Meena Durairaj, known as Meena, (born September in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India) is a Tamil film and television actress. Meena debuted as a child artist in Tamil films and has later starred in films produced by various regional industries. She is one of the most established actresses in the southern Indian film industry.

Meena started her career in 1982 as a child artist in the film Nenjangal, featuring Dr Sivaji Ganesan in the lead role, after Ganesan saw her at a birthday party.. She...

Meena Durairaj, known as Meena, (born September in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India) is a Tamil film and television actress. Meena debuted as a child artist in Tamil films and has later starred in films produced by various regional industries. She is one of the most established actresses in the southern Indian film industry.

Meena started her career in 1982 as a child artist in the film Nenjangal, featuring Dr Sivaji Ganesan in the lead role, after Ganesan saw her at a birthday party.. She says of Ganesan that "I feel extremely proud to have been discovered by the legend.".

She made her debut in Tamil in Oru Pudiya Kadhai, and also stars in Telugu and Kannada films. Her first role in Malayalam that gained attention was in Santhwanam. Meena has expressed a wish to do more films in Malayalam. She says of her transition from being a child star to being a heroine that "Memories as a child are really fabulous and I still cherish them. And it is still more special as that phase is over. Now, I am enjoying my stint as a heroine."

She has played the role of leading heroines in Tamil and Telagu films since the early 90s, often playing characters without negativity or grey shades. She has generally avoided glamorous roles though she has acted in a few like Maaman Magal in Tamil opposite Sathyaraj and Muta Mestri in Telugu opposite Chiranjeevi. In the Kannada remake of Autograph, she reprised Sneha's role of Divya.

She has acted with Kamal Haasan, Mohanlal, Rajinikanth, Vijayakanth, Ajith Kumar, Prabhu Deva, Sarathkumar, Mammootty, Jayaram, Suresh Gopi, Prashanth, Sudeep, Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna, Venkatesh, Nagarjuna, Raviteja, eventually herself becoming a star. She had hits with films like Muthu, Ejaman, Veera , Avvai Shanmughi and Mutamestri. She also acted opposite Vijay in Shajahan and played a role along with Surya in Periyanna. She acted opposite Vikram in Kadhaleesham. Meena has acted both as a child and as an adult opposite Rajnikanth.

Following the release of Muthu in Japan and its commercial success, Meena's popularity rose in Japan.[citation needed A role in Kadha Parayumbol and in its Tamil and Telugu remakes, Kuselan and Kathanayakudu respectively, were well received by audiences. Meena has expressed regret about Kuselan, after her part was overshadowed. She has gained two substantial roles in Malayalam opposite Mammootty and Mohanlal. Her acting in Mariyadhai alongside Vijayakanth has been well received.

Meena has said that her own favorite roles were in Bharati Kannamma and Shock in Tamil, Seetha Ramayya Gaari Manavaralu in Telugu, Santhwanam in Malayalam and Swathi Muthu in Kannada, "though every film of mine is close to my heart."

Recent and upcoming roles

Meena's releases in 2009 are Mariyadhai with Vijayakanth and Katha, Samvidhanam: Kunchako with Sreenivasan. She was reported to be taking the lead actress role in the Malayalam film Sagar alias jackie, but she was replaced by Shobhana.

She is now acting in a Malayalam movie titled Pattunool unjal opposite Manoj.K.Jayan, and is due to play the Telugu Saint Vengamamba in Tarigonda Vengamamba, directed by Uday Bhaskar.

Music composing

Meena has been a playback singer for some albums with Manoj Bharathi. She sang a song for the Tamil film Kadhal Sadugudu. Meena has recorded two pop albums, 16 Vayathinile, and Kadhalism, which she began recording in 2001 with actor Vikram.
Television

Meena has appeared in several television shows and soap operas:

* She acted as a married woman in a 1990 TV serial Anbulla Amma co-starring with Tamil actress Manorama.
* She hosted a game show on Jaya TV in 2005 called Houseful.
* She appeared as one of the judges for the first season of the dancing competition Masthana Masthana aired on Sun TV.
* She appeared on Sun TV's serial Lakshmi in 2006.
* She acted in the TV serial Mudda Mandaram on Gemini TV.
* She appeared in a serial on Sun TV in 2009 called Kalyanam, written by Pattukottai Prabhakar.
* She has appeared in adverts for such products as cosmetics, jewellery, and silks.[citation needed

Personal life

Meena is an only child. She was enrolled in Vidyodhya schools in Chennai. Because of her busy acting schedule she had to discontinue schooling in the 8th standard, later taking up private coaching and completing the 10th standard. She went on to get her MA in History from the University of Madras through the open university system in 2006. Meena is a trained Bharathanatyam dancer and speaks six languages well: Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada and English.

Her mother has played a pivotal role in shaping her career and acted as her guide and advisor. Meena has always credited her mother for standing behind her as pillar of strength.[citation needed When Meena's make-up artist failed to turn up at a remote village in Kakinada during the shooting of Bobbili Simham in 1994, her co-star Roja Selvamani did her hairstyling, beginning their friendship.[citation needed She has acted as Roja's younger sister in several Telagu films. Other friends are actress Maheswari and Devayani.[citation needed

Meena became engaged to a software engineer from Bengaluru at a simple ceremony at her house in Chennai in May 2009, with the wedding set for 12 July in Tirupathi. Meena says she will continue with her acting career.