Amala Paul (born 26 October 1991) is an Indian actress and producer who is primarily working in Tamil cinema and Malayalam cinema films, in addition to some Telugu cinema and Hindi cinema films. She is a recipient of a Tamil Nadu State Film Award, a Filmfare Award South and two South Indian International Movie Awards.
Amala started her career in the Malayalam film Neelathamara (2009), and later appeared in the Tamil film Mynaa (2010), which earned her the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress. She further received two SIIMA Award for Best Actress – Malayalam for her performance in Run Baby Run (2012) and Oru Indian Pranayakadha (2013). She went on to appear in successful films such as Vettai (2012), Thalaivaa (2013), Velaiilla Pattadhari (2014), Hebbuli (2017), Thiruttu Payale 2 (2017), Ratsasan (2018) and The Goat Life (2024). Her titular role in Mili (2015) won her the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress – Malayalam.
Amala's father had been strictly against Amala pursuing an acting career but relented when her brother strongly supported her ambition. She later claimed that she had performing arts in her, revealing that her mother was a singer and her father was into theatre in college.
Amala's next release, the romantic drama film Mynaa (2010), by Prabhu Solomon, made her a recognised actress in the industry. The film had garnered much anticipation prior to release, with noted distributors Udhayanidhi Stalin and Kalpathi S. Aghoram purchasing the rights of the film after being impressed with it. Amala played the village belle Mynaa. The film was successful at the box office.
Amala's first release of 2012 was in Lingusamy's Vettai, alongside Arya, Madhavan and Sameera Reddy. The film opened to critical and commercial acclaim with The New York Times claiming that the film "entertains without breaking any new ground, though it can also surprise". Amala won mixed feedback for her performance, while the critic from Sify mentioned that she "is lovely to look at and her feisty performance proves that a star is born". Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff.com cited that she "struts, pouts and hams to the hilt". The actress had three films released on the Valentine's Day weekend of 2012, with Balaji Mohan's bilingual Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi / Love Failure becoming critical and commercial successes. The film, made in Tamil and Telugu, featured her alongside Siddharth and portrayed her as a college girl, Parvathi, showing her romantic skills. About the Tamil version, a reviewer from The Hindu wrote: "Amala Paul, after coming across as convincing in her last few movies, looks finally set as a leading lady", while another critic labelled that she "comes across as natural" and "it is a pleasure to see her in a role and costumes that suit her age as compared to her recent movies". Rediff.com called the Telugu version of the film "refreshing", highlighting that the lead pair's on-screen chemistry "sparkles". The romantic thriller Muppozhudhum Un Karpanaigal, opposite Atharvaa, also released on the same day in which she played Charulatha, a modern girl based in Bangalore. The film won mixed reviews, though the lead pair's on-screen chemistry was praised by critics, while another reviewer noted that "Amala renders an effortless act". She played a notable role in renowned director Dr. Biju's Akasathinte Niram, which was her first art-house film. The film was screened at the competition section for the Golden Goblet Award in the 15th Shanghai International Film Festival. She paired with veteran Malayalam actor Mohanlal in the film Run Baby Run, in which she played the role of a senior news channel editor. The film was a big commercial success and her performance as well as her chemistry with Mohanlal were highly appreciated.
In 2013, Amala achieved her first commercial success in Telugu cinema. Her first release in 2013, V. V. Vinayak's directorial Naayak, opposite Ram Charan, went on to be one of the biggest critical as well as commercial successes of the year. Her next film was Puri Jagannadh's romantic comedy Iddarammayilatho opposite Allu Arjun. Sangeetha Devi Dundroo of The Hindu commented: "Amala Paul manages to pull off a character that traverses a thin line between being naïve and downright silly. We wish we saw more of her." Another reviewer, Sasidhar AS from The Times of India commented: "Amala Paul's characterisation is a delight, and she plays Komali so effectively that you'll be left wondering who else could have done the role better than her. She was a perfect choice to play a traditional Telugu girl." She was later seen in A. L. Vijay's action entertainer Thalaivaa, opposite Vijay, as a police officer. Her last release of the year was the Malayalam film Oru Indian Pranayakadha.
