Film world, p 43 The year indicates the year of release o ...

and the movie was a big hit at the box office. She made her

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

debut opposite

Chunky Pandey Suyash Panday (born 26 September 1962), better known by his stage name Chunky Panday, is an Indian actor who works in Bollywood films. He has appeared in over 100 films in a career that has spanned over three decades. His most successful films ...

in the film '' Parda Hai Parda'' (1992). This was followed by '' Allari Pilla'' (1992), directed by

Kodi Ramakrishna Kodi Ramakrishna (23 July 1949 – 22 February 2019) was an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. One of the most prolific film directors of Telugu film industry, Kodi Ramakrishna has d ...

. ''

Allari Mogudu ''Allari Mogudu'' () is a 1992 Indian Telugu-language romantic comedy film directed by K. Raghavendra Rao and produced by K. Krishna Mohan Rao under R K Associates. The film stars Mohan Babu, Meena and Ramya Krishna. It was remade in Kannada a ...

'' (1992) and '' Sundarakanda'' (1992), both directed by

K. Raghavendra Rao Kovelamudi Raghavendra Rao (born 23 May 1942) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema besides having directed a few Hindi films. He has garnered four state Nandi Awards and fiv ...

. '' President Gari Pellam'' (1992) with

Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna . 150 – c. 250 CE (disputed)was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist thinker, scholar-saint and philosopher. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.Garfield, Jay L. (1995), ''The Fundamental Wisdom of ...

, directed by A. Kodandarami Reddy. In 1993, another film was ''

Rajeswari Kalyanam ''Rajeswari Kalyanam'' () is a 1993 Telugu-language drama film directed by Kranthi Kumar. The film was produced by D. Kishore under the Sri Jayabheri Art Productions banner and presented by Murali Mohan. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Meena, ...

'', directed by

Kranthi Kumar Talasila Kranthi Kumar was an Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He won two Filmfare Awards and four Nandi Awards. In 1985, he directed '' Sravanthi'', which won the National Fi ...

. She won

for her performance. She followed it up with films like '' Muta Mesthri'' and ''

Yejaman ''Yajaman'' () is a 1993 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by R. V. Udayakumar. It stars Rajinikanth and Meena,. The film was produced by M. Saravanan, M. S. Guhan and M. Subrahmaniam of AVM Productions. It was released ...

''. This performance won her the

Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress The Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress is given by the state government as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil (Kollywood) films. The awards were first given in 1967 and discontinued after 1970. The awards were giv ...

. She plays Sudha, a smart and intelligent young wife in ''

Abbaigaru ''Abbayigaru'' is a 1993 Indian Telugu-language comedy drama film, produced by M. Narasimha Rao under Raasi Movies and directed by E. V. V. Satyanarayana. It stars Venkatesh and Meena, with music composed by M. M. Keeravani. The film record ...

''. She also appeared in the comedy film ''

Allari Alludu ''Allari Alludu'' () is a 1993 Telugu-language comedy film, produced by D. Sivaprasad Reddy under Kamakshi Art Movies and directed by A. Kodandarami Reddy. It stars Nagarjuna, Meena, Nagma, Vanisri and music composed by M. M. Keeravani. The film ...

''. In 1994, she has acted in

P. Vasu Vasudevan Peethambharan, known professionally as P Vasu, is an Indian director, writer and actor who works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam language films. In a career spanning three decades, Vasu has directed over 64 films.

's ''

Sethupathi IPS ''Sethupathi IPS'' is a 1994 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by P. Vasu, starring Vijayakanth and Meena. The film, produced by AVM Productions, deals with the story of a police officer who fights against terrorism. It is one of the b ...

'' co-starring

Vijayakanth Narayanan Vijayaraj Alagarswami (born 25 August 1952), better known by his stage name Vijayakanth, is an Indian politician and former actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil cinema. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Leg ...

. In her follow-up movie again with Rajinikanth in '' Veera'' and '' Muthu'' (1995). Followed by movies as '' Maaman Magal'' (1995), ''

Sengottai Sengottai (also known as Shencottah, Chenkotta or Shenkottai) is a town in the Tenkasi district, of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the gateway to southern Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Spread over an area of 2.68 km2 with a population of over 26,82 ...

'' (1996) and ''

Avvai Shanmugi ''Avvai Shanmugi'' is a 1996 Indian Tamil-language comedy film directed by K. S. Ravikumar and co-written by Crazy Mohan. The film stars Kamal Haasan and Meena, with Gemini Ganesan, Nagesh, Heera, Manivannan, Nassar, Delhi Ganesh and Ann in s ...

'' (1996). She debuted in Malayalam as a lead actress with the 1997 release ''

Varnapakittu ''Varnapakittu'' () is a 1997 Indian Malayalam-language drama film directed by I. V. Sasi and written by Babu Janardhanan from a story by Jokuttan. The film features Mohanlal and Meena in lead roles, with Dileep, Divya Unni, Madhu, Jagadish, ...

'', where in she romance with

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically app ...

on screen. Later the duo was paired in '' Olympian Anthony Adam'' (1999), '' Mr. Brahmachari'' (2003), ''

Natturajavu ''Naatturajavu'' () is a 2004 Indian Malayalam-language action drama film directed by Shaji Kailas and written by T. A. Shahid. The film stars Mohanlal in the lead role and Meena, Nayanthara, Kalabhavan Mani, Kaviyoor Ponnamma , K. P. A. C. ...

