Sai Pallavi facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sai Pallavi
Sai Pallavi at Fidaa press meet in 2017
Born	Sai Pallavi Senthamarai Kannan (1992-05-09) 9 May 1992 (age 33) Kotagiri, Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, India
Alma mater	Tbilisi State Medical University
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2005–present
Awards	Full list
Signature

Sai Pallavi Senthamarai Kannan (born May 9, 1992) is an Indian actress and dancer. She mainly acts in Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam films. Sai Pallavi has won many awards, including six Filmfare Awards South. In 2020, Forbes magazine named her one of India's "30 Under 30" young achievers.

Sai Pallavi first appeared in dance shows and small film roles. Her first main role was in the popular Malayalam film Premam (2015). She played a teacher in the movie and won an award for Best Female Debut. In 2017, she started acting in Telugu films with Fidaa. For this role, she won the Best Actress award.

Since then, Sai Pallavi has become a top actress in South Indian cinema. She has starred in films like Kali (2016), Middle Class Abbayi (2017), Athiran (2019), and Love Story (2021). She also acted in Shyam Singha Roy (2021) and Gargi (2022). In 2024, her film Amaran was very successful.

Her acting in Gargi and Love Story earned her Filmfare Awards for Best Actress. She also won Critics Awards for her work in Shyam Singha Roy and Virata Parvam.

Early Life and Education

Sai Pallavi was born on May 9, 1992, in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Her family is from Kotagiri in the Nilgiris district. Her parents are Senthamarai Kannan and Radha. She has a younger sister named Pooja Kannan, who is also an actress.

Sai Pallavi grew up and went to school in Coimbatore. She studied at Avila Convent School. Even though she became an actress, she also studied medicine. She finished her medical studies in 2016 at the Tbilisi State Medical University in Georgia. She took her medical exam in India in 2020.

Besides her native language, Badaga, Sai Pallavi speaks many languages. She is fluent in Tamil, English, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, and Georgian.

Journey to Acting

Sai Pallavi has always loved dancing, even though she never had formal training. She shared in an interview that she wanted to do something that involved dance. She was very popular as a dancer in school events. Her mother supported her passion for dance.

Because of her love for dance, she joined a TV dance show called Ungalil Yaar Adutha Prabhu Deva in 2008. This show was on Vijay TV. She was also a finalist in Dhee Ultimate Dance Show (D4) on ETV in 2009. Before becoming a lead actress, Sai Pallavi had small, uncredited roles in films. These included Kasthuri Maan (2005) and Dhaam Dhoom (2008). She also appeared in a few advertisements.

Acting Career

First Big Roles (2015–2016)

In 2014, while studying in Georgia, Sai Pallavi was contacted by film director Alphonse Puthren. He had seen her dance videos online. He offered her a role in his film Premam. She filmed it during her holidays and then went back to her studies. This movie was a huge success. For her role as Malar, she won several "Best Female Debut" awards, including the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.

After Premam, she took a month off from her studies. She acted in her second Malayalam film, Kali, which came out in March 2016. This film was also very successful. She played Anjali, a young wife dealing with her husband's anger. She was nominated for Best Actress for this role.

Growing Success (2017–2019)

In 2017, Sai Pallavi made her debut in Telugu cinema with Fidaa. She played Bhanumathi, a strong village girl. Her performance in this film was highly praised. She won her first Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu. Later that year, she starred in the Telugu action-comedy film Middle Class Abbayi with Nani. This film was also a big hit.

Her first Tamil language film as a lead actress was Diya (2018). This film was made in both Tamil and Telugu. In 2018, she starred in the Tamil movie Maari 2 with Dhanush. A song from this movie, "Rowdy Baby", became very famous. Sai Pallavi's dancing in the song was widely loved. The video for "Rowdy Baby" became the first South Indian song to get over 1.5 billion views on YouTube.

