Monica (Tamil actress)

Monica (born Rekha Maruthiraj) is an Indian former actress, who starred predominantly in Tamil language films.^[1] A child actor in the early 1990s, she mostly appeared in supporting roles, before taking lead roles from the late 2000s on. She is probably best known for performances in the films Azhagi, Imsai Arasan 23m Pulikesi and Silandhi. In 2012, she changed her name to Parvana for Malayalam films.^[2] In 2014, she converted to Islam, changing her name to M. G. Rahima, and announced that she had quit acting.^[3]

Monica
Born	Rekha Maruthiraj Kottayam, Kerala, India
Other names	Rahima M. G. Rahima
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1990–1999 (Child artist) 2001–2014
Spouse	Malik ​ (m. 2015)​

Personal life

On 30 May 2014, Monica embraced Islam with her new name M. G. Raheema where M is Maruthi Raj (father) and G is Gracy (mother).^[4][5] Monika's father is Hindu and mother is a Christian.^[6]

Rahima married Malik, a Chennai-based entrepreneur who hails from Salem. Malik is into import and export of electronic items.^[7]

Filmography

Year	Movie	Role	Language	Notes
1990	Avasara Police 100		Tamil	Child actress
1991	Uncle Bun	Maria	Malayalam	Child actress
	Bramma		Tamil	Child actress
1992	Chanti		Telugu	Child actress
	Endrum Anbudan	Mallu	Tamil	Child actress
	Pandiyan	Priya	Tamil	Child actress
1993	Sakkarai Devan		Tamil	Child actress
1994	En Aasai Machan	Thayamma (child)	Tamil	Winner, Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Child Star
	Maindhan		Tamil	Child actress
	Manju Virattu	Poovazhagi (child)	Tamil	Child actress
	Varavu Ettana Selavu Pathana	Patma	Tamil	Child actress
1995	Sathi Leelavathi		Tamil	Child actress
	Indira	Younger Indira	Tamil	Child actress
	Chellakannu	Younger Chandra	Tamil	Child actress
	Aasai		Tamil	Child actress
1997	Iruvar	Manimegalai	Tamil	Child actress
	Pasamulla Pandiyare		Tamil	Child actress
1998	Moovendhar	Uma's sister	Tamil	Child actress
2001	Theerthadanam	Younger Vinodhini	Malayalam	Child Actress
	Love Channel	Rajeswari	Tamil	Debut as Heroine
	12B	Shakti's coworker	Tamil	Supporting Actress
2002	Azhagi	Younger Dhanalakshmi	Tamil	Supporting Actress
	Kadhal Azhivathillai	Monica	Tamil	Heroine
	Phantom Pailey	Hema	Malayalam
	Siva Rama Raju	Swathi	Telugu
	Otte Ee Ammai Evaru Teleedu	Savitri	Telugu
	Bagavathi	Priya	Tamil
2003	Banda Paramasivam	Shenbagam	Tamil
	Maa Alludu Very Good	Meghana Rao	Telugu
	Inidhu Inidhu Kadhal Inidhu	Deepika	Tamil
2004	Kanninum Kannadikkum	Abhirami	Malayalam
	Koduku	Usha	Telugu
2005	Are		Telugu
	Daas	Punitha	Tamil
	Sandakozhi	Balu's cousin	Tamil
	Selvam		Tamil
2006	Imsai Arasan 23rd Pulikecei	Vasantha Sundari	Tamil
	Paisalo Paramatma		Telugu
2007	Chilanthy		Malayalam
2008	Thodakkam	Gayathri	Tamil
	Rosa Kale	Nimsara	Sinhala
	Silandhi	Monika	Tamil
2009	A Aa E Ee	Anitha	Tamil
	Devaru Kotta Thangi	Gowri	Kannada
2010	Gowravargal	Poongodi	Tamil
	Hrudayadalli Idenidu	Geetha	Kannada
2011	Muthukku Muthaaga	Annamayil	Tamil
	Nanjupuram	Malar	Tamil
	Varnam	Kavitha	Tamil
	Kalla Malla Sulla	Pooja	Kannada
2012	916	Lekshmi	Malayalam
2013	Kurumbukara Pasanga	Sindhu	Tamil
	Benki Birugali		Kannada
	Suvadugal		Tamil
	Jannal Oram	Bus Conductress	Tamil
2014	Thalaivan		Tamil
	Ninaithathu Yaaro	Herself	Tamil	Cameo appearance
	Madipakkam Madhavan	Herself	Tamil	Guest appearance
2016	Meera Jaakirathai	Meera	Tamil

References

1. Kalki interview
2. Monica will be Parvana in Mollywood. The Times of India (15 January 2017). Retrieved 2 June 2021.
3. Monica: Monica converts to Islam and quits films. The Times of India (16 January 2017) Retrieved on 2 June 2021.
4. Sameer (19 October 2015). "Tamil actress Monika converts to Islam and quits cinema". The Siasat Daily – Archive. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
5. "Film star plans marriage after embracing Islam". Arab News. 3 June 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
6. Another Indian Actress Converts to Islam, quits films. Jafria News. 4 June 2014
7. "Rahima ties the knot". 11 January 2015. Archived from the original on 19 January 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2015.

External links

• Monica at IMDb