Sanam Shetty
- Film actress
- model
Sanam Prasad Shetty is an Indian actress and model, who has worked predominantly in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films.[1][2] In 2020, she was a contestant on the reality series Bigg Boss 4 Tamil.
Career
Born to Tulu father and a Telugu mother in Bangalore, Shetty became interested in fashion shows while studying computer engineering in college. In the mid-2000s, Shetty was initially recruited to model by fashion choreographer Prasad Bidapa and subsequently took part in the Miss Bangalore 2004 competition.[3] Sanam later chose to pursue a career as a software engineer with companies including Tata Consultancy Services in 2006, and briefly moved to the United Kingdom to continue working in the area. During her time abroad, Sanam worked on amateur documentary films and became interested in acting opportunities. She was later re-introduced to Chennai's fashion scene by choreographer Ganesh Gurung and regularly modelled for brands in the city during the weekends, while working as a software engineer during the week.[4] In 2010, Sanam, along with Arthi Venkatesh, were described by The New Indian Express as being among "the top models" in Chennai.[3]
Sanam was first cast in the Malayalam film Cinema Company (2012), but ended up making her feature film debut through the Tamil science fiction film, Ambuli (2012), which garnered attention for being the first digital stereoscopic Tamil film.[5][6] Set in the 1970s, Sanam portrayed a young college girl who becomes caught up in mysterious happenings in a village. The film opened to mixed reviews in February 2012 after a low-profile release at the box office.[7][8] Sanam continued to receive acting offers and completed a series of low-profile films including the Tamil-Malayalam bilingual project Ravu (2013) by Ajit Ravi Pegasus, Maayai (2013) and Vilaasam (2014), all of which went unnoticed at the box office.[9][10][11] A more high-profile film she featured in during the period was the Mammootty-starrer Daivathinte Swantham Cleetus (2014), where she portrayed a supporting role.[12] Sanam was also set to make her debut in Telugu films through veteran director K. Raghavendra Rao's Intinta Anamayya, playing a "NRI rockstar with a very modern outlook". However, despite completing production, the film was never released.[13] She had also signed on to play the lead role in a female-centric film by Aabavanan, where she would play a martial arts expert, though the film was later dropped.[14]
In the mid-2010s, Sanam continued to appear in small budget films in the four South Indian film industries. Her notable Tamil films during the period included the action film Katham Katham (2015), the comedy drama Vellaiya Irukiravan Poi Solla Maatan (2015) and the slasher film Sadhuram 2 (2016). Meanwhile, proposed roles in higher profile film such as Susi Ganesan's Thiruttu Payale 2 (2015) did not materialise.[15] In Telugu films, Sanam portrayed a small role alongside Mahesh Babu in Srimanthudu (2015), and lead roles in the comedy film Singam 123 (2015) and Premikudu (2016).[16] Sanam featured in her first Kannada film, Atharva (2018), appearing alongside debutant Pavan Teja.[17] In 2017, she launched her first film as a producer, Magie, the tale of a girl brought up in Meghalaya. However, the project was later stalled following her fallout with the lead actor Tharshan.[18]
In 2019, Sanam was belatedly crowned as the winner of the Miss South India 2016 beauty pageant, after the organiser opted to dethrone Meera Mithun owing to fraudulent activities. Sanam participated in the reality television show, Bigg Boss Tamil hosted by Kamal Haasan in 2020.[19] She received positive reviews from audiences for her stint on the show, with viewers praising her "straight-forward answers and bold questioning" of issues among contestants.[20][21][22]
Personal life
Sanam Shetty became engaged to actor Tharshan Thiyagarajah in May 2019, with the wedding planned for June 2019. Tharshan's involvement in the 2019 series of Bigg Boss Tamil later meant that the ceremony was postponed, before the pair cancelled the engagement in late 2019.[23] Sanam later filed a police complaint against Tharshan for his misuse of her funds.[24]
Filmography
Year | Film | Role(s) | Language(s) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2012 | Ambuli | Poongavanam | Tamil | |
Cinema Company | Deepika | Malayalam | ||
2013 | Maayai | Jenny | Tamil | |
Ravu | Sanjana | Malayalam | ||
Daivathinte Swantham Cleetus | Anna | |||
2014 | Thottal Vidathu | Sanjana | Tamil | |
Vilaasam | Abhi | |||
2015 | Katham Katham | Madhu | ||
Srimanthudu | Meghna | Telugu | ||
Singam 123 | Chandni | |||
Kalai Vendhan | Malar | Tamil | ||
Vellaiya Irukiravan Poi Solla Maatan | Aruna | |||
2016 | Sawaari | Jeni | ||
Premikudu | Krishna | Telugu | ||
Thagadu | Indhumathi | Tamil | ||
Sadhuram 2 | Preethi | |||
2017 | Ticket | Ria | ||
2018 | Atharva | Rachita | Kannada | |
2020 | Walter | Narmadha Pramod | Tamil | Cameo appearance |
2021 | Oomai Sennaai | Amudha | ||
2022 | Maha | Riya | Cameo appearance[25] | |
2023 | Ethir Vinaiyatru† | TBA | Post-production[26] |
Year | Title | Role | Streaming channel | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | Kuruthi Kalam | Maha Lakshmi (Maha) | MX Player | [27] |
Year | Title | Role | Channel | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | Villa To Village | Contestant | Star Vijay | |
2020–2021 | Bigg Boss Tamil Season 4 | Evicted Day 63 | ||
2021 | Bigg Boss Season 4 Kondattam | Guest | Special Show |
References
- ^ Rajendra, Ranjani (26 May 2013). "The Telugu connect". The Hindu.
