Sai Pallavi

Sai Pallavi Senthamarai is an Indian film actress and dancer who appears in Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalamfilms. She is a recipient of several awards including two Filmfare Awards for her performances in the films Premam and Fidaa.

Sai Pallavi first came into public attention for her role as Malar in the 2015 Malayalam film Premam. She was then cast alongside Dulquer Salmaan in the film Kali (2016). She made her Telugu debut playing the role Bhanumati in the 2017 romantic film Fidaa, co-starring with Varun Tej. When Fidaa was shown on television, it got the maximum TRP rating even during the fifth time. In 2018, she made her Tamil debut with the film Diya, directed by Vijay.

Sai Pallavi is a doctor by education, having completed her MBBS(medical degree) in 2016 from the Tbilisi State Medical University, Georgia.

Sai Pallavi was born in Kotagiri, The Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu to Badaga parents Senthamarai Kannan and Radha. She has a younger sister, Pooja, who has also worked as an actress. Sai Pallavi was raised and educated in Coimbatore. She did her schooling at Avila Convent School, Coimbatore. Despite completing her medical studies in 2016 from the Tbilisi State Medical University which is recognised by Medical Council of India, she has not yet registered as a medical practitioner (doctor) in India.Sai Pallavi declined a Rs.2 crore worth advertisement-contract for a skin lightening cream saying it wasn't something she believed in.

Dance career

Sai Pallavi said in an interview that though she was not a trained dancer, she always wanted to be like her mother in dancing. She participated in several cultural events at school, gaining popularity as a dancer. Due to her penchant for dance, which was supported by her mother, she participated in the dance reality show Ungalil Yaar Adutha Prabhu Deva on Vijay TV in 2008, and appeared on Dhee Ultimate Dance Show (D4) on ETV Telugu in 2009.

Film career

Sai Pallavi appeared in uncredited roles as a child actress in Kasthooriman (2003) and Dhaam Dhoom (2008).

In 2014, while she was studying in Tbilisi, Georgia, film-directorAlphonse Putharen offered her the role of Malar in his film Premam. She shot the film over the holidays and, after the shooting finished, returned to her studies. She went on to win several "Best Female Debut" awards that year, including the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.

In late 2015, she took a month break from her studies to act in her second movie, Kali, which released in March 2016. She portrayed Anjali, a young wife who must deal with her husband's extreme anger issues, earning a nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Malayalam.

2017 marked her debut in Telugu with Sekhar Kammula's Fidaa, in the role of Bhanumathi, a fiesty village girl from Telangana.

Her next project with director A. L. Vijay was Diya, which is a Tamil-Telugu bilingual film. Later, she starred in the Tamil movie Maari 2, a sequel to Maari, opposite Dhanush, directed by Balaji Mohan. A song from the movie, Rowdy Baby, is the highest viewed song in YouTube from South India. The movie was also dubbed into Malayalam and aired in Asianet.

Pallavi started shooting in February 2018 for the film Padi Padi Leche Manasu with Sharwanand., which under performed at the box office. In December. several news outlets reported that Sai Pallavi refused to accept her full remuneration for the movie, expressing solidarity with the producers for the failure of the movie.

Pallavi portrayed an autistic girl in the psycological thriller Athiran opposite Fahaad Fasil.

In 2020, she was recognised by Forbes magazine as India's 30 under 30. She was the only person from film industry in that list.