Meghana Raj
Meghana Sunder Raj (born 3 May 1990) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Malayalam and Kannada films along with a few Telugu and Tamil films. She made her acting debut in the 2009 Telugu film "Bendu Apparao R.M.P". She has won Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress for her performance in "Iruvudellava Bittu", a 2018 Kannada film. She is the wife of Kannada actor Chiranjeevi Sarja. Early life. Meghana Raj was born on 3 May 1990 as the only daughter to film actors Sundar Raj and Pramila Joshai. Her father Sundar has acted in more  than 180 films, predominantly in Kannada language, while her mother Pramila Joshai is a noted Kannada film actress and film producer. She completed her schooling from Baldwin Girls' High School and holds Bachelor's degree in psychology at Christ University, Bangalore. Acting career. 2009–11: Debut, breakthrough and setback. Meghana Raj debuted as a theatre artist, when she was a child, acting alongside her father Sunder Raj in the play "Jokumaraswamy". During the audio launch function of the Tamil film "Poi" in February 2006, she was invited by its director K. Balachander to pursue an acting career, starring in one of  his forthcoming films. Accepting his offer, she was given the lead female role in the Tamil film "Krishnaleelai", a Balachander production, directed by Selvan. However, despite continuing shooting throughout 2008, which was completed in early 2009, the film got stuck in production hell, and its release got delayed for various reasons. Even before the release of that film, she commenced shooting for a Telugu film "Bendu Apparao R.M.P", which would eventually be her first feature film release. She played the character of a school teacher in the comedy entertainer, starring Allari Naresh and Kamna Jethmalani as well, which released in  October 2009 and went on to become highly successful at the box office. She debuted in the Kannada films by enacting the female lead role in "Punda", a remake of the 2007 Tamil film "Polladhavan". Meghana's next release was her debut Tamil film, the Boopathy Pandian-directed "Kaadhal Solla Vandhen", while she also signed up her first Malayalam project, the horror film "Yakshiyum Njanum" under Vinayan's direction, which was released in August 2010. Although the film was just an average grosser, its glamorous and sensual songs on Meghana was a hit among the youth and made her an  instant favorite among the youth. During that time she also acted in two more projects, "Nanda Nanditha", which is a remake of the 2008 Kannada film "Nanda Loves Nanditha" and the Tamil film "Kalla Siripazhaga". 2011–13: "Beautiful" and commercial success. After a series of flops for most of 2011 where she was seen repeatedly cast merely as a glamour actress, Meghana reverted to winning ways with the Malayalam film "Beautiful" which was released in the first week of December. The film was a success both commercially and critically and critics widely regarded it as one of the best Malayalam movies  of 2011. Meghana's portrayal of Anjali, a home nurse in the film won her very good reviews. Since getting noticed with "Beautiful", Meghana got a lot of Malayalam films offers and for a brief period of time was the most sought out actress in Malayalam. It was during this time when Meghana started to undergo a total physique revamp by going through a strict diet and exercise regime. She made this decision partly because she was getting constantly ignored in Kannada films (her mother tongue) and the reason told was she was fat. Her 2012 Malayalam film "Namukku Parkkan  did a decent business at the box office. Subsequent films Mullamottum Munthiricharum", "Banking Hours 10 to 4", "Maad Dad", "Madirasi" and "Red Wine" failed to perform. However, her next film "Memories" opposite Prithviraj Sukumaran opened to overwhelmingly positive reviews and was a box office success. 2013–15: Second wind in Sandalwood and continuing success. After a gap of almost four years, Meghana Raj returned to Kannada films in late 2013 with the successful film "Raja Huli", She followed it with another hit, "Bahuparak"; her performances in both films were well appreciated. Meghana's next Kannada movie "Aatagara" was released in late  August 2015 to both critical and commercial acclaim and thus achieving a hat-trick of hits in Sandalwood. She is currently concentrating more on Kannada films as she has lot of offers from Sandalwood at the moment. Her next film Vamshodharaka got mixed to negative reviews and thus failed at the box office. 2016 onwards: Dull phase at the box office. Post 2016 Meghana Raj's releases such as Hallelooya, Lakshmana, Bhujanga and Allama all turned out to be non-performers at the box office. She has committed few more Kannada and Malayalam films as of now. Meghana was recently  chosen to portray princess Bhanumati in the Kannada magnum opus "Kurukshetra". Personal life. After a 10-year relationship with fellow Kannada actor Chiranjeevi Sarja, Meghana got engaged to him on 22 October 2017. They got married on 2 May 2018. Sarja died on 7 June 2020 from cardiac arrest when they were expecting their first child. Their son Raayan Raj Sarja was born on 22 October 2020. Filmography. As singer. Television Public image. Meghana's official Facebook page has received more than 2.5 million likes. She was ranked No.19 in the Kochi Times 'Most desirable Woman 2015' poll. Meghana Raj  was also ranked No.10 in the Bangalore Times 'Most desirable Women 2015' poll.