Meera Jasmine
Meera Jasmine is a National Award winning Indian actress. Several of her movies in various South Indian languages (Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada) were highly successful and critically aclaimed. She won India's coveted National Award for Best Actress in 2004.
Biography
Meera Jasmine was born Jasmine Mary Joseph on 15 February 1984 in Kuttappuzha, Tiruvalla, Kerala to Joseph Philip and Aleyamma. She completed her schooling in Mar Thoma Residential School in Tiruvalla. She currently lives in Panampilly Nagar in Kochi (formerly Cochin).
A chance meeting with Malayalam screenwriter Lohithadas gave way to her debut in Malayalam Cinema through the movie Soothradharan. She assumed the screen name "Meera" Jasmine, reportedly out of her fascination for Meera, a mystical devotee of Lord Krishna.
The phenomenal success of her first Tamil movie, Run, made her a major star. This was followed by acclaimed performances in Padam Onnu Oru Vilapam (her national-award winning Malayalam movie), Mani Ratnam's Ayutha Ezhuthu (Tamil), Ammayi Bagundi (Telugu) and Sandaikozhi (Tamil).
After the hit of Sandaikozhi, she became a rage in Tamil Nadu once again, with the song, "Dhavani Potta Deepavali", eulogising her, at the top of every chart. Her recent Malayalam release, Rasatantram, has earned her rave reviews and has turned into a superhit. Her latest Tamil release Mercury Pookal is also a success, and she has landed a prestigious Telugu offer with Balakrishna.
Trivia
- Meera Jasmine is a self-confessed fan of Tamil Indian musical genius Ilayaraaja.
- Despite being a Christian, she visits temples religiously.
- Her personal life is very often the target of the Kerala's yellow press, being romantically linked to directors and actors, at one point even being "married off" by the press to co-star Prithviraj.
Noted Roles
- A servant girl who disguises herself as a boy (in Malayalam movie Rasatantram)
- A teenager forced to marry an older man (in Malayalam movie Paadam Onnu : Oru Vilapam)
- Woman struggling to save husband who is on death row in a foreign country (in Malayalam movie Perumazhakalam)
- A Jew who loves a native Indian but faces family pressure to marry a Jew (in Malayalam movie Gramaphone)
- Self-sacrificing girl who single-handedly makes her lover become a success in life (in Malayalam and Tamil movie Kasthoorimaan)
- Daughter of a single mother (Malayalam movie Achuvinte Amma)
- Lover of a paralysed dancer (in upcoming Malayalam movie Rathri Mazha)
- Passionate lover of a rowdy (in Tamil movie Ayutha Ezhuthu)
- Wife who is rejected and goaded by husband but slowly wins him over (in Tamil movie Mercury Pookal)
- Two girls, a modern outgoing girl and a traditional girl (in Telugu movie Ammayi Bagundi)
Upcoming movies
- Telugu movie with Balakrishna as co-star and P Vasu as director
- Malayalam movie Rathri Mazha with Vineeth as co-star and Lenin Rajendran as director
- Telugu movie with GVG Raju as producer and Gopichand as co-star
- Tamil movie with Ajith and Vishnuvardhan as director titled Savaal
- Malayalam movie with Dileep as co-star, directed by Sathyan Anthikkad
Awards
- National Award for the Best Actress in 2004 for the film Paadhom Onnu: Oru Vilaapam (roughly translates to 'Lesson One: A Lament') in which she portrayed a Muslim girl who is a victim of child marriage.
- Kerala State Award for the Best Actress in 2004 for the films Kasthooriman ('Musk Deer') and Paadhom Onnu: Oru Vilaapam
- Filmfare Award for Best Actress in 2004 for Paadhom Onnu: Oru Vilaapam.
- Lux-Asianet awards for Best Actress, continously for (2003-04-05)
Filmography
- Rasathanthram (Malayalam,2006) as Kanmani directed by Sathyan Anthikkad
- Mercury Pookal (Tamil, 2006) as Anbu Selvi directed by S S Stanley.
- Sandaikozhi (Tamil, 2005) as Hema directed by Lingusamy.
- Kasthoorimaan (Tamil, 2005) as Uma directed by Lohithadas.
- Bhadra (Telugu 2005) as Anu. Directed by Boyapati Srinu
- Achuvinte Amma (Malayalam, 2005) as Ashwathi. Directed by Sathyan Anthikkad
- Maurya (Kannada, 2004) as Alamelu.
- Perumazhakkalam (Malayalam, 2004) as Raziya. Directed by Kamal .
- Gudumba Shankar (Telugu, 2004) as Gauri. Directed by Veera Shankar.
- Ammayi Bagundi(Telugu, 2004) as Janani and Satya directed by Balasekaran.
- Ayutha Ezhuthu (Tamil, 2004) as Sasi. Directed by Mani Ratnam
- Chakram (Malayalam, 2003) as Indrani. Directed by Lohithadas
- Joot (Tamil, 2003) as Meera. Directed by Azhagam Perumal.
- Anjaneya (Tamil, 2003) as Divya. Directed by Maharajan
- Swapnakkoodu (Malayalam, 2003) as Kamala. Directed by Kamal
- Kasthooriman (Malayalam, 2003) as Priyamvada. Directed by Lohithadas
- Paadhom Onnu Oru Vilaapam (Malayalam, 2003) as Shahina. Directed by T. V. Chandran
- Pudhiya Geethai (Tamil, 2003) as Sushi. Directed by Jagan
- Gramophone (Malayalam, 2003) as Jennifer. Directed by Kamal
- Bala (Tamil, 2002) as Aarthi. Directed by Deepak
- Run (Tamil, 2002) as Priya. Directed by Lingusamy
- Soothradharan (Malayalam, 2001) as Shivani. Directed by Lohithadas