Meera Vasudevan (born 29 January 1982) is an Indian actress, who has mainly appeared in films and TV soap's in

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 ...

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, nati ...

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...

and

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 ...

language. She received the

Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize Recipients Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won. * The year mentioned refers to the year in which the films released. This is the list of Winners of Jury's Special Award See also * Tamil cinema * Cinema of Indi ...

in 2005 and the

Kerala State Television Award for Best Actress The Kerala State Television Award for Best Actress is an honour presented annually at the Kerala State Television Awards of India to an actress for the best performance in a leading role in a Malayalam telefilm or serial. Until 1997, the awards w ...

in 2007. Currently she is playing a main lead role in the popular Malayalam soap opera '' Kudumbavilakku'' telecasting on Asianet .

Early life

Meera was born in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

, Maharashtra in a

family as the eldest daughter to Vasudevan and Hemalatha. She has one younger sister Ashwini, who shot to fame as a child artist for ''

Jaanam Samjha Karo ''Jaanam Samjha Karo'' () is a 1999 Indian Hindi-language romance film directed by Andaleb Sultanpuri who is the son of veteran lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri who made his directorial debut with this film and it remains his only film he had directed ...

'' a

Salman Khan Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan (; 27 December 1965) is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who works in Hindi films. In a film career spanning over thirty years, Khan has received numerous awards, including two Nationa ...

starrer. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in arts,

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

and

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

, she became a successful model, appearing in many ad films, shooting into fame. The ICC setmax campaign was her call to success and marked her entry into acting.

Career

Her entry into the film industry happened through the 2003

satirical film Satire is a television and film genre in the fictional or pseudo-fictional category that employs satirical techniques, be it of a political, religious, or social variety. Works using satire are often seen as controversial or taboo in nature, with ...

'' Rules: Pyaar Ka Superhit Formula'', alongside

Milind Soman Milind Soman (born 4 November 1965) is an Indian actor, supermodel, film producer, and fitness enthusiast. He was a contestant on '' Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 3''. Early and personal life Soman was born on 4 November 1965 in Glasgow, ...

. After about 4 years of failed screen tests, the Setmax ad shot by Prahlad Kakkar won the best ad campaign of the year, and was noticed by the director Parvati Balagopalan's mother and got her a screen test for ''Rules: Pyaar Ka Superhit Formula'', for which she was nominated for best upcoming actress by Screen Awards and Sansui – PNC Awards. Her

Telugu film Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, H ...

''Golmaal '', however, released first. The same year she made her film debut in the

Tamil film industry Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kolly ...

as well, appearing in

Samuthirakani Samuthirakani (born 26 April 1973) is an Indian actor and film director who predominantly works in Tamil films and Telugu films besides appearing in a number of Malayalam films. He worked as an assistant to director K Balachander. He won the N ...

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

'' Unnai Saranadainthen'', in which she shared screen space with

Venkat Prabhu Venkat Kumar Gangai Amaren (born 7 November 1975), better known by his stage name Venkat Prabhu, is an Indian filmmaker, actor and playback singer in Tamil films. After completing his education, he began pursuing an acting career, with his firs ...

and

S. P. B. Charan Sripathi Panditharadhyula Charan is an Indian film playback singer, actor, producer and director known for his works in Tamil cinema and Telugu cinema. He is the son of legendary singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam. He first worked as a playback ...

. Her portrayal of Bobby, an adamant village girl, in the film, was appreciated by critics and earned her the Tamil Nadu State Film Special Award for Best Actress. After unsuccessful films like ''Anjali I Love You'' in Telugu and ''Arivumani'' in Tamil, she stepped into the

Malayalam film industry Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, ''Elippathayam ...

in 2005 with the

Blessy Blessy Ipe Thomas is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Malayalam cinema. He has won one National Film Award and six Kerala State Film Awards for his feature films ''Kaazhcha'' (2004), '' Thanmathra'' (2005), and ''Pranayam ...

-directed ''

Thanmathra ''Thanmathra'' ( ml, തന്മാത്ര, en, Molecule) is a 2005 Indian Malayalam-language drama film written and directed by Blessy, based on Padmarajan's short story "Orma". It portrays the effects of Alzheimer's disease on the life o ...

'', alongside Malayalam actor

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 appe ...

. Her performance as Lekha Ramesan, a

housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home— housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buyin ...

and mother of two children, received positive reviews and she received the Best Female New Face Award at the 2005 Ujala-Asianet Awards. In 2006, she again starred in a Hindi film, ''Jaadu Sa Chal Gayaa'', after 3 years, following which she appeared in the Tamil

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

Jerry Jerry may refer to: Animals * Jerry (Grand National winner), racehorse, winner of the 1840 Grand National * Jerry (St Leger winner), racehorse, winner of 1824 St Leger Stakes Arts, entertainment, and media * Jerry (film), ''Jerry'' (film), a 200 ...

'' as a

police inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...

and the Malayalam drama film '' Oruvan'', in which she again enacted the role of a housewife. Meera next starred in a number of Malayalam-language films, which include '' Ekantham'', ''Valmeekam'' and ''

Kaakki ''Kaakki'' is a 2007 Indian Malayalam-language film, directed by Bibin Prabhakar, starring Prithviraj and Mukesh in the lead roles. The film received mixed reviews. The film was shot in Kozhikode. Cast *Prithviraj as Sub Inspector Unnikrishnan ...

