Jennifer Lawrence

Date of Birth
15 August 1990, Louisville, Kentucky, USA

Birth Name
Jennifer Shrader Lawrence

Nickname
Jen

Height
5' 9" (1.75 m)

Mini Biography
Jennifer Lawrence was born in Louisville, Kentucky. She has 2 older brothers, Ben and Blaine, sister-in-law Meredith, and her parents are Gary and Karen Lawrence.

Jennifer, known to her friends and family as "Jen", was discovered in New York City at the age of 14. Before Jennifer became an actor, she was involved in cheer-leading, field hockey, softball, and modeling, none of which she held a passion for.

In the spring of 2004, she traveled to New York City and set up a few auditions with talent and modeling agencies. After conducting her first cold read, the agents told her mother that "it was the best cold read by a 14- year-old they had ever heard", and tried to convince her mother that she needed to spend the summer in Manhattan. After leaving the agency, Jen was spotted by an agent in the midst of shooting an H&M ad and asked to take her picture. The next day, that agent followed up with her and invited her to the studio for a cold read audition. Again, the agents were highly impressed and strongly urged her mother to allow her to spend the summer in New York City.

As fate would have it, she did spend that summer in New York City and appeared in commercials such as MTV's "My Super Sweet 16" and played a role in the movie, Devil You Know (2012). Shortly thereafter, her career forced her and her family to move to Los Angeles where she was cast in the TBS sitcom "The Bill Engvall Show" (2007) and movies such as The Poker House (2008) and The Burning Plain (2008).

Perhaps her most well-known work to date is her role as "Katniss Everdeen" in The Hunger Games (2012).


Trivia
For her role in Winter's Bone (2010), Lawrence learned to skin squirrels, chop wood, and fight.

Plays guitar.

Lawrence graduated from high school two years early in order to begin acting.

Lawrence was discovered by a photographer while visiting New York with her mom in 2005, which led to her landing an agent.

Is the second youngest Oscar nominee for best actress in a leading role. Only Keisha Castle-Hughes for Whale Rider (2002) was younger.

Fan of Jeff Bridges.

Appeared in two Sundance Grand Jury Prize winners in a row: Winter's Bone (2010) and Like Crazy (2011).

One of People magazine's Most Beautiful People in the World 2011.

One of Variety magazine's Top Ten Actors to Watch 2010.

Voted No. 10 on the 2011 Maxim list "Hot 100" women.

Some of her favorite actresses/acting inspirations are Meryl Streep, Laura Linney and Cate Blanchett.

Voted #47 on Ask men's top 99 'most desirable' women of 2012.

Voted by her class as "Most Talkative".

Good friends with her co-star, from The Hunger Games (2012), Josh Hutcherson.


Personal Quotes
[on auditions and meetings] - The miserable ones are the ones where all the girls auditioning are in the same room. There's no talking in those rooms. I've tried. Yesterday I had to do an interview. I was in a horrible mood. I couldn't think of basic words. I could see my publicist in the background, mouthing things to say. They want you to be likable all the time, and I'm just not.

I'm excited to be seen as sexy. But not slutty.

Where are the Robert Redfords and Paul Newmans of my age group? I love James Franco, but where's the next James Franco? Where are the hunks who can act?

There are actresses who build themselves, and then there are actresses who are built by others. I want to build myself.

... I have this feeling of protectiveness over characters I want to play. I worry about them-if someone else gets the part, I'm afraid they won't do it right; they'll make the character a victim or they'll make her a villain or they'll just get it wrong somehow. ... When I get like that, anything's possible.

[on her role in Winter's Bone (2010)] - I'd have walked on hot coals to get the part. I thought it was the best female role I'd read - ever. I was so impressed by Ree's tenacity and that she didn't take no for an answer. For the audition, I had to fly on the redeye to New York and be as ugly as possible. I didn't wash my hair for a week, I had no makeup on. I looked beat up in there. I think I had icicles hanging from my eyebrows.

When I first got to New York, my feet hit the sidewalk and you'd have thought I was born and raised there. I took over that town. None of my friends took me seriously. I came home and announced, 'I'm going to move to New York,' and they were like 'OK.' Then when I did, they kept waiting for me to fail and come back. But I knew I wouldn't. I was like, 'I'll show you.'

I never felt like I completely, 100% understood something so well as acting.

I'd like to direct at some point. But I don't know because 10 years ago I would have never imagined that I'd be here. So in 10 years from now, I might be running a rodeo.

[on being a sudden sex symbol]: It feels weird. But [it's] not bad at all.

I don't really diet or anything. I'm miserable when I'm dieting and I like the way I look. I'm really sick of all these actresses looking like birds... I'd rather look a little chubby on camera and look like a person in real life, than look great on screen and look like a scarecrow in real life.

Winter's Bone (2010) wasn't a fun, easy movie to make by any means. But I didn't do it to have fun.

I like when things are hard; I'm very competitive. If something seems difficult or impossible, it interests me.

