Meena | |
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Born |
Meena Durairaj Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India |
Nationality | Indian |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1982–present |
Spouse(s) | Vidyasagar (2009–present) |
Children | Nainika (b. 2011) |
Parent(s) | Durairaj Raj Mallika |
Meena is an Indian actress who has starred as a lead heroine in the South Indian film industry. Meena debuted as a child artist in Tamil film Nenjangal in 1982 and has later starred in films produced by various regional industries.
She has acted in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and several Hindi films. She is among the few actresses who have been successful in all the South Indian languages. She is one of the most established actresses in the South Indian film industry. In addition to acting, Meena is a model, singer, dancer, TV judge and occasional dubbing artiste.
Meena was brought up in Chennai by Tamil father Durairaj and Malayali mother Raj Mallika from Chirakkal Palace-Kannur Dist. 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 in vidyodaya schools in Chennai. She went on to get her master's in History from the University of Madras through the open university system in 2006. Meena is a trained Bharathanatyam dancer and speaks six languages: Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and English.
Meena married Vidyasagar, a Bangalore-based software engineer, on 12 July 2009 at Arya Vysya Samaj Kalyana Mandapam. The couple later visited Tirumala Venkateswara Temple, Andhra Pradesh. The couple came back to Chennai to hold a reception at Mayor Ramanathan Chettiar Hall, in which all leading southern Indian actors participated. The couple have a daughter, Nainika Vidyasagar (born 1 January 2011), who made her acting debut at the age of 4 in Theri (2016) alongside Vijay.