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Indian actress (born 1992) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sai Pallavi Senthamarai Kannan (pronounced [saɪ paˈləvi]; born 9 May 1992)[2] is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Telugu and Tamil cinema.[3] She has received numerous accolades, including six Filmfare Awards South and two South Indian International Movie Awards. She was featured by Forbes magazine as one of India's 30 Under 30 in 2020.[4]
Sai Pallavi | |
|---|---|
Sai Pallavi in 2017 | |
| Born | Sai Pallavi Senthamarai Kannan 9 May 1992 Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Alma mater | Tbilisi State Medical University[1] |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Awards | Full list |
| Signature | |
 | |
After appearing in uncredited roles as a junior artist, Pallavi had her first lead role in the top-grossing Malayalam film Premam (2015). Her portrayal of a teacher in it earned her a Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut – South. In 2017, she ventured into Telugu cinema with Fidaa, winning the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu.
Pallavi has since established herself as a leading actress of South Indian cinema. She has received praise for her work in the films Kali (2016), Middle Class Abbayi (2017), Maari 2 (2018), Athiran (2019), Love Story (2021), Shyam Singha Roy (2021), Gargi (2022) and Amaran (2024). Her performances in Gargi and Love Story earned the Filmfare Award for Best Actress in both Tamil and Telugu, while her work in Shyam Singha Roy and Virata Parvam gained her the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress – Telugu.
Sai Pallavi was born on 9 May 1992[5] in a Badaga family[6] in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.[7] Her hometown is Kotagiri in the Nilgiris district, Tamil Nadu.[8] Born to Senthamarai Kannan and Radha, she has a younger sister, Pooja Kannan, who has also worked as an actress.[9][10]
Pallavi was raised and educated in Coimbatore, doing her schooling at Avila Convent School.[11][12] Despite completing her medical studies in 2016 from the Tbilisi State Medical University,[13][14] which is recognised by the Medical Council of India, she has not yet registered as a medical practitioner in India.[15] She took her Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) on 31 August 2020 in Trichy.[16] Besides Badaga, Pallavi can speak fluently in Tamil, English, and Georgian. She later learnt Malayalam and Telugu for cinema career aspects.[17]
Pallavi said in an interview that though she was not a trained dancer, but she always wanted to do something that involved dancing.[18] She participated in several cultural events at school, gaining popularity as a dancer. Due to her passion for dance, which was supported by her mother, she participated in the dance reality show Ungalil Yaar Adutha Prabhu Deva on Vijay TV in 2008, and was a finalist in Dhee Ultimate Dance Show (D4) on ETV in 2009.[19][20] Pallavi appeared in uncredited roles as a child actress in Kasthuri Maan (2005) and Dhaam Dhoom (2008)[21] and appeared in few advertisements.[22][23][24]
In 2014, while she was studying in Tbilisi, Georgia, film-director Alphonse Puthren had approached her six years before, through clippings from a reality show which she had participated, showcased in Facebook. Alphonse initially gave her an offer to act in his film which she refused. After six years, he phoned Pallavi with another offer, but she thought of him as a stalker. Alphonse then verified himself by sending a selfie, which Sai Pallavi compared with his Facebook DP and identified him.[25] Then, She accepted the role of Malar in his film Premam.[26] She shot the film over the holidays and, after the shooting finished, returned to her studies.[27] She went on to win several "Best Female Debut" awards that year, including the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.[28]
Then she took a month break from her studies to act in her second Malayalam film, Kali, which released in March 2016 and directed by Sameer Thahir.[29][30] She earned a nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Malayalam.[31]
The year 2017 marked her debut in Telugu with Sekhar Kammula's Fidaa, in the role of Bhanumathi, a feisty village girl from Telangana.[32][33] Her performance in the film is regarded as one of the "100 Greatest Performances of the Decade" by Film Companion.[34] She went onto win her first Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu. Then she starred in the 2017 Telugu action comedy film Middle Class Abbayi alongside Nani, the film was a critical and commercial success.[35]
Her next release, Tamil–Telugu bilingual film Diya had an average run at the box office.[36] Later, she starred in the Tamil film Maari 2, a sequel to Maari (2015), opposite Dhanush, directed by Balaji Mohan.[37] A song from the film, "Rowdy Baby", set a record by becoming the first south Indian and Tamil song to clock over 1.5 Billion views on YouTube.[38]
Pallavi started shooting in February 2018 for the film Padi Padi Leche Manasu with Sharwanand,[39][40] which was a huge commercial failure.[41]
In 2019, she played Nithya Lakshmi, a non-verbal autistic character, in the 2019 psychological Malayalam thriller Athiran opposite Fahadh Faasil.[42] Her next film in Tamil with actor Suriya, directed by Selvaraghavan titled NGK, released on 31 May 2019.[43]
In 2020, she was recognised by Forbes magazine as one of India's 30 under 30. She was the only person from film industry in that list.[44] She also acted in a Netflix anthology film series Paava Kadhaigal segment Oor Iravu directed by Vetrimaaran.[45]
In 2021, she starred in the romantic drama Love Story directed by Sekhar Kammula[46] alongside Naga Chaitanya in her second collaboration with Sekhar Kammula after Fidaa (2017) and Shyam Singa Roy opposite Nani in their second collaboration after MCA where she portrayed Maithreyi, a captivating devadasi in 1970s Kolkata. Her performances in both Love Story and Shyam Singha Roy earned her the Critics Award and the Best Actress award at the Filmfare Awards South.
