Janani Iyer
Janani Iyer is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Tamil and Malayalam movies.She was born in Kathivakkam in Chennai to a Tamil Brahmin Iyer family. She started her modelling career during her studies and appeared in over 150 television advertisements before getting signed by director Bala to essay the lead female role in the Tamil feature film Avan Ivan (2011).[1] She has since appeared in notable films including the crime thriller Thegidi (2014) and the police drama, 7th Day (2014).[2]
Janani Iyer | |
---|---|
Born | Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 2011-present |
Early life
Janani Iyer did her schooling at DAV Gopalapuram and graduated with a degree in computer science at Saveetha Engineering College.[3][4] After her undergraduate studies, she got seat in Wollongong University, Australia. She dropped her studies plan and became a part of the cast of Avan Ivan.[5]
Career
After her studies, she ventured into modeling and appeared in over 150 regional television advertisements.[3][6] However, Janani stated that she had always dreamt of becoming an actress, considering acting to be her "passion in life".[3] During her modelling career, she appeared in cameo roles as a model in Thiru Thiru Thuru Thuru (2009) and as an assistant director to K. S. Ravikumar in Gautham Menon's Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (2010). She had earlier signed Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa to play the second lead actress, but her role was later shot featuring Samantha.[7] In early 2010, following the recommendation of director A. L. Vijay, Janani went to audition for director Bala, who was looking for a Tamil-speaking newcomer for the lead female character for his film project, Avan Ivan (2011).[3] Upon seeing her audition, Bala signed her for the role, saying he felt that she "fits into the role".[3] The comedy-drama film featured Iyer in the role of an innocent police constable opposite Vishal, and her performance won her positive reviews from critics.[1] Her next release was Paagan (2013), in which she was paired opposite Srikanth.[8] A critic from Sify wrote, "Janani Iyer looks beautiful and it is a relief to watch a Tamil girl speaking in her own voice."[9] She also made her debut in Malayalam cinema with 3 Dots, though both films did not perform well commercially.[10]
In 2014, she appeared alongside Ashok Selvan in the crime thriller Thegidi, which won positive reviews and became a surprise success at the box office. A critic from IndiaGlitz.com noted "Janani Iyer is sweet and plays her part perfectly as Madhu the innocent girl".[11][12] While waiting for better offers from the Tamil film industry, she prioritised working on Malayalam films and notably starred in films such as 3 Dots (2013) opposite Kunchacko Boban, 7th Day (2014) opposite Prithviraj and Koothara (2014) alongside Mohanlal and Bharath. She also featured opposite actor Asif Ali in successive ventures, Mosayile Kuthira Meenukal (2014) and Ithu Thaanda Police (2016).[13][14] During the period, a further Malayalam film, Edison Photos opposite Nivin Pauly was cancelled.[15][16]
Janani made a return to Tamil films in 2017 by featuring in the mystery film Adhe Kangal and the horror comedy Balloon. The following year, the long-delayed Vidhi Madhi Ultaa (2018) had a theatrical release, but went unnoticed at the box office. In 2018, she appeared on the Tamil television reality show Bigg Boss Tamil 2 hosted by Kamal Haasan, which is telecasted on Star Vijay.[17]
Filmography
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Denotes films that have not yet been released |
Year | Title | Role(s) | Director(s) | Language(s) | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | Thiru Thiru Thuru Thuru | Commercial model | Nandhini JS | Tamil | Uncredited role | |
2010 | Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa | Assistant director | Gautham Menon | Uncredited role | ||
2011 | Avan Ivan | Baby | Bala | |||
2012 | Paagan | Mahalakshmi | Mohammed Aslam | |||
2013 | 3 Dots | Lakshmi | Sugeeth | Malayalam | ||
2014 | Thegidi | Madhushree | P. Ramesh | Tamil | ||
7th Day | Jessy | Syamdhar | Malayalam | |||
Mosayile Kuthira Meenukal | Deena | Ajith Pillai | ||||
Koothara | Noora | Srinath Rajendran | ||||
2016 | Ithu Thaanda Police | Niya Menon | Manoj Palodan | |||
Ma Chu Ka | Nivedita Haran | Jayan Vannery | ||||
2017 | Adhe Kangal | Sadhana | Rohin Venkatesan | Tamil | ||
Mupparimanam | Herself | Adhiroopan | Cameo appearance | |||
Balloon | Shenbagavalli | Sinish Sreedharan | ||||
2018 | Vidhi Madhi Ultaa | Divya | Vijai Balaji | |||
2019 | Dharmaprabhu | Kumaradasan's daughter | Muthukumaran | Cameo Appearance | ||
2020 | Thollaikatchi | TBA | M. Sadiq Khan | Finished Delayed | ||
Vezham | TBA | Sandeep Shyam | Filming | [18] | ||
Kasada Thapara | TBA | Chimbu Deven | Filming | [19] | ||
- Television
Year | Title | TV Channel | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | Bigg Boss Tamil 2 | Star Vijay | Contestant | 4th place |
2019 | Bigg Boss Tamil 3 | Star Vijay | Guest | |
2019 | 8th South Indian International Movie Awards | Sun TV | Co-Host | |
2020 | Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards | Sun TV | Guest |
References
- "I'm God's favourite child: Janani Iyer". The Times of India. 25 February 2011. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
- "An interview with Thegidi, Avan Ivan actress Janani Iyer". www.behindwoods.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
- "Bala's new Tamil heroine!". Moviebuzz. Sify.com. 31 January 2010. Archived from the original on 3 February 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
- "Janani Iyer- Bala's new heroine". Indiaglitz.com. 8 February 2010. Archived from the original on 15 July 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- Rangarajan, Malathi (19 May 2012). "Luck by chance". Retrieved 21 April 2019 – via www.thehindu.com.
- "A dream start for Janani Iyer". The Times of India. 4 February 2010. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
- "Janani Iyer was to play Samantha's role in VTV - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
- "Srikanth – Janani Iyer in 'Paagan'". IndiaGlitz. 29 August 2011. Archived from the original on 13 November 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
- "Paagan Movie Review". Archived from the original on 22 January 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
- "Janani's journey begins here". Deccan Chronicle. 28 November 2012. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
- "Thegidi Movie Review". 28 February 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
- V; January 27, hana On; 2015 (27 January 2015). "Free Style: The Janani Iyer Interview". silverscreen.in. Archived from the original on 6 April 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2019.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
- "Prithviraj to play a middle-aged cop! – Times of India". Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 13 December 2013. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
- Gayathry (12 December 2013). "Andrea Jeremiah Says No To Asif Ali! – Oneindia Entertainment". Entertainment.oneindia.in. Archived from the original on 15 December 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
- "Janani to play a Tulu Brahmin girl in Edison Photos - Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
- "I am in no hurry, says Janani Iyer". Sify. Archived from the original on 25 September 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
- Lee, Dharmik (17 June 2018). "பிக்பாஸ் போட்டியாளரான பாலா பட கதாநாயகி!". Vikatan (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 17 June 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2018.
- "Bigg Boss Janani Iyer to romance Ashok Selvan again". India Today. Ist. Archived from the original on 1 February 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
- "First look of Kasada Thapara, Venkat Prabhu's next production, directed by Chimbu Deven, is out". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
External links
- Janani Iyer on IMDb