Parvati Melton is an American model and actress known for her works in Indian Telugu and

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 ...

-language films. She was a 2004 Miss Teen India Bay Area winner and is a trained

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

and classical Indian dancer. She debuted in the film industry with the Telugu film ''

Vennela ''Vennela'' () is a 2005 Telugu cinema, Telugu romantic comedy film written and directed by Deva Katta in his directorial debut. The film stars Raja Abel, Raja and Parvati Melton, while Sharwanand and Ravi Varma (East Godavari actor), Ravi Varma p ...

'' (2005) starring

Raja Raja (; from , IAST ') is a noble or royal Sanskrit title historically used by some Indian subcontinent, Indian rulers and monarchs and highest-ranking nobles. The title was historically used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. T ...

, which turned out to be a success. She acted in the blockbuster Malayalam film '' Hallo'' (2007) with Mohanlal. She again shot to fame with the item song "Poovai Poovai" in Telugu film '' Dookudu'' (2011) opposite Mahesh Babu.

Biography

Parvati was born in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

to a German/ Scottish father Sam Melton and an Indian Punjabi mother Preity Singh. She has one younger sister Ariana Sitara Melton. She is a trained

Bharatanatyam ''Bharatanatyam'' is a Indian classical dance form that came from Tamil Nadu, India. It is a classical dance form recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas of Hinduism and Jainism.< ...

dancer and was a professional figure skater. She graduated from Emeryville High School and attended Vista Community College in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

. She won several

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes sol ...

s like the Miss Teen India Bay Area pageant in 2004 and the Miss India Le Visage USA pageant in 2005. While still studying in Vista College, she was offered the lead role in the Telugu film ''

''. Although she intended to go back to school after the project, the film's success kept her away. She married Shamsu Lalani, a real estate businessman, in 2012 and subsequently retired from films.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Melton, Parvathi Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Actresses from New Jersey Actresses from California American film actresses American people of German descent American people of Punjabi descent American actresses of Indian descent American expatriate actresses in India Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Malayalam cinema 21st-century American actresses