Meghana Raj

Meghana Sundar Raj Sarja is an Indian actress who primarily works in Malayalam and Kannada films along with a few Telugu and Tamil films. She made her acting debut in the 2009 Telugu film Bendu Apparao R.M.P. She has won Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actress for her performance in Iruvudellava Bittu, a 2018 Kannada film. She is the wife of late Kannada actor Chiranjeevi Sarja. Early life Meghana Raj was born as the only daughter to film actors to Sundar Raj, a Tamilian, and Pramila Joshai, a Kannadiga. Her father Sundar has acted in more than 180 films, predominantly in Kannada language, while her mother Pramila Joshai is a noted Kannada film actress and film producer. She completed her schooling from Baldwin Girls' High School and holds Bachelor's degree in psychology at Christ University, Bangalore. Acting career 2009–11: Debut, breakthrough and setback Meghana Raj debuted as a theatre artist, when she was a child, acting alongside her father Sunder Raj in the play Jokumaraswamy. During the audio launch function of the Tamil film Poi in February 2006, she was invited by its director K. Balachander to pursue an acting career, starring in one of his forthcoming films. Accepting his offer, she was given the lead female role in the Tamil film Krishnaleelai, a Balachander production, directed by Selvan. However, despite continuing shooting throughout 2008, which was completed in early 2009, the film got stuck in production hell, and its release got delayed for various reasons.