Abitha

Abitha is an Indian film and television actress who appeared in Tamil language films and teleserials. She appeared in notable productions including Sethu alongside Vikram. She is famous for her role as Archana in the teleserial Thirumathi Selvam aired from 2007 to 2013 in Sun TV starring opposite Sanjeev.

Abitha
Born	Jenila
Other names	Janeesha
Occupation	Film actress
Years active	1998–2019

Career

As a teenager, Abitha used to go and see the television serial, Nancy starring Sanghavi, being filmed near her house in Thiruvottiyur. The director of that serial recognised her and spoke to her parents, roping her in to play the heroine's sister in their next TV serial Criminal.[1] After doing a couple of serials, she did a low-budget film titled Golmaal as the sister of the lead lady and then B-Grade film titled Devadasi in Malayalam. At that time, director Bala roped her in for a leading role in Sethu alongside Vikram, which she signed after Keerthi Reddy and Rajshri had dropped out.[2] Bala renamed her Abitha from her original name of Jenila for the film, after the character she was portraying. The film opened in December 1999 at a single noon show at a suburban theatre but built up through word-of-mouth publicity and ran for over one hundred days at several cinema halls across Chennai, becoming a critical and commercial success. Sethu won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil and secured wins in the Best Film category at the Filmfare Awards and the Cinema Express Awards, while Abitha won critical acclaim for her role of a Tamil Brahmin girl.[3] After Sethu's success, Abitha was flooded with offers but chose to complete her studies and finish her PG in Sociology from Annamalai University. She revealed that by the time she decided to come back she had lost her contacts in the industry and was thereafter seen in only a couple of insignificant projects.[4]

She appeared alongside veteran actor Ramarajan in Seerivarum Kaalai before starring in Poove Pen Poove alongside newcomer Ishaq Husseini. After the failure of those films she played Arjun's sister in Arasatchi. Other films in the period, such as Pirantha Naal with Prakash Raj, Kashmir with Abhinay and Kandhavel with Murali were not completed and indefinitely shelved.[5][6][7] In 2005, she got another breakthrough and signed on to play the lead role in Kannamma scripted by Karunanidhi, but to do so she unceremoniously opted out of another film titled Ullakadathal. Subsequently, the producers of that film complained and got her banned by the Producer's Council, leaving her out of both films.[8][9] Later that year she featured in Unarchigal alongside Abbas and Kunal.[10] Her next film was Suyetchai MLA, which had a delayed release in 2006, and featured her opposite Sathyaraj and she was last seen in Nam Naadu as the wife of Saranraj.

Abitha made her small screen debut as the main lead actress in Thirumathi Selvam in 2007 in which she starred opposite Sanjeev. The serial made them establish as one of the most celebrated pair of small screen and made them enjoy immense popularity among Tamil audience for their characters Selvam and Archana in the serial.[11] The serial was a Superhit ruling the Tamil small screen for 4 and half years from 2008 to 2013. Abitha was selected the best actress of Sun TV in the first two editions of Sun Kudumbam awards held in the years 2010 and 2012 for her performance as Archana in the serial. She also starred in the low profile serial Thangamana Purushan. She got married in 2009 and continued to work in serials following her marriage.[12] She currently has one project Ponnoonjal to her kitty which commenced in September 2013.[13]

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Language	Notes
1997	Ettupatti Rasa	Ponrasu's daughter	Tamil
1998	Golmaal	Reshma	Tamil
1999	Devadasi		Malayalam
	Sethu	Abithakuchalambal (Abitha)	Tamil	Nominated- Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Actress
2001	Seerivarum Kaalai	Kamakshi	Tamil
	Poove Pen Poove		Tamil
2002	Puthiya Alai		Tamil
2004	Arasatchi		Tamil
	Aagodella Olledakke		Kannada
2005	Unarchigal	Amrutha	Tamil
2006	Suyetchai MLA		Tamil
2007	Nam Naadu		Tamil

Television

Year	Film	Role	Channel	Notes
1997	Criminal	Heroine's sister	Doordarshan
2003	Kumkumam		Sun TV
2006–2007	Raja Rajeshwari	Raaji
2004–2007	Sorgam	Surya
2007–2013	Thirumathi Selvam	Archana
2008–2010	Thangamana Purushan	Raasi	Kalaignar TV
2008	Manikoondu		Sun TV	Special appearance
2009	Simran Thirai	Shalini	Jaya TV
2009–2010	Adhiparasakthi	Renuka Devi	Raj TV
2013–2014	Ponnunjal	Nandhini Vishwa	Sun TV	Protagonist
2013–2014	Muthaaram	Ranjini Murali		Protagonist
2019	Lakshmi Stores	Dr. Shyamala

References

1. "I was thrilled when 'Sethu' was a big hit". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 23 November 2006.
2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 30 April 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
3. Warrier, Shobha (17 August 2004). "Vikram's obsession gets its reward". Rediff. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
4. "Grill Mill - Abitha". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 27 May 2010. Archived from the original on 8 February 2013.
5. https://web.archive.org/web/20030805141304/http://www.chennaionline.com/entertainment/filmplus/ntamil.asp
6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 October 2008. Retrieved 2015-10-24.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
7. "Location news - Pirantha naal". 24 August 2004. Archived from the original on 24 August 2004.
8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 February 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
10. "டோடோவின் ரஃப் நோட்டு — Tamil Kavithai - தமிழ் கவிதைகள் - நூற்று கணக்கில்!". Cinesouth.com. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
11. Akilan, Mayura (23 February 2013). "அர்ச்சனாவின் அழுகை முடிவுக்கு வரப்போகுதாமே?". tamil.filmibeat.com.
12. "Wedding bells for Abitha". The Times Of India. 11 May 2009.
13. Akilan, Mayura (30 August 2013). "சன் டிவியில் புதிய சீரியல் பொன்னூஞ்சல்". tamil.filmibeat.com.

External links