[on not wanting to be famous] I look at Kristen Stewart now and I think, "I'd never want to be that famous". I can't imagine how I'd feel if all of a sudden my life was pandemonium.

I'm doing what I love, and then I get months and months of rest. I have a lot of money for a 21-year-old. I can't stand it when actors complain.

I hate saying, 'I like exercising.' I want to punch people who say that in the face. But it's nice being in shape for a movie, because they basically do it all for you. It's like, 'Here's your trainer. This is what you can eat. ... I don't diet. I do exercise! But I don't diet. You can't work when you're hungry, you know?

[on being asked if 'The Hunger Games' transitioned her too quickly into stardom] - I think about this all the time. But when you get a promotion at your job you don't go 'That was too fast. Can I stay in the mailroom a while longer?' You take it.

[on posing in an Esquire magazine photo shoot to try and help shake up her public image] A lot of people said, 'Oh, now we have a great actress come along and she's showing her boobs.' But that's exactly what I had to do so I could keep working. Honestly, that photo shoot is what helped me get "X-Men" ["X-Men: First Class"].

There's just no imagination in Hollywood. I wanted to show people "Winter's Bone" for the performance, but it ended up having the opposite effect. People were like, no, she's not feminine, she's not sexual.

[on referring to the characters she's played in "Winter's Bone" and "The Hunger Games"] I don't know what it is with me and maternal wilderness girls, I just love 'em. Even before "Winter's Bone," the first movie I ever did, "Poker House," I was caring for my younger siblings in a tough, dark situation.

[on suffering through school] I always felt dumber than everybody else. I hated it. I hated being inside. I hated being behind a desk. School just kind of killed me.


Salary
Winter's Bone (2010) $3,000 a week (scale)
The Hunger Games (2012) $500,000 plus escalators that equal to $1 million

R.I.P. Mike wallace

CBS just announced that legendary newsman Mike Wallace, a founding correspondent on 60 Minutes has died. He was 93. Charles Osgood disclosed the news on CBS Sunday Morning, but did not mention a cause of death. Wallace was well known for his hard-hitting interviews. But he began his career as a radio announcer and quiz show host. In the 1950s he began to host late night TV interview shows and in the 1960s a weekly interview show, Biography. He worked for CBS News from 1951 to 1955, and became a correspondent in 1963 hosting the network’s morning news show to 1966. His reputation as a newsman was forged on 60 Minutes where he interviewed presidents and newsmakers including Dr. Jack Kevorkian, Yasir Arafat and Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He was best known for his willingness to ask bold and direct questions. For example, he confronted Russian President Vladimir Putin about corruption and asked Ayatollah Khoumeini whether he was crazy. Wallace won more than 20 Emmy awards — including a Lifetime Achievement Emmy — before he retired in 2006. Several of his reports were steeped in controversy, most notably an interview with Gen. William Westmoreland that ran in a special report in 1982, The Uncounted Enemy: A Vietnam Deception. Westmoreland sued for libel but settled in 1985 before the case went to court. “Wallace took to heart the old reporter’s pledge to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable,” his longtime colleague Morley Safer says. ”He characterized himself as ‘nosy and insistent.’” Actor Christopher Plummer played Wallace in the 1999 film The Insider.

Porsche, Mercedes, BMW: who is winning the LA's SUV Title?

At school drop-off, image-obsessed moms and dads are flocking to the same five crossovers as Bentley and Maserati enter the family car wars: "Cayenne is really flashy"; "Mercedes says 'older money.' "
This story first appeared in the March 23 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.
It's 7:45 a.m. on a recent Thursday at Harvard-Westlake Middle School in Bel-Air, and preteens surge out of a lineup of cars that represent all the major luxury automakers, from BMW to Bentley. An Escalade with blacked-out windows zooms up, followed by a boxy Land Rover and two Mercedes-Benz E-class sedans. A Cadillac CTS sedan swings around smoothly, followed by a Range Rover and a new Volvo XC70 wagon.

It's no surprise one of the most elite private schools in the country boasts a parent-driven motorcade rivaling the cars in Jay Leno's collection in luxury and variety. What's notable is that, of the nearly 100 cars that pulled up to the tony junior high that morning, nearly half fell into the so-called luxury crossover category. These are vehicles that marry the smooth ride of a car with the body of a no-frills SUV, only slightly less hulking. On the keeping up with the Joneses Westside, these are cars that project an image and style that many residents wouldn't dream of giving up. Toddlers in Burberry and Marie Chantal? Check. Going without a burled walnut dash and nappa leather? No way.

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In affluent L.A. circles, what parents drive is clocked as keenly as the designer labels the mothers (and fathers) wear. And THR's visits to a handful of schools reveal that the prep set has zeroed in on the Audi Q7, Porsche Cayenne, Lexus RX, BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz GL. The cars are popular because they offer -- with varying degrees of success -- a combination of utility and stylishness cloaked in the prestige of luxury brand names.

