Jyothika Saravanan (née Sadanah; born 18 October 1978) is an Indian actress, model and film producer who predominantly appears in Tamil films. She has also acted in some Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. She won one National Award, four Filmfare Awards, three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, two Cinema Express Awards, one South Indian International Movie Award, International Tamil Film Award and four Dinakaran Awards. She is also a recipient of the Kalaimamani Award. She is regarded as one of the most prolific actresses in Tamil cinema. She has been ranked among the best actresses of South India by The Times of India and was referred as one of the Superstar women in Indian Cinema by The Hindu.
She debuted in Bollywood in the Hindi film Doli Saja Ke Rakhna (1997), directed by Priyadarshan. She starred in her first Tamil film Vaali (1999) and her first Telugu film Tagore (2003), opposite Chiranjeevi. She received her first Filmfare Award for Vaali (1999) as Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut – South. She was awarded the Filmfare Best Tamil Actress Award for Kushi (2000). A string of successful films followed and gained prominence for her performances in Kushi (2000), Dumm Dumm Dumm 12, Poovellam Un Vasam 13, Kaakha Kaakha (2004), Perazhagan (2004), Chandramukhi (2005) and Mozhi, (2007), for the latter three she won Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress.For the movie, Mozhi, she was in the final three for National Film Award for Best Actress for her outstanding performance, however she lost the award to Umashree for the Kannada film Gulabi Talkies.[14] She has the record of holding maximum number of nominations with 16 for Best Tamil Actress at South Filmfare Awards.
Jyothika left the industry at the peak of her career marrying Tamil actor Suriya on 11 September 2006, after being engaged in a relationship for several years, and with whom she was paired in seven films. She made a comeback in the film 36 Vayadhinile (2015) where her performance was given strong reviews and she received Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress – South for the movie. After the success of 36 Vayadhinile, she appeared in a series of women centric movies like Magalir Mattum (2017), Naachiyaar (2018), Kaatrin Mozhi (2018), Raatchasi (2019) , and Ponmagal Vandhal (2020) and also played a lead female role in Mani Ratnam’s multi-starrer Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (2018).
Early life
Jyothika was born on 18 October 1978 to a Punjabi father and a Maharashtrian Muslim mother. Her father is Chander Sadanah, a film producer and her mother is Seema Sadanah. Actress Nagma is her half-sister.
Read More: Nayanthara | Kamal Haasan
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.
Personal life
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.
Jyothika Measurements Height Weight Bra Size Age Biography
Career
Debut and early career (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. For her fresh debut she was nominated for Best Female Debut at 44th Filmfare Awards, which was lost to Preity Zinta for Dil Se.. and Soldier.
Her first role in Tamil was in Vaali (1999), for which she won Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut – South. and Dinakaran Award for the Best Female Debut. Later that year, she starred in Poovellam Kettuppar, in which she played the love interest of the protagonist, portrayed by her future 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, Dumm Dumm Dumm and Snegithiye. 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 the Kannada film industry opposite Upendra in Nagarahavu. She had a dual role in this film. Later, she appeared in the Tamil thriller film Snegithiye, directed by Priyadarshan, made in Tamil and Malayalam.
Other ventures
2D Entertainment
Jyothika owns a film production and distribution company named 2D Entertainment, established by her husband and actor Suriya. Rajsekar Pandian is also a part of 2D. The company was named by the starting letter of Suriya’s children Diya and Dev. The company was established in 2013.
The production house won Best Cinematography at 64th National Film Awards for DOP Tirru for 24 (2016) and Best Production Design at 64th National Film Awards for Subrata Chakraborthy, Shreyas Khedekar, Amit Ray for 24 (2016)
At 68th National Film Awards the film Soorarai Pottru won 5 Categories.Best Actor for Suriya, National Film Award for Best Actress for Aparna Balamurali, Best Feature Film for Suriya, Sudha Kongara, Jyothika, Best Music Direction (Background Score) for GV Prakash Kumar and Best Screenplay for Sudha Kongara
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. She acted along with Nagarjuna in Mass, directed by debutant Raghava Lawrence, for which she was nominated for her first Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu Nomination at Filmfare Awards. The film was dubbed into Tamil with the title Veeran, which also became a blockbuster and Hindi as Meri Jung–One Man Army.
Her last film in Telugu was Shock, opposite to Ravi Teja. It was produced by Ram Gopal Varma.She was nominated for Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu for her performance. She was considered to act in the Telugu film Stalin, opposite Chiranjeevi. She was selected as the lead actress opposite Nagarjuna in Sri Ramadasu and Venkatesh in Lakshmi, but refused the offers due to her marriage preparations. She was asked to act along with Venkatesh again in Aadavari Matalaku Arthale Verule. Jyothika opted out after signing the contract due to her wedding arrangements and it later came to the hands of Trisha.
Her film Mozhi was released in Telugu under the title Maataranai Mounamidi, which won critical accolades for her performance and was a commercial success.
After an impressive comeback, she was approached by director Venu Sriram and producer Dil Raju for a strong character in the film Middle Class Abbayi starring Nani, Sai Pallavi and Bhumika Chawla. Chawla replaced her later. Boyapati Srinu was considered Jyothika in Jai Simha opposite to Nandamuri Balakrishna, but later K. S. Ravikumar replaced Boyapati and Jyothika’s role went to Nayanthara. Her latest film Thambi along with Karthi was dubbed into Telugu as Donga.
