Jyothika

Early and personal life

Jyothika was born to Chander Sadanah, a film producer and Seema Sadanah, in Mumbai, India. Actress Nagma is her half-sister. She completed her schooling in Learner's Academy, Mumbai. She later majored in Psychology at the Mithibai College in Mumbai. She also has a sister Roshini (born Radhika) and a brother Suraj, who is working as an assistant director for Priyadarshan.

Jyothika married actor Suriya on 11 September 2006, with whom she was paired in seven films; Poovellam Kettuppar, Uyirile Kalanthathu, Kaakha Kaakha, Perazhagan, Maayavi, June R and Sillunu Oru Kaadhal. The couple have two children, daughter Diya (born 10 August 2007) and son Dev (born 7 June 2010).

1998–2002

She made her acting debut in the Hindi film Doli Saja Ke Rakhna directed by Priyadarshan, but it did not do well commercially.In a 2000 interview with India Today, Priyadarshan said that he "lapsed into depression" after the film flopped .

Her first role was in Vaali (1999) for which she won Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut – South, and Dinakaran Best Female Debut Later that year, she starred in Poovellam Kettuppar, in which she played the love interest of the protagonist, portrayed by her husband Suriya. The success of the film Kushi became a turning point in her career. A string of successful films followed between 2000 and 2002, among them Mugavaree, Dum Dum Dum and Snegithiye. Her characters had equal importance as the hero. She also acted with Kamal Haasan during this period, in the comedy film Thenali. She was awarded the Filmfare Best Tamil Actress Award for her role in Kushi. Her role in Rhythm though small, has been widely appreciated. After the success of Kushi, she was signed to play the female lead in Friends opposite Vijay but she was replaced by Devayani. She collaborated with Mani Ratnam for the first time by appearing in his production house Madras Talkies' romantic comedy Dumm Dumm Dumm alongside Madhavan. The film won positive acclaim and became a success not only in Tamil Nadu but also in Andhra with its dubbed version. She also made an appearance in Kannada film industry opposite Upendra in Nagarahavu. She had a dual role in this film. Later she appeared in Tamil thriller film Snegithiye directed by Priyadarshan made in all south languages.

2003–2006

In 2003, she starred in Dhool with Vikram, Kaakha Kaakha with Suriya, Thirumalai with Vijay, all of which did well at the box office, Kaakha Kaakha, in particular, being one of the biggest hits of her career. She was listed amongst the Best Actress nominees in Filmfare Awards South for her roles in Dhool and Kaakha Kaakha. She got International Tamil Film Awards Special Jury For Best Actress. Dhool, Kaakha Kaakha and Thirumalai were amongst the top 10 films of the year and The Hindu wrote that she was "virtually the undisputed queen of Kollywood". Actor Vikram referred her as Lady Kamal Hassan due to her dedication in Acting. In 2004, she acted in a double role in the critically acclaimed Perazhagan opposite Suriya. She won Tamil Nadu State Best Actress Awardfor the film. In 2005, she acted in Manmadhan opposite Silambarasan. She also performed the lead female role in the Telugu film Tagore, opposite Chiranjeevi, which was screened at the International Indian Film Academy Awards, and was a commercial success.

Her most successful film to date is the Rajinikanth starrer Chandramukhi 2005 in which she played the title role. She won accolades for her performance in Chandramukhi including a Tamil Nadu State Film Awards & Filmfare Awards Nomination. She was also offered to act with Mohanlal in Udayon directed by Bhadran but she could not do it due to busy schedules in Tamil. Her first release in 2006 was Saravana opposite Silambarasan after Manmadhan. Her role in June R was noticed before the release of the film. Jyothika's performance is fine tuned and emotionally engaged. She has underplayed her emotions beautifully. Her films in 2006 include Vettaiyadu Villaiyadu, a crime-thriller film written and directed by Gautham Menon and Sillunu Oru Kaadhal opposite Suriya. The former was dubbed into Hindi as The Smart Hunt.

2007–2008

Her last films were Gautham Menon's Pachaikili Muthucharam and the critically acclaimed Mozhi, both in 2007. Her roles in these two films, as a negative character in the former (which she played for the first time) and as a deaf and mute in the latter earned her widespread appreciation. Among these Mozhi won her acclaim. Her performance took her very close to winning the National Film Award for Best Actress. However, she lost the award by a narrow margin at the end. In Pachaikili Muthucharam had a crucial role and pulls off a memorable performance. Her Malayalam films Raakilipattu and Seetha Kalyanam were released in 2007 and 2009 respectively after languishing in development hell for years. Jyothika later made a come back through television adverts. In 2008, she appeared in a short film Herova? Zerova?. The film was written and produced by her father-in-law Sivakumar and also starred Vijay, R. Madhavan and Suriya.