In 2014, her first release was Samuthirakani's Nimirndhu Nil, opposite Jayam Ravi, which was simultaneously shot in Telugu as Janda Pai Kapiraju, in which Nani reprised the role of Jayam Ravi. Her second release saw her collaborating with Dhanush in the blockbuster film, VIP. Amala's performance was well received and also saw her reprising her role in its sequel, VIP 2 in 2017 that was a commercial success as well.
In 2015, she played the titular role in Mili with Nivin Pauly. She also co-starred with Suriya in Pasanga 2 .
In 2016, she acted in Amma Kanakku an official remake of Nil Battey Sannata by Ashwini Iyer, and won acclaim for her performance. In 2017 she starred in the Kannada film opposite Sudeepa in Hebbuli which was a commercial success.
Amala switched back to two Tamil films in 2018, both which went on to become commercial successes. Bhaskar Oru Rascal saw her playing the role of Anu opposite Arvind Swamy. While in Ratsasan, she starred alongside Vishnu Vishal which received critical acclaim. In 2019, she starred in Tamil-Telugu bilingual film, Aadai, which met with positive reviews.
She was also seen in back to back Malayalam films, The Teacher and Christopher which turned out be average. In 2023, she did a cameo alongside Ajay Devgn in Bholaa.
2024 saw one of Amala's highest grossing release with the critically acclaimed Aadujeevitham. Starring alongside Prithviraj, the film turned out to become one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of all time collecting 158.15 crore, also becoming one of the highest grossing Indian film of 2024.
As early as 2011, when Amala was working on Deiva Thirumagal, she was romantically linked to director A. L. Vijay, but denied that they were dating. On 7 June 2014, she got engaged to Vijay at Aluva in Kochi. The couple got married on 12 June 2014 at Mayor Ramanathan Chettiar Hall, Chennai. In 2016, Amala and Vijay filed for divorce due to disagreement between her and her in-laws on continuing her acting career. They divorced in 2017.
She married entrepreneur Jagat Desai in 2023. They have a son named Ilai born on 11 June 2024.
In January 2018, Amala was arrested for tax evasion. A crime branch investigation had found that she had registered her luxury car in Puducherry with fake documents. Later, the case was closed citing issues.
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Segment: "Edhirpaara Mutham" | |||||
Segment: "Meera" | |||||
2022 | Cadaver | Dr. Badhra Thangavel | Tamil | Also producer | |
The Teacher | Devika | Malayalam | |||
2023 | Christopher | Sulekha | |||
Bholaa | Dr. Swara | Hindi | Cameo appearance | ||
2024 | The Goat Life | Sainu Najeeb | Malayalam | ||
Level Cross | Chaitali / Shikha | ||||
2021 | Kudi Yedamaithe | CI Durga Goud | Telugu | |||
2022 | Ranjish Hi Sahi | Amna Parvez | Hindi | |||
Raju Vootla Party | Herself | Tamil | Promote Cadaver
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Anjana | Episode: "Confession" |
+List of awards | |||||
2011 | Amrita TV | Best Actress -Tamil | Mynaa | ||
Edison Awards | Best Debut Actress | ||||
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards | Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress | ||||
MGR-Sivaji Awards | Best New Actress | ||||
Vijay Awards | Best Debutant Actress | ||||
2012 | Jaya Awards | Youth Female Icon of the Year | Deiva Thirumagal | ||
1st South Indian International Movie Awards | Rising Female Star of South Indian cinema | – | |||
2013 | 2nd South Indian International Movie Awards | Best Actress – Malayalam | Run Baby Run | ||
2014 | Vanitha Film Awards | Most Popular Actress | Oru Indian Pranayakadha | ||
Asianet Film Awards | Best Actress | ||||
3rd South Indian International Movie Awards | Best Actress – Malayalam | ||||
Amrita TV | Best Actor (Female) | ||||
2015 | Vijay Awards | Best Actress | Velaiilla Pattadhari | ||
The Times of India | Most Desirable Married Women of Kollywood | ||||
Asiavision Awards | Outstanding performer of the year – Female | Mili | |||
2016 | 11th Ramu Karyat Awards | Best Actress | |||
Filmfare Awards South | Critics Best Actress – Malayalam | ||||
2019 | Behindwoods Gold Medal | Behindwoods Gold Medal For Best Actress Critics – Tamil | Aadai | ||
Critics Choice Movie Awards - Tamil | Best Actress in a Leading Role | ||||
Tamil Cinema Journalist Dailies Association Awards |
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