Sayyeshaa Saigal (born 12 August 1997), known

mononymously A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains ...

as Sayyeshaa, is an Indian actress who primarily works in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

films. She made her acting debut with the Telugu film '' Akhil'' (2015), for which she received

SIIMA Award for Best Female Debut – Telugu SIIMA Award for Best Female Debut – Telugu is presented by Vibri media group as part of its annual South Indian International Movie Awards, for the best acting done by a female actor in a leading role in her debut Telugu film. The award was f ...

nomination. Sayyeshaa made her Hindi film debut with ''

Shivaay ''Shivaay'' is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed and produced by Ajay Devgn under his banner Ajay Devgn Films from a story written by Sandeep Shrivastava. The film stars Ajay Devgn in the title role along with debu ...

'' (2016), receiving

Stardust Award for Superstar of Tomorrow – Female Stardust may refer to: * A type of cosmic dust, composed of particles in space Entertainment Songs * “Stardust” (1927 song), by Hoagy Carmichael * “Stardust” (David Essex song), 1974 * “Stardust” (Lena Meyer-Landrut song), 2012 * ...

nomination. She then made her Tamil film debut with ''

Vanamagan ''Vanamagan'' () is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language action adventure film written and directed by A. L. Vijay. The film stars Ravi Mohan and Sayyeshaa, with Prakash Raj, Thambi Ramaiah, and Varun in supporting roles. The music was composed by Ha ...

'' (2017) and received SIIMA Award for Best Debut Actress - Tamil nomination. Her successful films include ''

Kaappaan ''Kaappaan'' () is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by K. V. Anand and written by Pattukkottai Prabakar. It was produced by Lyca Productions and stars Suriya, Mohanlal and Arya in lead roles along with Sayyeshaa, Sam ...

'' (2019) and ''

Yuvarathnaa ''Yuvarathnaa'' () is a 2021 Indian Kannada-language action drama film directed by Santhosh Ananddram and produced by Vijay Kiragandur under the banner of Hombale Films. The film stars Puneeth Rajkumar, Sayyeshaa, Dhananjay, Prakash Raj, Digant ...

'' (2021), her Kannada film debut.

Early life and background

Sayyeshaa was born as Sayyeshaa Saigal on 12 August 1997 in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. She is the daughter of actors

Sumeet Saigal Sumeet Saigal (born 18 February 1966) is an Indian former actor and producer who was active in Bollywood from 1987 to 1995, appearing in over 30 films. Career Saigal made his debut in the 1987 film ''Insaniyat Ke Dushman'' and played leading o ...

and Shaheen Banu. Sayyeshaa is the grandniece of actors

Saira Banu Saira Banu (born 23 August 1944) is an Indian actress who mainly worked in Hindi films. Regarded amongst the finest actors of Hindi cinema, she was among the most popular actresses of the 1960s and early 1970s. Banu received four Filmfare Award ...

, who is her mother's aunt and

Dilip Kumar Dilip Kumar (born Muhammad Yusuf Khan; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021) was an Indian actor and film producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated Hindi cinema from the 1950s throughout t ...

, and the great granddaughter of

Naseem Banu Naseem Banu (4 July 1916 – 18 June 2002) was an Indian actress. Starting her acting career in the mid-1930s she continued to act till mid-1950s. Her first film was '' Khoon Ka Khoon'' (Hamlet) (1935) with Sohrab Modi under whose Minerva Mo ...

. Sayyeshaa completed her schooling from Ecole Mondiale World School, Juhu. Her parents got divorced in 2003. Actress

Farah Naaz Farah Naaz Hashmi, commonly credited as Farah, is a leading Bollywood actress of the mid 1980s and Mid 1990s. She is the elder sister of Tabu. Farah made her debut in ''Faasle'' in 1985 under the Yash Chopra films banner. She was one of the p ...

is her step-mother.

Personal life

Sayyeshaa started dating Tamil actor

Arya ''Aryan'' (), or ''Arya'' (borrowed from Sanskrit ''ārya''),Oxford English Dictionary Online 2024, s.v. ''Aryan'' (adj. & n.); ''Arya'' (n.)''.'' is a term originating from the ethno-cultural self-designation of the Indo-Iranians. It stood i ...

after ''

Ghajinikanth ''Ghajinikanth'' is a 2018 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Santhosh P. Jayakumar and produced by K. E. Gnanavel Raja. The film stars Arya (actor), Arya and Sayyeshaa in the lead roles. It is a r ...

'' (2019). They got married on 10 March 2019, according to

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

traditions in

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

. Their daughter Ariana was born on 23 July 2021. Tamil actor Sathya is her brother-in-law.

Career

Debut and career expansion (2015–2018)

Sayyeshaa made her film debut in 2015 with the Telugu film '' Akhil''. She portrayed a medical student opposite

Akhil Akkineni Akhil Akkineni (born April 8, 1994) is an American-born actor in Telugu films of India. He debuted as a child artist in the film '' Sisindri'' (1994), for which he won a Filmfare Special Award. Akhil made his debut as a lead actor with '' Akhi ...

. The film was a commercial failure. ''

Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' noted, "Sayyeshaa is a surprise even though she isn’t given much to do. She emotes really well and dances like a dream." She received

nomination for the film. She made her Hindi film debut opposite

Ajay Devgn Vishal Veeru Devgan (born 2 April 1969), known professionally as Ajay Devgn, is an Indian actor, film director, and producer. One of the most prolific actors of Hindi cinema, Devgn has appeared in over Ajay Devgn filmography, 100 films and ha ...

in his second directorial film ''

''. She portrayed an IFS officer. It was commercially unsuccessful but ran for more than 50 days at the box office. ''

Bollywood Hungama Bollywood Hungama (lit. "Bollywood Madness" in Hindi), previously known as IndiaFM (or IndiaFM.com), is an Indian entertainment website, owned by Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, which acquired the website in 2000. The website provides n ...

