Suja Varunee is an Indian actress who has appeared in
Tamil,
Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
,
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 ...
, and
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 ...
language films. She is the winner of ''BB Jodigal (season 2)''.
Career
Aged fourteen, Suja was selected to portray the leading role in the coming-of-age, romantic drama ''Plus Two'' (2002) after being recommended to the film's director Ramana by her neighbour Rajarajan, who was a cinematographer. Her parents were initially reluctant to allow Suja to act in films at such a young age, but later agreed. The film took a low-profile opening at the box office and did not perform well, prompting Suja to take a break from the film industry. In 2004, Suja was offered a chance to perform in a dance number in the
Srikanth Srikanth or Sreekanth is a common Indian first name.
* Srikanth (Tamil actor, born 1940), Tamil film actor active in films from 1965
* Srikanth (Tamil actor, born 1980), Tamil actor active in films after 2002
* Srikanth (Telugu actor), Telugu acto ...
–starrer ''
Varnajalam'' (2004), which she accepted, prompting several other film makers to approach her for similar roles. Throughout the mid-2000s, Suja became popular for such glamorous, single song appearances and worked on projects including ''
Maayavi'' (2005), ''
Pallikoodam'' (2007), ''
Kuselan'' (2008) and ''
Jayamkondaan'' (2008). Amidst several appearances in single songs, Suja had the opportunity to portray minor supporting roles in films including
A. K. Lohithadas's ''
Kasthuri Maan'' (2005) and ''Masala'' (2005). Suja has since reflected on that period in her career and stated she "used to get song offers almost every other day" but "did not know then that the industry would brand
eras an item girl" and that she "did not have the proper guidance".
[An interview with actress Suja Varunee](_blank)
Behindwoods.com. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
Following her appearance in the
Rajinikanth-starrer ''
Kuselan'' (2008), Suja actively supports Patali Makkal Katchi and sought to shed her image of being a glamorous dancer and move towards portraying supporting roles. The director of ''Kuselan'',
P. Vasu, supported her move and cast her in two of his subsequent films – the Kannada horror-comedy ''
Aptharakshaka'' (2010) and its Telugu remake, ''
Nagavalli'' (2010).
The roles meant that she received further opportunities in the Telugu language with roles in films including ''
Gundello Godari'' (2013) and ''
Doosukeltha'' (2013), as well as the lead role in the low-budget comedy film ''Alibaba Okkade Donga'' (2014) opposite
Ali. Simultaneously, she began to work in key roles in Tamil films, winning acclaim for her role as a traditional village girl in ''
Milaga
''Milaga'' () is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language action film directed by Ravi Mariya. The film stars himself in a negative role while Natarajan Subramaniam plays the main role with Poongodi playing the heroine. The film was released on 25 June 2010 ...
'' (2010), while also playing key roles in black comedy ''
Settai'' (2013) and science-fiction film, ''
Appuchi Gramam'' (2014). Suja won acclaim for her portrayal of a fiery, rustic woman in the village drama, ''
Kidaari'' (2016), where she starred alongside
Sasikumar.
In 2017, she expressed her disappointment of her scenes in films being cut through a Twitter post. The move followed reports that her scenes were edited out in the film, ''
Kuttram 23'' (2017). She has finished her commitments for films including the
Arulnithi-starrer ''
Iravukku Aayiram Kangal'', Thamira's ''
Aan Devathai
''Aan Dhevathai'' () is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language family drama film written and directed by Jayachitra. The film stars Samuthirakani, Ramya Pandian, Kavin, and Monica, while Radha Ravi, Ilavarasu, Kaali Venkat, Abhishek Vinod, Hareesh Peradi ...
'', Arun Vijay's ''Vaa Deal'' and ''Sathru'' among other projects. In 2017, Suja took part in the reality television show ''
Bigg Boss'' hosted by
Kamal Haasan, where she entered on day 52.
Personal life
Suja is wife of the actor Shivaji Dev, the son of film producer
Ramkumar Ganesan. In August 2019 she gave birth to their first child a baby boy Adhvaaith
Filmography
Television
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varunee, Suja
Actresses in Tamil cinema
Living people
Actresses in Kannada cinema
Actresses in Malayalam cinema
Indian film actresses
Actresses in Telugu cinema
21st-century Indian actresses
Actresses from Chennai
1984 births
Bigg Boss (Tamil TV series) contestants
Actresses in Tamil television