Saranya Ponvannan (born Sheela Christina) is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam and a few Kannada language films. She also acted in 1 Hindi movie Chup: Revenge of the Artist in 2022. Saranya made her acting debut in a lead role in Mani Ratnam's Nayakan (1987) and went on to play lead roles from 1987 to 1996. Following an eight-year sabbatical, she returned to films in 2003 as a character actor roles. In her career spanning around over 25 years she had won a number of acclods including 1 National Film Award, 2 Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and a record of 5 Filmfare Award South among other film awards.
Career
Saranya made her Tamil debut in Mani Ratnam's production Nayakan, as the female lead opposite Kamal Haasan in 1987. She made her first Telugu appearance in 1989 film Neerajanam; her Malayalam debut was in the same year with the film Artham starring opposite Mammootty. In 1996 almost during the end of her career as a lead actress she debuted in Kannada cinema in Appaji.
After 1996, she quit from acting. In 2000 she appeared playing the lead role in the comedy television series, Veettukku Veedu Lootty, and subsequently accepted some supporting roles in other projects. During 2006 she appeared in family-drama serial Mugangal, which aired on Sun TV.
After a break from films she made a comeback in 2003 Tamil film Alai opposite Raghuvaran as Silambarasan 's mother. Since then she has been noted for her "mother" roles in films most notably Raam, Thavamai Thavamirundhu and Em Magan in the mid-2000s.
Her performance as Veerayi, a widowed mother torn between love and possessiveness, in the 2010 film Thenmerku Paruvakaatru – her 100th release – earned her the National Film Award for Best Actress. Her major breakthrough was 2005 Tamil film Thavamai Thavamirundhu after which she established herself as a prominent and leading actress in South India. As of 2017, she was one of the highest paid character actresses in the south Indian film industry.
In 2014, she launched Design & School of Fashion Technology (DSOFT), a fashion institute at Virugamakkam, Chennai.
She has also played the role of villain in Achamindri (2016).
In 2017, she had only three releases. She starred in the sequel of 2014 Tamil film Velaiyilla Pattathari, reprising the role of Bhuvana, in a cameo appearance. The character had died in the original film, but the filmmakers wanted her to appear in the sequel, because of her part in the former's success. Her second venture was with Vishnu Vishal in the film Katha Nayagan, playing the mother of Vishnu Vishal. Later she starred in Magalir Mattum, a women-centric film, in which she played alongside Jyothika, Oorvasi and Bhanupriya.
In 2018, she was first seen in comedy-family drama Mannar Vagaiyara as Vemal's mother; her comedy timing was well received, however Itly was released and opened to negative reviews. Later she was seen in Vijay Sethupathi's Junga and Nayanthara's Kolamavu Kokila as the mother of Kokila who although affected by lung cancer, assists her daughter in smuggling cocaine.
She took on the role of Vishalavva, mother to Kiccha Sudeepa's character in Kannada movie The Villain directed by Prem in 2018. Later she was seen in Madhupal's Malayalam thriller drama Oru Kuprasidha Payyan playing Chembammal.
She signed to reprise the role of Lakshmi in Kalavani 2. Her first Telugu release of the year was Gang Leader where she played the lead role Varalakshmi alongside Nani, Lakshmi, Kartikeya Gummakonda, Priyanka Arul Mohan among others.
After a brief hiatus because of COVID-19 Pandemic, her first release was through OTT in 2021 was Bhoomi alongside Jayam Ravi. Critics cited that the talented actress was restricted to few insignificant scenes. Following Bhoomi, she had two other releases in 2021 - multistarer Telugu film Maha Samudharam and Sasikumar's MGR Magan.
Personal life
She was born in a Christian family at Alappuzha, Kerala and is the daughter of Malayalam film director A. B. Raj who directed over 75 films. Saranya married actor-director Ponvannan in 1995 and the couple has two daughters.