In 2019, she played Nithya Lakshmi in the Malayalam thriller Athiran. Her character was autistic and non-verbal. Sai Pallavi used her expressions and body language to show Nithya's feelings. Her next film was the Tamil movie NGK with actor Suriya. She played Geetha Kumari, a character who shows many emotions as her husband enters politics. The film was a commercial success.

Established Actress (2020–Present)

In 2020, Forbes magazine included Sai Pallavi in its "30 Under 30" list for India. She was the only person from the film industry on that list. She also acted in a Netflix film series called Paava Kadhaigal. Her part was in the segment "Oor Iravu".

In 2021, she starred in the romantic drama Love Story with Naga Chaitanya. This was her second film with director Sekhar Kammula. A song from the film, "Saranga Dariya", became very popular. Sai Pallavi's dance in the song was praised. Her next film was Shyam Singha Roy with Nani. She played Maithreyi, a dancer in 1970s Kolkata. Her performances in both Love Story and Shyam Singha Roy won her awards.

In 2022, she appeared in the Telugu film Virata Parvam with Rana Daggubati. She played Vennela in this film, which was set in the 1990s. For her Tamil film Gargi, she dubbed her own lines in Telugu and Kannada. Her acting in Gargi was highly praised for being very emotional and natural.

Her only film in 2024 was the Tamil movie Amaran with Sivakarthikeyan. She played Indhu Rebecca Varghese, the wife of a real-life army officer. Her acting in Amaran was widely praised for being very real. The film became one of the highest-grossing Tamil films of 2024.

In 2025, she will star with Naga Chaitanya again in a film called Thandel. Sai Pallavi will also make her first official Hindi film. She will act alongside Junaid Khan, Aamir Khan's son. She is also set to play Sita in Nitesh Tiwari's film based on the Ramayana.

In the Media

Film journalists have noted that Sai Pallavi brings a "freshness" to the screen. She is seen as someone who is not afraid to be herself. Rediff.com listed her as one of the top Malayalam actresses in 2016. In 2021, she was among the most influential stars on Instagram in South Indian cinema.

Sai Pallavi once turned down a large offer to promote a fairness cream. She said she did not agree with the message these creams send. She prefers natural beauty.

Filmography

Films

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

List of films and roles

Year	Title	Role(s)	Language(s)	Notes
2005	Kasthuri Maan	Unnamed	Tamil	Uncredited
2008	Dhaam Dhoom
2015	Premam	Malar	Malayalam	Also choreographer
2016	Kali	Anjali	Malayalam
2017	Fidaa	Bhanumathi	Telugu
	Middle Class Abbayi	Pallavi / Chinni	Telugu
2018	Diya	Thulasi	Tamil	Bilingual film
	Kanam		Telugu
	Padi Padi Leche Manasu	Vaishali Cherukuri	Telugu
	Maari 2	"Araathu" Aanandhi Mariyappan	Tamil
2019	Athiran	Nithya Lakshmi	Malayalam
	NGK	Geetha Kumari	Tamil
2020	Paava Kadhaigal	Sumathi	Tamil	Segment: "Oor Iravu"
2021	Love Story	Mounika Rani	Telugu
	Shyam Singha Roy	Rosie / Maithreyi	Telugu
2022	Virata Parvam	Vennela	Telugu
	Gargi	Gargi	Tamil
2024	Amaran	Indhu Rebecca Varghese	Tamil
2025	Thandel	Satya	Telugu	Releasing on February 7th
	Ek Din	TBA	Hindi	Completed
2026	Ramayana: Part 1	Sita	Hindi	Filming

Television

Awards and Achievements

Sai Pallavi has won six Filmfare Awards South. These include:

• Best Female Debut – South for Premam
• Best Actress – Telugu for Fidaa and Love Story
• Critics Best Actress – Telugu for Shyam Singha Roy and Virata Parvam
• Best Actress – Tamil for Gargi

Images for kids

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  Sai Pallavi's signature

See also

In Spanish: Sai Pallavi para niños