Meet actor who called off her engagement, aspired to be a criminal psychologist, and is now one of the highest-paid South stars (2024)

Read on to learn about one of the highest-earning actresses in South cinema who was initially secretly engaged to a businessman from Chennai.

Meet actor who was secretly engaged to a businessman and wanted to be a psychologist (PC: Instagram)

She is an actress who charms everyone with her stunning beauty and impressive dancing skills. Despite once hesitating about pursuing a career in cinema, she has now become the star of one of the top-grossing films of 2023 and continues to impress with her upcoming projects.

Yes, we are talking about the one and only actress Trisha Krishnan who is absolutely living the dream with her cinema career and has no intention of slowing down. Let’s take a look at her professional and personal livesover the years.

Trisha Krishnan: The leading star of Tamil cinema

Trisha Krishnan started her cinematic journey after acquiring the Beautiful Smile award at the 2001 Miss India pageant, centering everyone’s attention on her. The actress, who had won the Miss Chennai title in 1999, was steadily starting off her career despite having initial hesitation towards acting.

The now leading actress in Tamil cinema initially wanted to become a criminal psychologist, hoping to complete her studies in the field. Amidst all of this, the actress featured for the first time in Falguni Pathak’s music video for the song Meri Chunar Udd Udd Jaye,which starred Ayesha Takia in the lead. She even starred in a supporting role in the romantic drama film Jodi, featuring as Simran’s friend.

Check out the songMeri Chunar Udd Udd Jaye:

Director Priyadarshan soon approached her to play the lead role in his Tamil film, marking the actress' debut in the 2003 movie Lesa Lesa. Trisha's arrival in the industry created a sensation with her charm and radiant smile. We even started referring to her as "Aval Ulaghazhagi," which means "She is the most beautiful girl on earth," just like her popular song.

Despite acting in Priyadarshan’s directorial first, the film’s release was delayed. This led to her first film to ever reach the theaters being the Suriya starrer Mounam Pesiyadhe. The latter started to establish Trisha as a potential lead in Tamil cinema, with critics calling her a fresh and interesting new addition to the industry.

After that, the actress starred in a movie titled Manasellam as a cancer patient, but it didn't receive much attention upon its release. Nevertheless, her collaboration with Chiyaan Vikram in the film Saamy was a game-changer in her career, as it turned out to be a huge commercial success.

This masala film ended up being the top-grossing movie of the year. Her following project, Enakku 20 Unakku 18, was a critical success, largely thanks to AR Rahman's musical brilliance.

Check out the song Aval Ulaghazhagi from Lesa Lesa:

By 2004, Trisha Krishnan had started to become a household name and rose up the ladders of stardom in both Tamil and Telugu cinema. Making her an overnight sensation in the Telugu industry, the actress featured alongside Prabhas in the movieVarsham.

Trisha achieved a significant milestone in the same year when she joined forces with the legendary Thalapathy Vijay and created a timeless masterpiece in Tamil cinema called Ghilli. The unforgettable soundtrack composed by Vidyasagar continues to entertainaudiences, with Tamil parties still grooving to the duo's iconic dance number, Appadi Podu. This film not only became the highest-grossing success of the year but also propelled Trisha to unprecedented levels of stardom.

Afterward, the actress featured in her first Mani Ratnam directorial movie, Aayutha Ezhuthu, playing the love interest of Siddharth. Over the years, Trisha went on to star in several hit movies in both Telugu and Tamil, even winning the Nandi Award for Best Actress with the movie Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana.

Over the years, the actress has featured alongside several superstars of South cinema including Ajith Kumar, Chiranjeevi, Jayam Ravi, Mahesh Babu, Venkatesh, and more. While many of these movies were successful, she also experienced a few setbacks in terms of box office performance.

Even though the actress had delivered numerous average hits throughout the years, her popularity never waned, especially evident in her role in Gautham Vasudev Menon’s Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa alongside Silambarasan TR. This success continued with films like Mankatha and Theenmar, eventually leading to her debut in Kannada cinema with the 2014 movie Power, starring the late Puneeth Rajkumar.

See Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa trailer:

However, despite having a certain downtime in her career where she made some questionable acting choices, the actress once again stunned everyone by playing the main antagonist in Dhanush starrer Kodi.

Later on, the actress made her mark in Malayalam cinema with her debut in the industry with Nivin Pauly’s Hey Jude and subsequently starring opposite Vijay Sethupathi in 96. With the advent of 2019, Trisha became the heroine of Superstar Rajinikanth in the movie Petta and soon enough featured in a Mani Ratnam magnum opus film series Ponniyin Selvan.

Trisha Krishna’s personal life

Born on May 4, 1984, to a Tamil Palakkad Iyer family in Chennai, Trisha Krishnan completed her studies in the city itself, earning a degree in Bachelor of Business Administration.

The actress who still resides with her mother and grandmother in Chennai is a practicing vegetarian and a polyglot who can speak languages like English, Hindi, Tamil, and French. Her mother Uma Krishnan has always been a supportive figure in her career who herself was offered various roles in cinema by even Kamal Haasan at one point. However, her mother had always been concentrated on Trisha’s career and turned them down.

Furthermore, Trisha Krishnan was once secretly engaged to a Chennai-based businessman called Varun Manian, back in January of 2015. However, within a matter of a few months, the couple had parted ways and eventually ended their engagement.

Check out some Instagram posts of Trisha Krishnan:

Trisha Krishnan’s latest works

Trisha Krishnan once again made a sensation on the silver screens by reuniting with her co-star Thalapathy Vijay after several years for the film Leo. The Lokesh Kanagaraj directorial became a major blockbuster, being the highest-grossing Tamil movie in 2023.

Now, the actress is set to appear in several big-budget projects across languages with films like Vishwambhara starring Chiranjeevi, Ajith Kumar’s Vidaa Muyarchi, Ram with Mohanlal, and the Kamal Haasan-Mani Ratnam flick Thug Life.

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