Aishwarya Rajesh (born 10 January 1990) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Tamil films, alongside Telugu and Malayalam films. She is a recipient of four SIIMA Awards, one Filmfare Award South and one Tamil Nadu State Film Award.

Aishwarya Rajesh
Aishwarya in 2014
Born	(1990-01-10) 10 January 1990 (age 32) Madras (present-day Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India
Alma mater	Ethiraj College for Women (B.Com)
Occupation	Actress TV anchor
Years active	1996 (child artist) 2010–present
Relatives	Sri Lakshmi (aunt) Manikandan Rajesh (brother)
Honours	Kalaimamani 2020[1]

Aishwarya started her career as television presenter in a comedy show called Asatha Povathu Yaaru? on Sun TV. After winning the reality show Maanada Mayilada, she was cast in the film Avargalum Ivargalum (2011) and came into prominence after starring in Attakathi (2012)[2] portraying the role of Amudha. She has received Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress for the 2014 film Kaaka Muttai at Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.[3] She acted in her two career breakthrough roles as Padma in Vetrimaran's Vada Chennai (2018) opposite to Dhanush and as Kousalya Murugesan, a female cricketer in her solo film Kanaa (2018).[4][5]

Her first Malayalam film was Jomonte Suvisheshangal (2017) opposite Dulquer Salmaan.[6] She made her Hindi film debut in 2017 with Daddy opposite to Arjun Rampal.[7] She made her Telugu film debut with Kousalya Krishnamurthy (2019), which was a remake of her 2018 movie, Kanaa.[8]

Early life

Aishwarya Rajesh was born on 10 January 1990 in a Telugu family in Chennai (then Madras).[9][10][11] Her father Rajesh was a Telugu film actor.[12][13] He died when Aishwarya was 8 years old.[14] Her mother Nagamani was a dancer.[15] Her grandfather Amarnath was also an actor,[13] while her aunt Sri Lakshmi, is a Telugu comedian with over 500 films to her credit.[14] She is the youngest of four siblings, of whom two elder brothers died during her teenage years.[11]

Aishwarya was brought up in Chennai, and she described her background as "lower middle class."[11] She did her schooling in Shrine Vailankanni, Chennai, Sree Vidyanikethan International School, Tirupati, and Holy Angels Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School, Chennai.[16] In 1996, she performed as a child in the Telugu film Rambantu.[17]

She studied at Ethiraj College for Women, Chennai and graduated with a B.Com degree.[18] She started to learn dance since she needed to choreograph a stage show for a student cultural fest and later entered the reality show Maanada Mayilada on Kalaignar TV. She won the show's third season and got offered roles in films thereafter.[14]

Career

2010–2015

In the early stages of her career, Aishwarya also worked as an anchor on the sets of the TV show Asathapovathu Yaaru.[19] In 2010, she was cast in her first film Avargalum Ivargalum (2011) although Neethana Avan (2010) released first.[20][21] In 2014, she was seen alongside Vijay Sethupathi in two films, Rummy, and Pannaiyarum Padminiyum, released within two weeks. While the first film was a village drama set in the 1980s, the latter was based on a short film of the same name, and revolved around an old man and his vintage car Premier Padmini.[22][23] Critics praised her performances, especially in Rummy.[24][25] Hindustan Times wrote that she was "extremely promising"[26] while film critic Baradwaj Rangan noted that she was "expressive", calling her "a tonic for nerves frayed by the alabaster automatons we usually get as heroines".[27][28] Later that year, she appeared in a song sequence in R. Parthiepan's Kathai Thiraikathai Vasanam Iyakkam and as the female lead in Thirudan Police.[29] In April 2014, she began filming for Seenu Ramasamy's Idam Porul Yaeval, but the film remains unreleased as of May 2020.[30]

Her first release in 2015 was Kaaka Muttai. Initially, she was very hesitant to play a mother role at such an early stage in her career, but, after seeking advice from her Pannaiyarum Padminiyum co-star Vijay Sethupathi and after gaining interest in the script herself, she decided to be part of the film. Her portrayal of a slum dweller and mother of two children was lauded unanimously by critics and is regarded as one of "100 Greatest Performances of the Decade" by Film Companion. Critic Baradwaj Rangan wrote, "it features stunning performances from everyone...especially Aishwarya Rajesh, who plays the kids' mother with a world-weariness that belies her years".[31] Other reviewers stated that she was "excellent",[32] played her role "with extraordinary ease"[33] and that she "leaves you awe-struck".[34][35] That year, she also made her stage debut, playing Cinderella from the same-titled fairytale that was adapted as a "musical dance drama".[36][37]

2016–present

Aishwarya had the most releases for a Tamil actress in 2016 with 8 films out of which Aarathu Sinam, Hello Naan Pei Pesuren, Manithan and Dharma Durai were commercially successful. She was critically appreciated for her performance in the films Dharma Durai and Kuttrame Thandanai, where she collaborated with Kaaka Muttai director Manikandan. She became the number one choice for acting in performance oriented roles in the industry. In 2017, Aishwarya made her entry in Malayalam films acting in two commercially and critically successful films Jomonte Suvisheshangal and Sakhhavu. Based on her performance in Kaaka Muttai, Arjun Rampal selected Aishwarya in the role of Zubeida for the film Daddy. With this, Aishwarya made her debut in Hindi and was recognized for her performance in her first Hindi film.[38][39][40][41] In 2018, she completed shooting for Idhu Vedhalam Sollum Kathai. The film remained unreleased as of April 2020.[42]

