Janani
Janani
Janani in 2019
Born
Kathivakkam, Madras, Tamil Nadu, India (present-day Chennai)
OccupationActress
Years active2011–present

Janani (formerly known as Janani Iyer) is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Tamil and Malayalam movies.[1] She made her cinematic debut with the Tamil feature film Avan Ivan (2011).[2] Her notable films including Thegidi (2014) and 7th Day (2014).[3] She is the 3rd runner up of the reality show Bigg Boss Tamil 2 which aired in 2018.

Early life

Janani Iyer was born in Kathivakkam in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. She did her schooling at DAV Gopalapuram and graduated with B.E. Computer Science and Engineering at Saveetha Engineering College, Chennai.[4][5] 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.[6] In 2014, she dropped Iyer from her name due to caste reasons.[7]

Career

After her studies, she ventured into modeling and appeared in over 150 regional television advertisements.[4][8] However, Janani stated that she had always dreamt of becoming an actress, considering acting to be her "passion in life".[4] 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 Vasudev 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 Ruth Prabhu.[9] 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).[4] Upon seeing her audition, Bala signed her for the role, saying he felt that she "fits into the role".[4] The comedy-drama film featured Janani in the role of an innocent police constable opposite Vishal, and her performance won her positive reviews from critics.[2] Her next release was Paagan (2013), in which she was paired opposite Srikanth.[10] A critic from Sify wrote, "Janani Iyer looks beautiful and it is a relief to watch a Tamil girl speaking in her own voice."[11] She also made her debut in Malayalam cinema with 3 Dots though the film did not perform well commercially.[12]

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".[13][14] 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 which was a commercial success 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).[15] During the period, a further Malayalam film, Edison Photos opposite Nivin Pauly was cancelled.[16][17]

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.[18]

Filmography

Key
† Denotes films that have not yet been released
Year Title Role(s) Language(s) Notes Ref.
2009Thiru Thiru Thuru ThuruCommercial modelTamilUncredited role
2010Vinnaithaandi VaruvaayaaAssistant director to K.S. RavikumarUncredited role
2011Avan IvanBaby
2012PaaganMahalakshmi
20133 DotsLakshmiMalayalam[19]
2014ThegidiMadhushreeTamil[20]
7th DayJessyMalayalam
Mosayile Kuthira MeenukalDeena
KootharaNoora
2016Ithu Thaanda PoliceNiya Menon[21]
Ma Chu KaNivedita HaranMalayalam
Tamil		[22]
2017Adhe KangalSadhanaTamil
MupparimanamHerselfCameo appearance
BalloonShenbagavalli
2018Vidhi Madhi UltaaDivyaAlso singer for "Un Nerukkam (Shimmr Mix)"[23]
2019DharmaprabhuVaishnaviCameo Appearance[24]
2022 KoormanStella[25]
VezhamPreethi[26]
2023 BagheeraRubha Reddy[27]
Karungaapiyam Kajal
ThollaikatchiTBAFinished
Delayed
Yaakai ThiriTBAFilming[28]
MunnarivaanTBAFilming[29]

Web series

List of web series and roles
Year Title Role Language Notes Ref.
2023 MY3 Keerthana Tamil Completed [30]

Television

Year Title TV Channel Role Notes
2018 Bigg Boss Tamil 2[31] Star Vijay Contestant 3rd runner up
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

  1. ↑ Nikhil Raghavan (13 July 2013). "Etcetera: A steady climb up". The Hindu. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  2. 1 2 "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.
  3. ↑ "An interview with Thegidi, Avan Ivan actress Janani Iyer". behindwoods.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Bala's new Tamil heroine!". Sify. 31 January 2010. Archived from the original on 3 February 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
  5. ↑ "Janani Iyer- Bala's new heroine". IndiaGlitz.com. 8 February 2010. Archived from the original on 15 July 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  6. ↑ Rangarajan, Malathi (19 May 2012). "Luck by chance". The Hindu. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  7. ↑ "Now, Janani Iyer changes her name". The Times of India.
  8. ↑ "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.
  9. ↑ "Janani Iyer was to play Samantha's role in VTV". The Times of India. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  10. ↑ "Srikanth – Janani Iyer in 'Paagan'". IndiaGlitz. 29 August 2011. Archived from the original on 13 November 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  11. ↑ "Paagan Movie Review". Archived from the original on 22 January 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
  12. ↑ "Janani's journey begins here". Deccan Chronicle. 28 November 2012. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  13. ↑ "Thegidi Movie Review". 28 February 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  14. ↑ Vandhana (27 January 2015). "Free Style: The Janani Iyer Interview". silverscreen.in. Archived from the original on 6 April 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  15. ↑ "Prithviraj to play a middle-aged cop!". The Times of India. 13 December 2013. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  16. ↑ "Janani to play a Tulu Brahmin girl in Edison Photos". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  17. ↑ "I am in no hurry, says Janani Iyer". Sify. Archived from the original on 25 September 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  18. ↑ 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.
  19. ↑ "Janani Iyer in 'Three Dots'". Sify. Archived from the original on 30 October 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  20. ↑ "Ashok Selvan and Janani Iyer starrer Thegidi has been wrapped up". Behindwoods.com. 12 November 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  21. ↑ "Janani Iyer all set to romance Asif, again!". The Times of India. 29 June 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  22. ↑ "Janani Iyer back with a bold role". Deccan Chronicle. 8 June 2017.
  23. ↑ "Rameez Raja, Janani Iyer team up for a dark comedy". The Times of India.
  24. ↑ "Janani Iyer to play a cameo in Dharmaprabhu". Cinema Express.
  25. ↑ "Koorman Movie Review: Koorman is an amateurish crime thriller". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 10 February 2022.
  26. ↑ "Bigg Boss Janani Iyer to romance Ashok Selvan again". India Today. Ist. Archived from the original on 1 February 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  27. ↑ "I play a modern girl from Hyderabad in Bagheera: Janani". The Times of India.
  28. ↑ "Bharath, Janani Iyer rom-com titled Yaakai Thiri". dtNext.in. 4 January 2021. Archived from the original on 4 January 2021.
  29. ↑ "Bharath signs a psychological thriller movie next! - Tamil News". IndiaGlitz.com. 25 February 2021.
  30. ↑ "'MY3': First look of Hansika, Shanthnu, Mugen's web series out". www.thehindu.com. 22 August 2023.
  31. ↑ "Bigg Boss Tamil 2 Written update, June 19th, 2018 : Janani Iyer finishes the luxury budget task successfully". The Times of India.
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