In 2022 she appeared in Telugu film Virata Parvam opposite Rana Daggubati. Set against the backdrop of the Naxalite movement in 1990s Telangana where she portrayed Vennela.[47] Director Gautham Ramachandran announced his new female-oriented film, who earlier directed Richie (2017). Pallavi was chosen to play a lead after Jyothika denied.[48] The film was announced on 9 May 2022 with the makers releasing a special glimpse of the film.[49] For her Tamil film Gargi,[50][51] she dubbed her own lines in both Telugu and Kannada.[52]
In 2024, Pallavi played Indhu Rebecca Varghese, wife of Major Mukund Varadarajan, opposite Sivakarthikeyan in Amaran.[53]
Her upcoming films includes Naga Chaitanya's 23rd film,[54] a film opposite Junaid Khan.[55] and Nitesh Tiwari's adaptation of the Ramayana.[56]
Film journalist Subha J Rao noted that she brings "freshness" on screen and added, "Sai Pallavi comes across as someone unafraid to flaunt her unconventional looks, offbeat film choices and lack of pretence."[57] Rediff.com placed her second in its "Top 5 Malayalam Actresses" list of 2016, with Vijay George stating that she "stole everyone’s hearts" in Premam.[58] In 2020, Pallavi became the only actress to feature in Forbes India's 30 under 30 list.[59] She stood at the 20th place in its most influential stars on Instagram in South cinema for the year 2021 list.[60]
Pallavi has once rejected a whopping ₹2 crore endorsement deal for a fairness cream brand. She cited her disapproval of the message fairness creams promote and her own preference for natural beauty as reasons for declining the offer.[61][62]
In June 2022 in an interview with GreatAndhra, she commented that the film The Kashmir Files portrayed the killings of Kashmiri Pandits, during the 1990 exodus, and further asked if that is a religious conflict then what should be the difference between itself and cow vigilantism, referring to a recent incident where a Muslim was driving cows was beaten up and later forced to chant "Jai Shri Ram". The interview soon went viral and attracted criticism online.[63] She later issued a clarification statement on her Instagram handle that her statements in the interview were misunderstood, and that she would neither trivialize a tragedy nor be comfortable with mob lynchings.[64][65][66][67]
| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Role(s) | Language(s) | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Kasthuri Maan | Dancer | Tamil | Uncredited | [68] |
| 2008 | Dhaam Dhoom | Friend | Uncredited | [68] | |
| 2015 | Premam | Malar | Malayalam | Also choreographer | [69] |
| 2016 | Kali | Anjali | Malayalam | [70] | |
| 2017 | Fidaa | Bhanumathi | Telugu | [71] | |
| Middle Class Abbayi | Pallavi / Chinni[a] | Telugu | [72] | ||
| 2018 | Diya | Thulasi | Tamil | Bilingual film | [73] |
| Kanam | Telugu | [74] | |||
| Padi Padi Leche Manasu | Vaishali Cherukuri | Telugu | [75] | ||
| Maari 2 | "Araathu" Aanandhi Mariyappan | Tamil | [76] | ||
| 2019 | Athiran | Nithya Lakshmi | Malayalam | [77] | |
| NGK | Geetha Kumari | Tamil | [78] | ||
| 2020 | Paava Kadhaigal | Sumathi | Tamil | Segment: "Oor Iravu" | [79] |
| 2021 | Love Story | Mounika Rani | Telugu | [80] | |
| Shyam Singha Roy | Rosie / Maithreyi[a] | Telugu | [81][82] | ||
| 2022 | Virata Parvam | Vennela | Telugu | [83] | |
| Gargi | Gargi | Tamil | [84] | ||
| 2024 | Amaran | Indhu Rebecca Varghese | Tamil | [85] | |
| 2025 | Thandel † | Satya | Telugu | Completed | [86] |
| Untitled project † | TBA | Hindi | Completed | [87] | |
| 2026 | Ramayana: Part 1 † | Sita | Filming | [88] |
Pallavi has won six Filmfare Awards South from seven nominations — Best Female Debut – South for Premam, Best Actress – Telugu for Fidaa and Love Story, and Critics Best Actress – Telugu for Shyam Singha Roy and Virata Parvam, and Best Actress – Tamil for Gargi.[91]
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