She starred in her solo film as a cricketer in Kanaa under Sivakarthikeyan's production.[43] She reprised her role in the Telugu remake Kousalya Krishnamurthy, which marked her lead Telugu debut.[44] She starred in sister roles in Namma Veettu Pillai and Vaanam Kottatum.[45][46] She played a village belle in World Famous Lover.[47] She played a woman who lost her husband in Dubai in Ka Pae Ranasingam. Regarding her performance, a critic noted that "Aishwarya Rajesh is a revelation. She displays hopelessness, powerlessness, vulnerability, grit and determination with ease and impressive conviction".[48]

As of 2020, she is a part of Gautham Vasudev Menon's delayed project Dhruva Natchathiram. She was cast in the Mundhanai Mudichu remake.[49] As of April 2021^[update], she is filming for Driver Jamuna.[50]

Filmography

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Film

List of films and roles

Year	Title	Role	Language	Notes	Ref.
1996	Rambantu	in a song scene	Telugu	Child artist	[17]
2010	Neethana Avan	Nandhini	Tamil	Credited as Aishwarya
2011	Avargalum Ivargalum	Swetha	Tamil	Credited as Aishwarya
	Uyarthiru 420	Charu	Tamil	Credited as Aishwarya
	Sattapadi Kutram	Sumathi	Tamil	Credited as Aishwarya
2012	Vilayada Vaa	Anu	Tamil	Credited as Aishwarya
	Attakathi	Amudha	Tamil	Credited as Aishwarya
	Aachariyangal	Anu	Tamil
2013	Puthagam	Thara	Tamil
2014	Rummy	Sornam	Tamil
	Pannaiyarum Padminiyum	Malarvizhi	Tamil
	Kathai Thiraikathai Vasanam Iyakkam	Herself	Tamil	Cameo appearance
	Thirudan Police	Poornima	Tamil
2015	Kaaka Muttai	The Protagonist Kids' Mother	Tamil
2016	Aarathu Sinam	Mia	Tamil
	Hello Naan Pei Pesuren	Kavitha	Tamil
	Manithan	Jennifer	Tamil
	Dharma Durai	Anbu Selvi	Tamil
	Kuttrame Thandanai	Swetha	Tamil
	Kadalai	Kalai	Tamil
	Parandhu Sella Vaa	Madhavi	Tamil
	Mo	Priya	Tamil
2017	Jomonte Suvisheshangal	Vaidhegy Perumal	Malayalam
	Mupparimanam	Herself	Tamil	Cameo appearance
	Kattappava Kaanom	Meena	Tamil
	Sakhavu	Janaki	Malayalam
	Gemini Ganeshanum Suruli Raajanum	Pooja	Tamil
	Daddy	Zubeida Mujawar / Asha Gawli	Hindi
2018	Lakshmi	Nandhini	Tamil
	Saamy Square	Bhuvana	Tamil
	Chekka Chivantha Vaanam	Renuka Thyagarajan	Tamil
	Vada Chennai	Padma	Tamil
	Kanaa	Kousalya Murugesan	Tamil
2019	Vilambaram	Aishwarya	Tamil
	Kousalya Krishnamurthy	Kousalya Krishnamurthy	Telugu
	Mei	Uthra	Tamil
	Namma Veettu Pillai	Thulasi	Tamil
	Mismatch	Maha Lakshmi	Telugu
2020	Vaanam Kottatum	Mangai	Tamil
	World Famous Lover	Suvarna	Telugu
	Ka Pae Ranasingam	Ariyanachi Rana Singam	Tamil
2021	Thittam Irandu	Athira	Tamil		[51]
	Boomika	Samyuktha Gowtham	Tamil		[52]
	Tuck Jagadish	Chandra	Telugu		[53]
	Republic	Myra Hanson	Telugu		[54]
2022	Driver Jamuna	Jamuna	Tamil	Post Production	[50]
	Mohandas	TBA	Tamil	Post Production	[55]
	Theeyavar Kulaigal Nadunga	TBA	Tamil	Filming	[56]
	Pulimada	TBA	Malayalam	Filming	[57]
	The Great Indian Kitchen	TBA	Tamil	Post-production	[58]
	Soppana Sundari	TBA	Tamil	Post Production
	Farhana	TBA	Tamil	Filming
2023	Ajayante Randam Moshanam	TBA	Malayalam	Filming
	Idam Porul Yaeval	TBA	Tamil	Post-production
	Her	TBA	Malayalam	Filming
	Manik	TBA	Tamil Hindi	Filming
TBA	Dhruva Natchathiram	Ragini	Tamil	Post-production

Dubbing artist

Television

Music video

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Aishwarya Rajesh at IMDb
• Aishwarya Rajesh on Twitter