- ^ "Bigg Boss Tamil 4 contestant Sanam Shetty: Everything you need to know about the beauty queen and model-turned-actress". The Times of India. 4 October 2020.
- ^ a b "Taking the modelling world by storm". The New Indian Express. 14 December 2010.
- ^ "Sanam Prasad A Humble Damsel". Unique Times Magazine. 7 November 2012 – via uniquetimes.org.
- ^ Raghavan, Nikhil (26 February 2011). "Itsy-bitsy". The Hindu.
- ^ S. R. Ashok Kumar (5 September 2011). "Two albums, many tunes". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 1 March 2012.
- ^ "Ambuli Movie Review {3.5/5}: Critic Review of Ambuli by Times of India". The Times of India.
- ^ Rangarajan, Malathi (18 February 2012). "Ambuli: Where's the thrill?". The Hindu.
- ^ Subramanian, Anupama (14 November 2013). "Censors decline 'U' certification for Maayai". Deccan Chronicle.
- ^ "விலாசம்" [Address]. maalaimalar.com (in Tamil). 14 November 2014.
- ^ "தொட்டால் விடாது". maalaimalar.com (in Tamil). 23 August 2014.
- ^ Sreekuma, Priya (20 June 2013). "Programming her film career". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 15 August 2013.
- ^ "Sanam Shetty, the new girl in Tollywood". The Times of India. 11 January 2014. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014.
- ^ "Action-packed". The Hindu. 4 March 2012.
- ^ CR, Sharanya (25 February 2017). "Sanam Shetty in Thiruttu Payale 2". The Times of India.
- ^ Kumar, Hemanth (15 January 2017). "Sanam Shetty bags a role opposite Mahesh Babu". The Times of India.
- ^ Sharadhaa, A (10 July 2018). "Sanam Shetty: My character has equal importance in Atharva". Cinema Express.
- ^ Subramanian, Anupama (16 October 2017). "Sanam Shetty turns producer". Deccan Chronicle.
- ^ "Sanam Shetty talks about Tharshan and Bigg Boss 3 contestants". Behindwoods. 20 July 2019.
- ^ "Fans trend hashtag No Sanam No Bigg Boss as word spreads of her eviction". Behindwoods. 5 December 2020.
- ^ "Bigg Boss Tamil 4: Suresh Chakravarthy, Reshma Pasupuleti and Harathi Ganesh are all praise for evicted contestant Sanam Shetty". The Times of India. 8 December 2020.
- ^ "I'll forever be grateful to Tamil people across the world: Sanam Shetty". The Times of India.
- ^ "I was Mentally and Physically Harassed: Sanam Shetty Lodges A Police Complaint Against Tharshan!". Just for Women. 1 February 2020 – via jfwonline.com.
- ^ "Sanam Shetty files police complaint against 'Bigg Boss' Tharshan!". Sify. 3 February 2020. Archived from the original on 3 February 2020.
- ^ "Sanam Shetty joins Jameel's Maha with Hansika ft. Simbu". behindwoods.com. 17 September 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
- ^ "Sanam Shetty's film team gifts her with a trailer for her birthday". The Times of India. 12 November 2020.
- ^ சென்னையின் பின்புல குற்றவாளிகளைத் தோலுரிக்கும் 'குருதிக்களம்' ['Blood field' to skin criminals behind Chennai]. nakkheeran (in Tamil). 20 January 2021.
External links
- Sanam Shetty at IMDb