2015–present (comeback)

Jyothika made her comeback to Tamil Cinema with 36 Vayadhinile, a remake of the hit Malayalam film How Old Are You?. Jyothika received critical acclaim for her performance in the film as a middle-aged housewife who sets out to stand on her own. She was awarded the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress at 63rd Britannia South Filmfare Awards.Through this Accolade She became the first actress to win both Filmfare Award for Best Actress - Tamil and the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress. She also received Behindwoods Gold Medals For best Actress & Best Movie Award along with Suriya and also got many nominations for best actress. The film went on to become a moderate success at the box office. In the audio release of 36 Vayadhinile, and also at the successful release of the film, Jyothika credited Suriya, her husband, and some of her close friends as the major motivation for her comeback. Recently, in a Tamil TV show named Koffee with DD, Jyothika said that we can expect her in future as an artist, not as a heroine.

After the Success of her Film 36 Vayadhinile, in February 2016, director Bramma approached Jyothika to play the leading role in a "female-centric" script he had written and impressed by the offer, her husband Suriya agreed to finance the film. Jyothika subsequently participated in a series of workshops to get ready for her role in the film for twenty days. The movie titled as Magalir Mattum written and directed by Bramma, in his second venture after Kuttram Kadithal (2015).It also features Saranya, Urvashi, Bhanupriya, Nassar and Livingston play pivotal roles. Produced by Suriya, the venture began production in July 2016. She was also signed by Sri Thenandal Films for another project together in September 2016 Opposite to Vijay (actor) directed by Atlee A few days after the shoot began, Jyothika opted out of the project and the makers signed Nithya Menen to replace her .No Official Announcement is made so far about the replacement. In Late February Suriya confirmed Jyothika’s new project with ace filmmaker Bala by sharing the first look posters of the film. The film has been titled Naachiyar and Jyothika sports a never-seen-before avatar in the posters.The Movie Naachiyaar have been roped G. V. Prakash as the Male Lead for the film whose first look poster was recently released. The music will be scored by Ilayaraaja.

Telugu career

Jyothika's first Telugu entry as the lead female role was in the Telugu film Tagore, opposite Chiranjeevi in which she played his wife.The film was screened at the International Indian Film Academy Awards, and was a commercial success.. Though she debut with Chiranjeevi in Telugu her first Telugu film is One Two Three which was a trilingual film. She acted along with Nagarjuna Akkineni in Mass directed by debutant Raghava Lawrence. The film was dubbed into Tamil with the title Veeran, which also became a blockbuster and Hindi as Meri Jung–One Man Army. The film recorded as Super Hit at the box-office.

She became Lady Superstar with the success of Chandramukhi. Her last film in Telugu was Shock opposite to Ravi Teja. It was produced by Ram Gopal Varma. She was considered to act in Telugu film Stalin opposite Chiranjeevi. She was selected as the lead actress opposite Nagarjuna in Sri Ramadasu and Venkatsh in Lakshmi but refused the offers due to her marriage prepations.

She was asked to act along with Venkatsh again in Adavari Matalaku Ardhalu Verule directed by Tamil film director Sri Raghava (aka Selvaraghavan), making his directorial debut in the Telugu film industry. Jyothika opted out after signing the contract due to her wedding arrangements and it later came to the hands of Trisha Krishnan.

Her Mozhi film was released in Telugu under the title Maataranai Mounamidi which won Critical accolades for her performance and was a commercial success.

Other work

Jyothika has endorsed several brands like Idhayam oil and Paragon footwear in the past. She was also the brand ambassador for RmKV silk sarees and Wardrobe Hub in Chennai. Later, she appeared in adverts for Aircel and Nescafé along with her husband Suriya. She also appeared in commercials for Comfort and Santoor Soap.

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards

International Tamil Film Awards

Kalaimamani Awards

Film Fans' Association Awards

Filmfare Awards South

Dinakaran Film Awards

Behindwoods Gold Medal Awards

South Indian International Movie Awards

IIFA Utsavam Awards

Vijay Awards

Tamil