Trisha Krishnan, better known by her screen name, Trisha is an Indian film actress and model who primarily works in South Indian cinema. She started out and rose to prominence as a model, eventually segueing into acting following her debut in an uncredited role in the 1999 Tamil film Jodi. Since then, Trisha has appeared in over 65 movies across all major film industries in the country.
Some of the actress` most memorable performances have come in the Tamil movies Ghilli (2004), Something Something Unnakum Ennakum (2006), Abhiyum Naanum (2008), the romantic drama Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (2010) and the Malayalam comedy-drama Hey Jude (2018). Trisha is also a two-time winner of the Filmfare Award (South) for Best Actress, while her performance in Abhiyum Naanum earned her a Special Mention at the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards in 2008.
EARLY LIFE
Born to Krishnan and Uma Krishnan on 4th May 1983 in a Tamil Iyer family, she spent most of her childhood in Palakkad, Kerala. Throughout her schooling days, the beautiful actress participated in various cultural activities and sports; she was even part of the school band. She went to the Sacred Heart Church Park School in Madras (now Chennai) and later pursued a Bachelor of Business Administration course from Ethiraj college, Chennai.
After completing her studies, the actress ventured into modeling and appeared in various print and TV advertisements. In 1999, she walked the ramp at the Miss Salem pageant and later in the same year she won the Miss Madras contest. All through her growing up days and even during her modeling days, Trisha never wanted to become an actress; in fact, she aspired to become a criminal psychologist. However, after she featured in a Falguni Phatak`s music video Meri Chunar Udd Udd Jaye, alongside Ayesha Takia, she was approached by director Priyadarshan for a role in Tamil movie Lesa Lesa. She took the offer and this marked the beginning of her professional acting career.
PERSONAL LIFE
The pretty actress was supposedly dating Tollywood and Bollywood actor Rana Daggubati and after the two broke, she was in a relationship with producer and entrepreneur Varun Manian. The couple got engaged in January 2015 but soon the duo called off their engagement. After her previous relationships did not work out, the actress maintains she is single.
ACTING CAREER
Trisha Krishnan made her acting debut with a cameo in the film, Jodi directed by Parveen Gandhi. She played the role of the lead actress Simran`s friend in the movie but her role went unnoticed. Later in 2003, she signed her first film as the lead, which was a Priyadarshan directed Tamil movie Lesa Lesa. In the same year, she signed for
A. R. Rahman`s musical, Enakku 20 Unakku 18. However, both the projects were delayed and her first release as the lead actress was Mounam Pesiyade opposite Suriya Sivakumar. The movie directed by Ameer Sultan did not do well at the box office bur her role got critical acclaim. Her next movie, Manasellam was a flop but her role as a cancer patient got positive reviews from the critics.
In 2003, Trisha appeared in Hari`s
Saamy opposite Vikram where she played the role of a soft-spoken Brahmin girl and her performance was lauded by the critics. The film went on to gross over Rs. 16 crores and it paved way for Trisha to sign-up for several high-budget movies. Lesa Lesa, which was supposed to be her debut, released next. Following Lesa Lesa, her next two movies, Alai opposite Silambarasan and Enakku 20 Unakku 18 opposite Tarun Kumar both were a commercial failure but her performance in both the movies was noted.
In 2001, she made her debut in the Telugu cinema with M S Raju`s
Varsham. This movie turned her into an overnight sensation and her role as Sailaja, got praises from critics. The film too was commercially successful and it ran for over 175 days in theaters and it was declared a `sensational hit.` The movie also won her the Telugu Filmfare Award and the Santosham Award for Best Actress. In the same year, she appeared in the lead role in action- comedy Ghilli opposite Vijay. The film went on to become the highest grossing Tamil movie in that year and it remains one of her biggest commercial success.
Over the next couple of years, Trisha appeared in hit movies like Thirupaachi (2005) and Aaru (2005). Her second Telugu movie, Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana, the directorial debut of Prabhu Deva opposite Siddharth opened to rave reviews and Trisha for her role as a simple village girl won three Best Actress prizes including her second consecutive Filmfare Award and her first Nandi Award.
Her only release in 2006,
Something Something... Unakkum Enakkum opposite Jayam Ravi was a hit and her role got good reviews from the critics. Her next release, Aadavari Matalaku Ardhalu Verule was a Telugu family entertainer and she was cast opposite Venkatesh. The movie was Selvaraghavan`s first Telugu venture and it got tremendous responses from the audience and yet again Trisha won accolades for her role in the movie, which resulted in winning her third Filmfare Award.
After her initial success, Trisha did not have a great start in 2008 as two of her Tamil films, Bheema and Kuruvi failed at the box-office. But, at the fag end of the year, the actress appeared in Sreenu Vaitla`s
King opposite Nagarjuna Akkineni, which was a blockbuster hit. Her 2010 release,
Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa directed by Gautham Menon was a huge commercial hit. The movie highlights the obstacles that a couple faces due to their religious difference. Her role in the movie was well received by the critics and it won her the Vijay Award for Favorite Heroine.
In 2011, the actress was part of Venkat Prabhu`s
Mankatha, which went to become the highest-grossing Tamil movie of the year. In the subsequent year, Trisha appeared in a Telugu movie, Bodyguard, which was the remake of the Malayalam movie with the same name. She was paired opposite Daggubati Venkatesh and the movie did well at the box-office. In 2013, the actress appeared in two Tamil films, Samar opposite Vishal and Endrendrum Punnagai opposite Jiiva and both were hits.
The advent of 2015 saw the actress appearing in three Tamil films, all of which were opposite big stars. She starred in
Yennai Arindhaal opposite Ajith Kumar,
Thoongavanam with the superstar Kamal Haasan and
Bhooloham with Jayam Ravi. In the same year, she acted in the horror film, Aranmanai 2, which was the sequel to the 2014 movie of the same name. In the following year, Trisha starred in the bilingual horror comedy Nayaki (2016), which opened to mixed reviews and was a moderate box office success. However, her strong performance as the main antagonist in the Dhanush starrer
Kodi (2016) earned Trisha the Critics Award for Best Actress at the Filmfare Awards that year.
After a one-year hiatus from films, Trisha made a strong comeback with her Mollywood debut in
Hey Jude (2018), where she essayed the role of a spirited woman suffering from bipolar disorder. The horror thriller
Mohini (2018), the crime film
Sathuranga Vettai 2 (2018) and the romantic drama
96 (2018) are among Trisha`s other significant recent projects. Her other notable releases include Petta (2019), Paramapadham Vilayattu (2021),
Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1 (2022) and Sathuranga Vettai 2 (2022).