Amala Paul

Amala Paul (born 26 October 1991)[1] is an Indian actress who mainly appears in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. She made her Kannada debut in the film Hebbuli, opposite Sudeep.[2][3] After appearing in a supporting role in the Malayalam-language film Neelathamara, Amala became noted for playing the title role in Mynaa, receiving critical acclaim for her work.[4]

Amala, after finishing high school from Nirmala higher secondary school, Aluva, and higher secondary education at Aluva Government Higher Secondary School, took a year out before joining college. She later joined St Teresa’s college, to pursue a B.A. degree in Communicative English. At the time, her modelling portfolio was spotted by noted Malayalam director Lal Jose who offered her a supporting role in his remake, Neelathamara (2009). Despite emerging a success, the film failed to attract any further offers, as she had anticipated.[5] She pursued roles in Tamil films and went on to sign for the low-budget comedy film Vikadakavi, which was delayed and ultimately became her sixth release, while also signing on to play the lead role in another small budget film Veerasekaran (2010). The film, which became her maiden Tamil release, was panned by critics and went completely unnoticed,[6][7] while Amala’s role was labelled as “minimal”,[6] and she later cited that she regretted doing the film and many of her scenes were edited out.[5] Amala then went on to work in Samy’s controversial Sindhu Samaveli (2010), portraying the role of Sundari, who has an illicit relationship with her father-in-law. The director of the film had previously drawn criticism for his depictions of illicit romances as well as for assaulting his previous lead actress in a film, but Amala played down the issue citing that she had no problem with the director.[5] She was approached after the major portions of her next release, Mynaa were ready, and signed on before listening to the entirety of the story, claiming that she was shocked but not upset with the controversial scenes which she heard later.[5] Upon release, the film met with contrasting reviews, whilst some critics refused to give the film a rating, declaring their disgust at the film’s plot.[8][9] Amala’s performance won her critical acclaim. However, her success was marred with extreme reactions from the public, with Amala claiming that she received death threats from anonymous callers and was publicly scolded by women at a cinema hall in Chennai.[10]

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.[11] Amala played the village belle Mynaa, attaining unanimous praise from critics for her portrayal; a critic labelled her work as “outstanding” and that she put in a “riveting performance”,[12] while other reviews claimed she had “immense talent” and scores in “every instance” in the title role.[13] The film, which also saw her gain recognition from noted actors Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth, subsequently became a large commercial success at the box office.[11] Amala gained recognition from several award committees and notably secured the Vijay Award for Best Debut Actress, while also gaining nominations in the Best Actress category at the Filmfare Awards and the Vijay Awards.