Vinodhini Vaidyanathan

Vinodhini Vaidyanathan is an Indian actress and writer who has mainly worked in Tamil cinema and theatre. She made her debut in A. R. Murugadoss's Engaeyum Eppothum portraying Ananya's sister.^[1] She is best known for her performances in OK Kanmani (2015), Appa (2016), Aandavan Kattalai (2016), Ratsasan (2018), Comali (2019), Game Over (2019), Ponmagal Vandhal (2020) and Soorarai Pottru (2020), Ponniyin Selvan: I (2022) and Ponniyin Selvan: II (2023).

Vinodhini Vaidyanathan
Vinodhini Vaidyanathan in 2019
Born	Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Other names	Vinodhini
Occupation(s)	Actress, writer
Years active	2011 - present (Films) 2003 - present (Theatre)
Parent	Vaidyanathan & Chandralekha

Career

Vinodhini made her first film appearance in Priyadarshan's Kanchivaram (2009), after being selected by the director to be a part of the film after he watched her during a performance with the Tamil theatre troupe, Koothu-P-Pattarai. The film won critical acclaim and recognition at the National Film Awards. In early 2010, director Saravanan had watched Vinodhini's solo performance titled Saami Aattam, in which Vinodhini played multiple characters in a 45-minute monologue, and was impressed enough to cast her in his first Tamil film, Engeyum Eppodhum (2011), produced by AR Murugadoss.^[2] Her performance in the film as the character of Ananya's sister, was well received.

Since 2011, Vinodhini has appeared in several other films including the comedy Varuthapadatha Valibar Sangam (2013), the horror film Pisaasu (2014) and two collaborations with Mani Ratnam in Kadal (2013) and O Kadhal Kanmani (2015).^[2] She also played a significant supporting role as the wife of a gangster in Karthik Subbaraj's Jigarthanda (2014) and in a leading role in Balu Mahendra's Thalaimuraigal (2013), where she played his daughter.^[3]

By 2016, Vinodhini started to be recognized for her performances, going on to win Best Performance in a Comedy Role (Female) 2016 at the Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards for her role in Aandavan Kattalai, as a junior lawyer.

She has also appeared in a few Telugu-language films. Regarding her performance in Crazy Fellow (2022), a critic called her "a revelation".^[4]

Vinodhini is also a playwright and theatre director. Her theatre group, Theatre Zero has been actively staging plays since 2012, some of which are Petti Kathaigal,^[5] the musical extravaganza "Aayirathoru Iravugal", which she wrote and directed for the prestigious Hindu Theatre Fest in 2016,^[6] and Nagercoil Expressum Nadaga Companyum,^[7] which toured extensively in 2016–17. Her play, titled Grand Rehearsal,^[8][9] was the first ever Tamil play to be staged at The Hindu Theatre Fest, which is primarily a festival for English plays from India and abroad. It was declared a laugh riot amid standing ovation from the audience.^[10] Similarly, her play Aayirathoru Iravugal, "had the audience roaring with laughter", when it opened in 2016.^[11] As of January 2020, Theatre Zero has partnered with stand-up comic Alexander Babu to bring back Vinodhini's play Nagercoil Expressum Nadaga Companyum in its new version and tour with it worldwide.

Vinodhini also writes professionally. Her short stories and articles have been published in Silverscreen.in,^[12] The Madras Mag, The News Minute,^[13] The Hindu (Tamil)^[14] among others.

Personal life

Vinodhini completed her B.Sc. from Ethiraj College for Women, Chennai and went on to do her master's degree in Human Resources Management from XIME, Bangalore. She also holds a second master's degree in Psychology from University of Madras and a PG Diploma in Yoga Therapy from Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram.^[2]