'' (2004), ''

Udayananu Tharam ''Udayananu Tharam'' () is a 2005 Indian Malayalam-language black comedy satire film directed by Rosshan Andrrews and written by Sreenivasan based on a story he had co-written with the director. The film stars Mohanlal, Sreenivasan, Meena, Mukes ...

'' (2005) and ''

Chandrolsavam ''Chandrolsavam'' is a 2005 Indian Malayalam-language romantic drama film written and directed by Ranjith. It stars Mohanlal with Meena, Ranjith, Cochin Haneefa, VK Sreeraman, Santhosh and Jagadish in supporting roles. V. Dakshinamoorthy m ...

'' (2005) among others. Venkatesh and Meena, in particular, were a popular pair in Telugu cinema. In 2000, her role in ''Rhythm'' won her the

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

award at the Cinema Express Awards. Meena's releases in 2009 were '' Mariyadhai'' with

, directed by

Vikraman Vikraman is an Indian film director primarily working in Tamil cinema. Career 1990–1994 He worked as an assistant to actor and director R. Parthiban in '' Puthiya Pathai'' (1989), which was the latter's debut film as a director and an act ...

. '' Katha, Samvidhanam: Kunchacko'' with

Sreenivasan Sreenivasan (born 6 April 1956) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, dubbing artist and producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Sreenivasan has starred in over 225 films. Sreenivasan wrote the screenplays of films such as ...

. She played in Telugu as Saint Vengamamba in ''Tarigonda Vengamamba'', directed by Uday Bhaskar.

Return to films

In 2010, Meena returns to the big screen with the Kannada film ''

Hendtheer Darbar ''Hendtheer Darbar'' is a 2010 Indian Kannada language comedy-drama film written and directed by V. Sekhar and produced by G. Ramachandran. The film stars Ramesh Aravind and Meena along with Rangayana Raghu and Sadhu Kokila in pivotal roles. T ...

''. This was her first film after her marriage. In 2011, she played the role of

Narain Narayana (Also rendered Narayane, Narayanan, Narain, Narayankar or Narine) (from Sanskrit नारायण, ''nārāyaṇá'', literally "eternal man") is an Indian name. It is identical in form to the name of the deity Narayana, another name ...

's sister in the film ''Thambikottai''. Meena returned to Malayalam cinema played the role of wife to Mohanlal in ''

Drishyam ''Drishyam'' () is a 2013 Indian Malayalam-language crime thriller film written and directed by Jeethu Joseph. It stars Mohanlal and Meena, with Ansiba Hassan, Esther Anil, Kalabhavan Shajohn, Asha Sharath, Siddique, Roshan Basheer and N ...

'' (2013) and '' Balyakalasakhi'' alongside Mammootty. She reprised her role in the 2014 Telugu remake, ''

Drushyam ''Drushyam'' () is a 2014 Indian Telugu-language crime thriller film directed by Sripriya and jointly produced by D. Suresh Babu and Rajkumar Sethupathi. It is a remake of Jeethu Joseph 2013 Malayalam film ''Drishyam'' and features Venkate ...

''. Meena returned to Tamil cinema in '' Annaatthe'' (2021) with Rajinikanth.

Other work

Music composing

Meena has been a playback singer for some albums with actor

Manoj Manoj is a name of Indian origin. Notable people called Manoj include: Business * Manoj Badale (born 1967), Indian businessman * Manoj Bhargava (born 1953), Indian-American entrepreneur and philanthropist Education * Manoj Chitnavis, British te ...

. Also she has been a playback singer in two pop albums called 16 Vayathinile, and Kadhalism, which she began recording in 2001 with actor Vikram.

Dubbing

Meena dubbed for

Padmapriya Janakiraman Padmapriya Janakiraman, (born 1983) better known mononymously as Padmapriya, is an Indian actress and model. She has acted in over 50 feature films and in 7 different languages: Bengali, Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, English, and Telugu. ...

in Cheran's movie ''

Pokkisham ''Pokkisham'' () is a 2009 Tamil language film directed by Cheran. The feature failed at the box office compared to Cheran's previous work, ''Autograph''. Movie dubbed by Meena and Prasanna. Plot In 1970, a marine engineer Lenin from Calcu ...

''.

Personal life

Meena married Vidyasagar, a Bangalore-based software engineer, on 12 July 2009 at Arya Vysya Samaj Kalyana Mandapam."Meena weds Vidyasagar"
indiaglitz.com, 13 July 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2012 The couple later visited

Tirumala Venkateswara Temple Sri Venkateswara Swami Vaari Temple is a Hindu temple situated in the hill town of Tirumala at Tirupati in Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh, India. The Temple is dedicated to Venkateswara, a form of Vishnu, who is believed to have appeared ...

, Andhra Pradesh. The couple came back to Chennai to hold a reception at Mayor Ramanathan Chettiar Hall, in which all leading southern Indian actors participated. The couple has a daughter Nainika who made her acting debut at the age of 5 in the film '' Theri'' (2016). Vidyasagar died on 28 June 2022 due to lung related ailments.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meena Living people Actresses in Malayalam cinema Child actresses in Malayalam cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Kannada cinema Indian film actresses Indian television actresses Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners Filmfare Awards South winners Nandi Award winners Recipients of the Kalaimamani Award 21st-century Indian actresses Indian child actresses 20th-century Indian actresses Year of birth unknown 1976 births