Kanika Subramaniam

Divya Venkatasubramaniam Iyer better known by her stage name Kaniha, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema along with a few Tamil, Telugu and Kannada movies. Kaniha made her debut in the 2002 Tamil film ''Five Star''.

Early life

Kanika is born 3 July 1982 as Divya Venkata Subramaniam in Madurai. Her father Venkata Subramaniam Iyer was an engineer. She won the Tamil Nadu State Award for Educational Excellence in 1999. She pursued her Mechanical engineering degree from 1999 to 2003 in BITS Pilani.

Having improved her singing talent since childhood by participating in pop music and light music shows, Divya was interested in performing arts. While she was still studying, she gave stage performances as a pop singer from time to time. When she was scheduled to perform at the Miss Chennai beauty pageant in 2001, she was selected to participate in the pageant after a model had backed out at the last minute. Despite lack of experience, she emerged victorious in the contest, which later paved way for a film career.

Career

Susi Ganesan spotted Kanika on a magazine cover page and insisted on her performing the lead female role in his second feature film. Divya eventually entered the Film industry, accepting the offer, while her name was changed to Kanika. Her debut film was the Mani Ratnam-produced ''Five Star'' (2002) with Prasanna, who made his acting debut as well, in which Kaniha portrayed a traditional village girl. She completed the entire film during her summer holidays, since she was a student.The voice behind Shriya in Sivaji
. Rediff.com (31 December 2004). Retrieved 27 February 2012.

Kanika turned down all projects that were subsequently offered to her, including films by S. Shankar and P. C. Sreeram, and went on to complete her graduation. Even before she finished her graduation, she completed her Telugu debut film ''Ottesi Cheputunna'' during her winter vacations, acting under another stage name Sravanthi.Telugu cinema Review – Naa Autograph – Sweet Memories – Ravi Teja, Bhumika Chawla, Gopika
. Idlebrain.com (11 August 2004). Retrieved 27 February 2012. In regard to her performance, ''Idlebrain'' wrote: "Sravanthy looks homely in the film and suited the character. She performed well. She is good at dances as well".

After completing her studies, Kanika decided to give herself a go at the Tinsel towns. She starred in the Kannada film ''Annavaru'' (2004), a remake of Mani Ratnam's ''Thalapathi'' (1991), stepping into Kannada filmdom, too. She followed the movie with a cameo role in Cheran's ''Autograph.'' Kaniha next appeared in a comedy oriented role in a commercial film by K. S. Ravikumar, ''Aethiree'' along with Madhavan, Sada, in which she portrayed a "naughty Brahmin girl". ''Sify'' labelled her performance in the film as "outstanding". She returned to Telugu cinema, accepting to reprise her role in the Telugu remake of ''Autograph'', ''Naa Autograph'', playing the same role as in the original version. She proved to be an actress to reckon with in the Kannada film ''Sye'', a remake of Tamil film ''Dhill''. She finally ventured into Malayalam cinema as the heroine for the campus-based film ''Ennitum''.

Kanika has ventured into playback singing and dubbing as well. Having a vast experience and being a professional singer before turning actress, Kanika got the offer to sing the theme song of her debut film ''Five Star''. She then became a dubbing artiste, dubbing for actresses Genelia D'Souza in ''Sachein'' (2005), Sadha in ''Anniyan'' (2005) and Shriya Saran in '' Sivaji: The Boss'' (2007).

Later in 2006, she appeared in her biggest project, ''Varalaru'', directed again by K. S. Ravikumar, in which she shared screen space with Ajith Kumar. She won plaudits for her role as a Bharatanatyam dancer's wife. After a two-years gap, her most recent Kannada film '' Rajakumari'' opposite Ravichandran got released, in which she again got to play the female lead role.

At the prime of her career, Kanika moved to "small screen", hosting a couple of TV shows, which she believed were a "refreshing change from movies". She had first hosted the second season of the popular comedy show ''Kalakka Povathu Yaaru'' on STAR Vijay in 2006, following which she had hosted the popular family based game show ''Mega Thanga Vettai'', the annual ''Chutti Vikatan Children's Quiz Show'' both on Sun TV. Besides, she also played a lead role in the television serial ''Thiruvilayadal'' on Sun TV.

After her marriage, when she was supposed to bid adieu to the film industry, Kanika returned to Malayalam cinema in 2009, with the films ''Bhagyadevatha'', directed by veteran Sathyan Anthikkad and starring Jayaram and Narain as well, and ''Pazhassi Raja'', directed by reputed director Hariharan and starring Mammootty, Sarath Kumar and Padmapriya among others. While the former one, in which she played the role of a homely Christian girl, was highly successful at the box office, the latter one, a biographical historical film, in which she played the role of a queen opposite Mammootty. Her performance in ''Bhagyadevatha'' led to her winning several awards. Her rising adulation in the Malayalam industry saw her eventually sign laudable roles in the films ''My Big Father'' and '' Christian Brothers'' before she took a maternity break. In 2012, she was seen in the black comedy ''Cobra'' and '' Spirit'' followed by the drama thriller ''Bavuttiyude Namathil''.

She has judged popular reality shows like ''Sundari Neeyum Sundaran Njaanum'' (2013), on Asianet.

She was starred in ''Mylanchi Monchulla Veedu'' (2014) opposite Jayaram an later in Suresh Gopi's movie '' Rudra Simhasanam'' (2015) directed by Shibu Gangadharan.

In 2015, she judged ''Uggram Ujjwalam'' a Malayalam reality show on Mazhavil Manorama. She judges ''Grand Magical Circus'' on Amrita TV.

She was starred with Mammootty in ''Abrahaminte Santhathikal'' (2018) and '' Mamangam'' (2018). She working with Mohanlal and Prithviraj Sukumaran in the comedy drama '' Bro Daddy'' (2022).

She is best known for her stellar performance in the hit TV serial ''Ethirneechal'' (2022-2024), has once again captivated audiences with her acting versatility. In a lesser-known but significant role, Kaniha made a cameo appearance in director Venkat Prabhu’s much-talked-about film ''The Greatest of All Time'' (2024), starring Vijay.

Advertisements

Kanika has also featured in print and TV ads of some reputed corporates. Some of them are listed below.

* The Chennai Silks
* Kalyan Sarees and Jewellers
* Rathna Thanga Maligai
* Tata Gold Plus
* SPP Silks, Erode
* Aachi Masala
* Seemas Silks
* ICL Fincorp
*Mahalakshmi Silks
* N Style

Personal life

Kanika married Shyam Radhakrishnan, brother of Jayashree on 15 June 2008 who works as a US-based software engineer. They have a son Sai Rishi born in November 2010. Initially she had decided to leave the film industry, finishing her career as an actress, and to settle down in the US, stating that she, however, would complete her hitherto signed films. In January 2009 then, Kanika, unexpectedly, announced her comeback with the Sathyan Anthikkad-directed Malayalam film ''Bhagyadevatha''.

Filmography

As actress

As dubbing artist

As playback singer

Television

Shows

Serials

Awards and nominations

See also

* List of BITS Pilani alumni

References

External links

*

Kanika's profile
at Nilacharal



Flixster Profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanika
Living people
Indian film actresses
Tamil actresses
Actresses in Malayalam cinema
Actresses in Tamil cinema
Actresses in Telugu cinema
Actresses in Kannada cinema
Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani alumni
Tamil television actresses
21st-century Indian actresses
Tamil playback singers
Indian women playback singers
Actresses from Madurai
Singers from Tamil Nadu
Indian voice actresses
Women musicians from Tamil Nadu
21st-century Indian women singers
21st-century Indian singers
Year of birth missing (living people)