Filmography

Tamil films

List of Vinodhini Vaidyanathan Tamil film credits

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2009	Kanchivaram	Subhatra
2011	Engaeyum Eppothum	Selvi
2013	Yamuna	Chandrika
	Kadal	Fisher woman
	Varuthapadatha Valibar Sangam	Police Inspector
	Thalaimuraigal	Sivaraman's sister
2014	Jigarthanda	Soundar's wife
	Vanmam	Palraj's wife
	Pisaasu	Mahesh's mother
2015	Nannbenda	Ramya's colleague
	O Kadhal Kanmani	Saroja Vasudevan
	Sivappu	Malar
	Om Shanti Om	Kumar's mother
	Pasanga 2	Sailaja
2016	Azhagu Kutti Chellam	Anandhi
	Aranmanai 2	Sandhya
	Appa	Singaperumal's wife
	Aandavan Kattalai	Junior Lawyer	Won, Ananda Vikatan Cinema Award for Best comedian – female
2017	Aramm	Government Health Officer
	Sathya	Hema
	Velaikkaran	Sivaranjani
2018	Thaanaa Serndha Koottam	Mangaiyarkarasi
	Kaathadi	Anitha's mother
	Echcharikkai	Doctor
	Ratsasan	Kokila
2019	LKG	School Principal
	Boomerang	Doctor
	Devarattam	Pechi
	Game Over	Kalamma
	Kalavani 2	Manimekalai Rajendran
	Comali	Bhanu
2020	Ponmagal Vandhal	Venba's neighbour
	Soorarai Pottru	Chitra Ramaswamy
	Naanga Romba Busy	Dr. Shantha
	Paava Kadhaigal	Sathaar's and Sahira's mother	Netflix anthology series; segment Thangam
2021	Eeswaran	Papathi
	Calls	Deputy Director Shailaja
	MGR Magan	Judge
	Operation Jujupi
2022	Naai Sekar	Company Director
	Kaatteri	Chithra
	Trigger	Prabhakaran's sister-in-law
	Ponniyin Selvan: I	Vasuki
	Super Senior Heroes	Reporter	Also writer
	Parole	Gifty Maria
	Yugi	Dr. Chandrika
	Laththi	Ranganathan's wife
2023	Vizhithelu
	Ponniyin Selvan: II	Vasuki
	Kulasami	Vasuki
	Baba Black Sheep	Councillor
	Let's Get Married	Deepa Akka
	Are You Ok Baby?	Suguna
	Sooragan	Chithirai Selvi
	Kuiko	Pushpa
	Sarakku
	Tik Tok
2024	Local Sarakku	Vinodha
	Saamaniyan	Gayathri
	PT Sir	Nandhini's mother
	Weapon	Mother
2025	Kadhalikka Neramillai	Jalaja
	Dragon	Chitra Dhanapal	Dubbed for Indumathy Manikandan
	2K Love Story
	Dinasari	Gayathri
	Badava	Collector
	Konjam Kadhal Konjam Modhal	Karthik's sister

Telugu films

List of Vinodhini Vaidyanathan Telugu film credits

Year	Film	Role
2019	Game Over	Kalamma
	Rakshasudu	Padma
2022	Khiladi	Mahalakshmi
	Crazy Fellow	Abhiram's sister-in-law
2023	My Name Is Shruthi	Shruthi's mother

Malayalam films

List of Vinodhini Vaidyanathan Malayalam film credits

Year	Film	Role
2022	Adrishyam	Dr. Chandrika
2023	Thaaram Theertha Koodaram	Selvi

Television

• All television shows are in Tamil, unless otherwise noted.

List of Vinodhini Vaidyanathan television credits

Year	Title	Role	Channel	Notes
2003	Appa		Sun TV
2020	Chithi 2	Herself		Guest appearance[15]
2022; 2023	Anandha Ragam	Meenakshi		Extended Guest appearance[16]
2022	Amudhavum Annalakshmiyum	Herself	Zee Tamil	Guest appearance
2023	Nala Damayanthi	Annapurani		Photographic Appearance
2024	Thangamagal	Vaishali	Star Vijay
	Naanga Ready Neenga Ready Ah	Judge	Sun TV	Reality Game show

Streaming television series

Year	Title	Role	Network	Ref.
2022	Tamil Rockerz	Baanu	SonyLIV	[17]
2023	Accidental Farmer and Co	Nallamakka	SonyLIV	[18]

Short Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2012	1 mark	Devika