Anjali

Biography

Anjali (born 16 June 1986) is an Indian actress and model who appears in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. Following a stint in modeling, she was cast in starring roles in two Telugu productions; her debut film was the Telugu thriller film Photo (2006). She then bagged a role and gained attention in the film Kattradhu Thamizh (2007) with Jiiva. 

In 2010 and 2011, she won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil, for her performances in Angaadi Theru and Engaeyum Eppothum, respectively, and the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Angadi Theru subsequently recognized as one of the "finest young actors" in Tamil cinema, and noted for mostly playing "performance-oriented roles".

In 2013, she returned to Telugu cinema and appeared in a string of successful films like Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu, Balupu, Masala, Geethanjali, and Dictator. She also received two Nandi Awards for Best Actress for her performances in the films Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu (2013) and Geethanjali (2014).

Later, she signed a psycho action thriller Telugu film Chitrangada (2017). In December 2017, her film with Jai & Janani Iyer titled Balloon directed by newcomer Sinish had a moderate-average performance at the box office. She signed a Tamil film Peranbu (2019) opposite Mammootty directed by Ram, where her performance was overshadowed by Mammooty and Baby Sadhana. 

She acted in the horror flick, Lisaa (2019) as a lead character, which got below-average reviews and collections. Anjali acted as a lesbian in the web series Paava Kadhaigal (2020) directed by Vignesh Shivan. The next year she played the role of Zarina in the film Vakeel Saab (2021), directed by Venu Sriram. 

The film was successful at the box office, grossing over ₹137.65 crore worldwide, despite the COVID-19 pandemic in India. The film became her comeback success. Following the success, she signed up for a role in the film F3, produced by Sri Venkateswara Creations. However, she was replaced by Sonal Chauhan.