Malayalam career
Gargi, starring Sai Pallavi was distributed by Jyothika and Suriya, She will next act in a Malayalam film opposite to Mammootty, under The Great Indian Kitchen film director Jeo Baby. This will be her third Malayalam Movie after Rakklippattu and Seetha Kalyanam. She was nominated for best actress trophy at Filmfare Awards, for the latter but was lost to Swetha Menon for Paleri Manikyam.
Brand Endorsements
Jyothika has endorsed several brands such as Idhayam oil and Paragon footwear in the early 2000s. 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 has also endorsed Comfort, Saravana Stores and Santoor Soap.
Jyotika has been announced as the Zee Tamil channel’s first brand ambassador, who features in the channel’s extensive multi-media campaign as its voice. The unveil and launch happened on the stage of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Seniors with the entire family of stars from Zee Tamil in a ceremony celebrating the channels new look and feel and brand proposition.
Jyothika, along with actor Vivek, had been appointed as ambassadors for plastic free Tamil Nadu campaign by the State government under the leadership of former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami.
Philanthropy
Jyothika along with her husband Suriya’s Agaram Foundation donated ₹25 lakh to the Thanjavur government hospital in August 2020. Apart from the financial support she also donated medical equipment and beds. This comes after she was criticised for her comments on the poor maintenance of the hospital before.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Language | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Doli Saja Ke Rakhna | Pallavi Sinha | Hindi | |
| 1999 | Vaali | Meena (Sona) | Tamil | |
| Poovellam Kettuppar | Janaki Kannan (Kalyani) | Tamil | ||
| 2000 | Mugavaree | Viji | Tamil | |
| Kushi | Jennifer (Jenny / Selvi) | Tamil | ||
| Rhythm | Aruna Karthikeyan | Tamil | ||
| Uyirile Kalanthathu | Priya Mahalakshmi | Tamil | ||
| Thenali | Janaki | Tamil | ||
| Snegithiye | Vani “Vasu” Subramaniyam | Tamil | ||
| 2001 | Little John | Vani | Tamil | |
| Hindi | ||||
| English | ||||
| Dumm Dumm Dumm | Ganga Veluthambi | Tamil | ||
| Star | Preethi | Tamil | ||
| Poovellam Un Vasam | Chella | Tamil | ||
| 12B | Jo | Tamil | ||
| 2002 | Raja | Priya | Tamil | |
| One Two Three | Narmadha | Tamil | ||
| Nagarahavu | Keerthi, Prema Patel | Kannada | ||
| 2003 | Dhool | Eshwari | Tamil | |
| Priyamana Thozhi | Nandhini Ashok | Tamil | ||
| Kaakha Kaakha | Maaya Anbuchelvan | Tamil | ||
| Thirumalai | Swetha | Tamil | ||
| Tagore | Nandini (Nandu) | Telugu | ||
| Three Roses | Pooja | Tamil | ||
| 2004 | Arul | Kanmani Arulkumaran | Tamil | |
| Perazhagan | Priya / Shenbagam | Tamil | ||
| Manmadhan | Mythili | Tamil | ||
| Mass | Anjali | Telugu | ||
| 2005 | Maayavi | Jothika (Jo) | Tamil | |
| Chandramukhi | Ganga Senthilnathan (Ganga) / Chandramukhi | Tamil | ||
| 2006 | Saravana | Sadhana | Tamil | |
| Shock | Madhuri | Telugu | ||
| Vikramarkudu | Mrs.Vikram Singh Rathore | Telugu | ||
| June R | June R. | Tamil | ||
| Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu | Aaradhana | Tamil | ||
| Sillunu Oru Kaadhal | Kunthavi Gautham (Jill) | Tamil | ||
| 2007 | Mozhi | Archana | Tamil | |
| Pachaikili Muthucharam | Smitha (Geetha / Kalyani) | Tamil | ||
| Manikanda | Mahalakshmi (Maha) | Tamil | ||
| Rakklippattu | Josephine | Malayalam | ||
| 2009 | Seetha Kalyanam | Nimisha | Malayalam | |
| 2015 | 36 Vayadhinile | Vasanthi Thamizhselvan | Tamil | |
| 2017 | Magalir Mattum | Prabhavathi | Tamil | |
| 2018 | Naachiyaar | P. Naachiyaar Kumari IPS | Tamil | |
| Chekka Chivantha Vaanam | Chithra Varadharajan | Tamil | ||
| Kaatrin Mozhi | Vijayalakshmi Balakrishnan (Viji) / RJ Madhu | Tamil | ||
| 2019 | Raatchasi | Geetha Rani (Ammu) | Tamil | |
| Jackpot | Akshaya (Akshu) | Tamil | ||
| Thambi | Parvathy | Tamil | ||
| 2020 | Ponmagal Vandhal | Venba Pethuraj / Angel / Sakthi Jyothi | Tamil | Released on Amazon Prime Video |
| 2021 | Udanpirappe | Mathangi Sargunam | Tamil | 50th film; Also producerReleased on Amazon Prime Video |
| 2023 | Kaathal: The Core | TBA | Malayalam | Completed |
| Sri | TBA | Hindi | Filming |
Short films
| Year | Film | Role | Language | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Nimisham | Nimisha | Malayalam | Short film directed by Revathi S Varma |
| 2008 | Herova? Zerova? | Herself | Tamil | Docudrama |
| 2017 | Manadhaal Inaivom, Maatrathai Varaverppom | Jo | Directed By Sudha Kongara Brand Shorts For Zee Tamil |