Abitha is an Indian film and television

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

who appears in Tamil language films and teleserials. She appeared in notable productions including ''Sethu'' alongside Vikram. She is famous for her role as Archana in the teleserial '' Thirumathi Selvam'', which aired from 2007 to 2013 in Sun TV starring opposite

Sanjeev Sanjeev may refer to: *Sanjeev (Tamil actor, born 1975) (born Sanjeev Venkatasubramanian) *Sanjeev (Tamil actor, born 1989) *Sanjeev Kumar, Indian actor *Sanjeev Bhaskar, British Indian comedian *Sanjeev Nanda, Indian businessman *Sanjeev Kohli, Sc ...

. She was the winner of Sun Kudumbam Viruthugal for Best Actress twice by

Sun Kudumbam Viruthugal The Sun Kudumbam Awards is an awards ceremony held to honour the cast and crew of the television serials which air on Sun TV, presented by Sun Network. This is the first time in the Tamil Television industry where awards are given for performan ...

for ''Thirumathi Selvam'' in the years 2010 and 2012.

Career

As a teenager, Abitha used to go and see the television serial, ''Nancy'' starring

Sanghavi Sanghavi (born Kavya Ramesh) is an Indian actress and a model known for her work predominantly in Telugu and Tamil language films. She was one of the leading actresses in South Indian cinema for a decade from 1993 to 2004. In her career spann ...

, being filmed near her house in

Thiruvottiyur Tiruvottriyur (Thiruvottiyur or TVT) is a neighbourhood in North Chennai, administered by the Greater Chennai Corporation. It is part of the Tondiarpet division, located to the north of Chennai. It is one of the fifteen administrative zones in ...

. The director of that serial recognised her and spoke to her parents, roping her in to play the heroine's sister in their next TV serial ''Criminal''. After doing a couple of serials, she did a low-budget film titled '' Golmaal'' as the sister of the lead lady and then B-Grade film titled ''Devadasi'' in Malayalam. At that time, director Bala roped her in for a leading role in '' Sethu'' alongside Vikram, which she signed after

Keerthi Reddy Keerthi Reddy is an Indian former actress who appeared primarily in Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi language films. Her notable work includes '' Tholi Prema'' (1998), '' Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat'' (2001) and '' Arjun'' (2004). She has received a Film ...

and Rajshri had dropped out. Bala renamed her Abitha from her original name of Jenila for the film, after the character she was portraying. The film opened in December 1999 at a single noon show at a suburban theatre but built up through word-of-mouth publicity and ran for over one hundred days at several cinema halls across

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 ...

, becoming a critical and commercial success. ''Sethu'' won the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil The Indian Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several aw ...

and secured wins in the Best Film category at the Filmfare Awards and the

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 ...

, while Abitha won critical acclaim for her role of a timil Brahmin girl. After ''Sethu''s success, Abitha was flooded with offers but chose to complete her studies and finish her PG in Sociology from

Annamalai University , logo = CampusmapofAU.jpg , image = Annamalai University logo.png , image_size = 225px , motto = "With Courage and Faith" , established = , type ...

. She revealed that by the time she decided to come back she had lost her contacts in the industry and was thereafter seen in only a couple of insignificant projects. She appeared alongside veteran actor

Ramarajan Ramarajan (born 18 October, 1960) is an Indian actor, writer, director and politician who specialised in acting and directing films on village-based subjects. He is also known as ''Makkal Nayagan'' in Tamil cinema. Career Ramarajan started his c ...

in Seerivarum Kaalai before starring in '' Poove Pen Poove'' alongside newcomer Ishaq Husseini. After the failure of those films she played the role of Arjun's sister in '' Arasatchi''. Other films in the period, such as ''Pirantha Naal'' with

Prakash Raj Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam-language films, he is the recipient of severa ...

, ''Kashmir'' with Abhinay and ''Kandhavel'' with Murali were not completed and indefinitely shelved. In 2005, she got another breakthrough and signed on to play the lead role in '' Kannamma'' scripted by

Karunanidhi Muthuvel Karunanidhi (3 June 1924 – 7 August 2018) was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011. He was popularly referred to as Kalaignar (Art ...

, but to do so she unceremoniously opted out of another film titled ''Ullakadathal''. Subsequently, the producers of that film complained and got her banned by the Producer's Council, leaving her out of both films. Later that year she featured in '' Unarchigal'' alongside

Abbas Abbas may refer to: People * Abbas (name), list of people with the name, including: **Abbas ibn Ali, Popularly known as Hazrat-e-Abbas (brother of Imam Hussayn) **Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, uncle of Muhammad ** Mahmoud Abbas (born 1935), Palest ...

and

Kunal Kunala (IAST: ) (263 BC – ?) was a son of Emperor Ashoka and Queen Padmavati and the presumptive heir to Ashoka, thus the heir to the Mauryan Empire which once ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent. After the departure of Mahendra, As ...

. Her next film was ''Suyetchai MLA'', which had a delayed release in 2006, and featured her opposite

Sathyaraj Rangaraj Subbiah (born 3 October 1954), professionally known as Sathyaraj, is an Indian actor, producer, director and a media personality who has predominantly appeares in Tamil cinema and Telugu Cinema. His 240 films also include works in Mala ...

and she was last seen in '' Nam Naadu'' as the wife of Saranraj. Abitha made her small screen debut as the main lead actress in '' Thirumathi Selvam'' in 2007 in which she starred opposite

. The show made them establish as one of the most celebrated pair of small screen and made them enjoy immense popularity among Tamil audience for their characters ''Selvam '' and ''Archana'' in the show. The show was a Superhit ruling the Tamil small screen for 4 and half years from 2008 to 2013. Abitha was selected the best actress of Sun TV in the first two editions of Sun Kudumbam awards held in the years 2010 and 2012 for her performance as Archana in the show. She also starred in the low profile serial ''Thangamana Purushan.'' She got married in 2009 and continued to work in serials following her marriage.

Filmography

Television

References

External links

* {{authority control Actresses in Tamil cinema Living people Indian film actresses Actresses in Malayalam cinema 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Indian television actresses Actresses in Malayalam television Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Tamil television 1985 births