'' stated, "Sayyeshaa does justice to her character." While ''

'' termed her performance "decent". She received a

nomination for her performance. In 2017, she made her Tamil film debut with ''

''. She portrayed a businesswoman opposite

Jayam Ravi Ravi Mohan (born 10 September 1980), better known by his former stage name Jayam Ravi, is an Indian actor who works in Tamil cinema. The son of veteran film editor A. Mohan, Ravi made his lead acting debut in ''Jayam (2003 film), Jayam'' (2003) ...

. ''

Deccan Chronicle ''Deccan Chronicle'' is an English-language daily newspaper based in Hyderabad, India. Founded in 1938, it was initially launched as a Weekly newspaper, weekly and later converted into a daily. The newspaper's name reflects its origins in the ...

'' stated, "Sayyeshaa looks ravishing and she steals the show with her effortless performance." Sayyeshaa had three releases in 2018. She first appeared opposite

Karthi Karthik Sivakumar (born 25 May 1977), credited as Karthi, is an Indian actor who works in Tamil Cinema. He is son of veteran actor Sivakumar who began his career as an assistant director in his elder brother Suriya's film '' Aayutha Ezhuthu ...

in ''

Kadaikutty Singam ''Kadaikutty Singam'' () is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by Pandiraj and produced by Suriya on his studio 2D Entertainment. The film features an ensemble cast of Karthi, Sayyeshaa, Sathyaraj, Soori, Viji ...

''. It was a box-office success. ''

'' mentioned, "Sayyeshaa looks beautiful and hogs the limelight despite limited scope." Next, she appeared in '' Junga'' opposite

Vijay Sethupathi Vijaya Gurunatha Sethupathi Kalimuthu (born 16 January 1978) is an Indian actor and film producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, Tamil films. Sethupathi is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Film Awards, National F ...

. ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

'' noted, "Sayyeshaa looks gorgeous, her role is minimal but she has done it well." She next appeared in ''

'', a remake of the Telugu film ''

Bhale Bhale Magadivoy ''Bhale Bhale Magadivoy'' () is a 2015 Indian Telugu-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Maruthi. Produced by Bunny Vasu under the production companies GA2 Pictures and UV Creations, ''Bhale Bhale Magadivoy'' stars Nani and L ...

''. She portrayed a Kuchupudi dancer opposite

. ''

Sify Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology (ICT) company providing telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation integration services, and ...

'' mentioned, "Sayyeshaa looks super gorgeous. The actress scores well with her cute expressions and energetic moves."

Further career and recent work (2019–present)

Sayyeshaa portrayed PM's press secretary opposite

Suriya Saravanan Sivakumar (born 23 July 1975), known professionally as Suriya, is an Indian actor and film producer who primarily works in Tamil films. One of the highest-paid Tamil actors, Suriya is considered as one of the finest actors of Indian ...

in the 2019 film ''

''. It also starred

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (; born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor and filmmaker who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hin ...

, and Arya. It was a commercial success. ''

The Week ''The Week'' is a weekly news magazine with editions in the United Kingdom and United States. The British publication was founded in 1995 and the American edition in 2001. An Australian edition was published from 2008 to 2012. A children's edi ...

'' termed her role as a "better fleshed out character". Sayyeshaa had two releases in 2021. She first portrayed a college student opposite Arya in ''

Teddy Teddy is an English language given name, usually a hypocorism of Edward or Theodore or Theodora. It may refer to: People Nickname * Teddy Atlas (born 1956), American boxing trainer and fight commentator * Teddy Bourne (born 1948), British Olym ...

''. It released on

Disney+ Hotstar Disney+ Hotstar, also known as JioHotstar or simply Hotstar, is an Indian subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Disney Star. The brand was introduced as Hotstar for a streaming service carrying content from Di ...

. ''

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...

'' stated, "Arya's chemistry with Sayyeshaa has worked really well. It makes you root for both the characters." She made her Kannada film debut with ''

'' opposite

Puneeth Rajkumar Dr. Puneeth Rajkumar (17 March 1975 – 29 October 2021), affectionately known as Appu (by his fans, after his first lead role in the movie Appu (2002 film), ''Appu''), was an Indian actor, playback singer, film producer, television presenter a ...

. She portrayed a lecturer in this commercially successful film. ''

The Hans India ''The Hans India'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper published in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as well as in New Delhi. The newspaper was launched on 15 July 2011 and is owned to Hyderabad Media House Ltd., which also ...

'' wrote, "Sayyeshaa has limited screen space but she looks gorgeous in those brief moments." In 2023, Sayyeshaa made a special appearance in the song "Raawadi" for the Tamil film '' Pathu Thala'' starring

Silambarasan Silambarasan Thesingu Rajendar (born 3 February 1984), popularly known as Simbu or by his initials as STR, is an Indian actor, producer, and playback singer who primarily works in Tamil cinema. He is the eldest son of director T. Rajendar. ...

Media image

Sayyeshaa is a prominent celebrity endorser for brands and products including PC Jeweller and Cinthol. Sayyeshaa ranked 19th in 2017 and 13th in 2018 in Chennai Times' 30 Most Desirable Women List. The actress is also widely known for her dancing skills.

Filmography

Films

*''All films are in

unless otherwise noted.''

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{authority control 1997 births Living people Actresses from Mumbai Indian film actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema 21st-century Indian actresses Indian Hindus