Trisha Krishnan (born 4 May 1983) is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Tamil and Telugu films. She gained prominence after winning the 1999 Miss Chennai pageant, which marked her entry into the film industry. Trisha is a recipient of several accolades including five Filmfare Awards South, one Nandi Award, one Tamil Nadu State Film Award and seven South Indian International Movie Awards. Trisha is popularly referred to as "South Queen" for her contributions to the film industries of all of the South Indian languages.
After marking her debut with a minor supporting role in the Tamil romantic drama Jodi (1999), Trisha had her first lead role in the 2002 film Mounam Pesiyadhe. She rose to fame starring in commercially successful masala films such as Saamy (2003), Ghilli (2004) and Aaru (2005) in Tamil cinema, and Varsham (2004), Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana (2005), Athadu (2005) and Aadavari Matalaku Ardhalu Verule (2007) in Telugu cinema, winning three Filmfare Awards for Best Actress – Telugu for Varsham, Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana and Aadavari Matalaku Ardhalu Verule.
Trisha has also starred in the Hindi film Khatta Meetha (2010). Her performances in the comedy drama Abhiyum Naanum (2008), the romantic drama Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (2010), the political thriller Kodi (2016), the romantic drama '96 (2018), and the historical dramas Ponniyin Selvan: I (2022) and Ponniyin Selvan: II (2023) were met with critical acclaim. Her performance in Kodi and 96 earned her the Critics Award and the Best Actress award respectively at the Filmfare Awards South.
Early life
Trisha was born on 4 May 1983 to Krishnan Iyer and Uma Iyer in Madras (now Chennai) into a Palakkad Iyer family. She completed schooling at the Sacred Heart Matriculation School in Church Park, Chennai, and later pursued a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) course at the Ethiraj College for Women (Chennai). She ventured into modelling and appeared in several print and television commercials. In 1999, she won the "Miss Salem" beauty pageant, and later the same year, the Miss Chennai contest. She had also won the Miss India 2001 pageant's "Beautiful Smile" award. She follows a vegetarian diet.
Trisha had aspired to become a criminal psychologist initially, and resisted the thought of pursuing acting, as she wanted to complete her studies first. In 2000, she appeared in Falguni Pathak's music video Meri Chunar Udd Udd Jaye as Ayesha Takia's friend. She was later approached for an acting role in the Tamil film Lesa Lesa (2003) by Indian film director Priyadarshan, which marked the beginning of her professional career as an actress. She followed a tight shooting schedule while in college, making it difficult for her to continue her education. She compensated for this by attending summer classes.
Film career
1999–2003: Early career and success
Soon after her pageant success, Trisha began her acting career in a minor supporting role as Simran's friend in the romantic drama Jodi (1999). The first film she accepted was the Priyadarshan-directed Lesa Lesa, with the promotional posters for the film, also creating an offer to star in the A. R. Rahman musical hit, Enakku 20 Unakku 18 (2003). However, both the projects' releases were severely delayed, and her first release was Ameer's Mounam Pesiyadhe (2002) opposite Suriya. The film became a moderate success at the box office and managed to gain credentials for Trisha, with critics claiming that she was "undoubtedly a refreshing new find, with sparkling eyes and appealing demeanour", also going onto praise the dubbing artiste, Savitha Reddy, who has since regularly dubbed for Trisha. Manasellam (2003), her second project, saw her play a cancer patient, but the film went unnoticed upon its March release.