'' and two Hindi-language films, ''

Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii ''Chain Kulii Ki Main Kulii'' is a 2007 Hindi-language Indian fantasy sports comedy film directed by Karanjeet Saluja (also known as Kittu Saluja). It stars Zain Khan and Rahul Bose. The film features music by Salim–Sulaiman and lyrics by Ir ...

'' and ''

Thodi Life Thoda Magic ''Thodi Life Thoda Magic'' is a 2008 Hindi film directed by Aanand L. Rai, and produced by Bhavesh Patel, Akshay Shah & Saahil Chhada. The film stars Jackie Shroff, Parmeet Sethi, Paresh Rawal, Arbaaz Khan and Anita Raj in pivotal roles. Cricket ...

'' in 2007. Simultaneously she made her television debut in Tamil and Malayalam with Penn and Kanalpoovu respectively . The later series earned her the

making her a prominent figure in television and films along Malayali audience. In 2009, she had three releases, the Malayalam-language films ''

Orkkuka Vallappozhum ''Orkkuka Vallappozhum'' (Remember Once A while) is a Malayalam movie released in 2009. This 120-minute feature has Thilakan as Sethumadhavan - a seventy-year-old enjoying his retired life and trying to rediscover the innocence of his past. It m ...

'', ''

Decent Parties ''Decent Parties'' is a 2009 Malayalam-language film by Abraham Lincoln starring Jagadish. Plot Sudheendran (Jagadish) is a photographer and runs Padma Studio, a photo studio. His friend Rafeeque (Salim Kumar), a film production executive, hel ...

'' and '' Vairam: Fight For Justice'', in which she portrayed a Malayali housewife, whose daughter gets molested and killed. The fourth release was '' Aattanayagan'', co-starring Sakthi Vasu and

Remya Nambeeshan Remya Nambeesan (born 24 March 1986) is an Indian actress, playback singer and dancer, who primarily works in Malayalam cinema. She started her career as an actress through the 2000 film ''Sayahnam''. She has acted in more than 65 films includin ...

. After a hiatus she made her comeback to Malayalam films in 2017 with

Chakkaramaavin Kombathu Chakkaramaavin Kombathu is a 2017 Malayalam language film produced by Rajan Chirayil and Jimson Gopal, and directed by Tony Chittettukalam. The film stars Gaurav Menon and Derek Rajan in the lead roles along with Joy Mathew, Harisree Asokan, M ...

and later portrayed notable roles in offbeat films like Silence, appuvinte sathyanveshanam, Paykappal and Panigrahanam. In 2020, she moved her focus to television playing the female lead ''Sumithra'' in Malayalam television serial '' Kudumbavilakku'' on Asianet and antagonist in Tamil series Chithi-2 on Sun TV which rose her popularity again among the south Indian audience.

Personal life

Meera married Vishal Agarwal, son of cinematographer

Ashok Kumar Kumudlal Ganguly (13 October 1911 – 10 December 2001), better known by his stage name Ashok Kumar and also by Dadamoni, was an Indian actor who attained iconic status in Indian cinema and who was a member of the cinematic Ganguly family. He ...

in 2005. They divorced in July 2010. In 2012, she married Malayalam actor John Kokken, with whom she has a son and got separated in 2016.

Filmography

Television

Serials

Shows

Commercials

Commercials appeared in from 2003 till present date * Videocon internet TV with Shah Rukh Khan by UTV, Deven Khote * Fair & Lovely by Nirvana films, Prakash Varma * Kenstar by Red ice prodn, E. Niwas * Knorr soup by mindscreen, Rajiv Menon * ICC World Cup Cricket Rangoli by genesis prodns, Prahlad Kakkar * Reliance R-World with Virendra Sehwag by Apocalypse films; Pradeep Sarcar * Coke with Vikram by mindscreen, Rajiv Menon * Fair & Lovely Talc by UTV, Deven Khote * Chennai Silks by J.D. & Jerry * Surf Excel by VKP, Trends * Alpenliebe by Keroscene films * Pears junior by Black Magic prodns * Pilsbury '2010 feb (now on air) by Narayan, for Fingerprint films * Hosting Discovery travel and living, Indian rendezvous with Chennai as the celebrity anchor for Discovery Channel * Pankajakasthuri Breathe Eazy * Setmax * Kodak * Kudumbashree * Vanitha Magazine * Arogya Masika * Kaarthika - Hairwash powder * Hyra Foods

Awards

; Kerala State Television Awards *2007 : Kerala State Television Award for Best Actor in a Lead role - Female - ''Kanalpoovu''

Asianet Television Awards The Asianet Television Awards (ATA) is one of Asianet's newer ventures. It is a promotional platform of Asianet's TV shows. Since TV actors and actress' lack a strong society like Association of Malayalam Movie Artists The Association of Mala ...

*2022 : Best Popular Actress - '' Kudumbavilakku''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vasudevan, Meera 21st-century Indian actresses Indian film actresses Tamil actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema Female models from Mumbai Living people Actresses in Malayalam cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema 1982 births Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners Actresses from Mumbai Actresses in Telugu cinema Kerala State Television Award winners Actors from Mumbai Actresses in Tamil television Actresses in Malayalam television Actresses in Hindi television