"What's great is that crossovers can be tough and rugged -- you know you can cover any kind of terrain. And they look cool and sleek, too," says Maggie Dumais, head of licensing and branding at Innovative Artists Agency. Her own "kid hauler" -- she has three children -- is a Volvo XC90, which replaced a Chrysler Town & Country minivan once she moved past "the car-seat phase."

The lifestyle competition is about to get much more intense with the forthcoming debuts of some decidedly over-the-top, mine-trumps-yours crossovers. Maserati, the Italian sports-car maker, is entering the fray with its Kubang concept. Due out in 2013, the vehicle, expected to start at more than $70,000 (no official pricing information has been released), is built on a Jeep Grand Cherokee platform and boasts a twin-turbo V8 engine sourced from sister company Ferrari. And in March, British luxury automaker Bentley unveiled the EXP 9 F concept car, which is powered by a W12 engine and features a diamond-quilted leather interior and touches like bespoke picnic hampers. If Bentley gives it the green light, the car will go into production in 2016. Expect a price tag around $200,000.

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Although crossovers are still fairly new -- the moderately priced Subaru Outback and Honda CRV ushered in the movement in the mid-'90s -- they've seen a dramatic rise in popularity, while "traditional SUVs have definitely declined," says Tom Libby, a senior analyst at automotive data firm R.L. Polk & Co. The Lexus RX kicked off the crossover boom in 1998, "and it just took off," he says. "The other manufacturers were forced to respond."

These days, adds Libby, the category accounts for 20 percent of the auto market nationwide. One male TV writer tells THR (half in jest) that he wouldn't be surprised if industry moms accounted for the bulk of crossovers bought in Los Angeles. "It seems like all the women I work with have bought a Cayenne lately," he says. "It's like they all got the same memo at the same time." The Porsche (spacious perhaps only when compared with the company's 914 two-seat roadster or 911 coupe variants), which recently debuted a hybrid version that mother of two Reese Witherspoon snapped up, is now the brand's top-selling model, notes Libby.

Steve Elzer, senior vp media relations at Sony and a father of two, drives the Audi Q7 because "it really came down to superior handling as we did our test drives. It was a smooth, sturdy ride without feeling like we were in a tank or truck."

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But it's a safe bet not everyone rates handling among the top reasons to buy one of these "It" cars, which range from about $39,000 for a base Lexus RX to about $107,000 for a turbocharged version of the Cayenne, which also counts Sharon Stone and Mariah Carey as fans. Ride selection, for some social observers, speaks volumes about who you are as a person -- and parent.

"I see Audi and BMW moms hanging out together," says one stay-at-home mother in Beverly Hills who drives a Q7. "They seem a little more down-to-earth than Lexus and Mercedes moms."

"Mercedes definitely says, 'older money,' " agrees Ryan Porter, an auto industry veteran and editor of Celebrity Cars, a blog dedicated to snapping celebs in their rides. "And the Cayenne is really flashy, but Porsche is one of those brands that car people love -- they could just be car freaks." The Audi Q7 is "really the conservative luxury car," he says. "Very understated."

But don't count the minivan out yet. Style maven Brooke Davenport, a mother of three who lives in the Hollywood Hills and drives a Range Rover, says she has spotted "a lot of Honda Odysseys lately" when picking her brood up from Curtis School, the exclusive K-6 on Mulholland where recently split Heidi Klum and Seal send their kids.

The Honda minivan was the only nonluxury vehicle that rounded the drop-off spots at Harvard-Westlake and Campbell Hall with any real frequency. Its success could be attributed to a quirky ad campaign and a sporty, unconventional-for-a-minivan design (check out its so-called lightning-bolt beltline). "A lot of mothers you wouldn't expect are buying the Odyssey -- women with tremendous amounts of money," says Davenport. She has a friend "who's always decked out to the nines in Chanel, and she'll pop out of an Odyssey -- it's so funny. I'm seeing a lot of social women driving them who are up at the school but also hitting lunches around town."

While minivans might be carving a niche for themselves, they aren't the final frontier in the world of carpooling. With the eco-friendly-car arms race in full swing, the competition has bled into the crossover segment. Indeed, driving a hybrid or diesel-powered crossover is a surefire way to avoid getting dinged for willy-nilly consumption in the school parking lot. And all five of L.A.'s most popular carpoolers are offered in fuel-efficient variants: the RX and Cayenne can be had as hybrids, and the Q7, X5 and GL are available as diesels.

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Author, producer and mother of two Gigi Levangie Grazer drives a hybrid RX (industry fans of the RX model also include Halle Berry and Salma Hayek) and calls the period when status crossovers replaced dowdy minivans "a watershed moment in carpooling."

But the hybrid aspect of her Lexus -- "there's no noise" -- is her favorite part of the car. Says Grazer, "I have to make amends for driving a big silver Escalade in the '90s."

♦♦♦♦♦

FAMILY CAR THROWDOWN: How do they stack up? Label-loving L.A. parents disproportionately like to be seen in these select vehicles.

♦ Audi Q7
Fully Loaded: $79,925
Industry Fans: ICM's Doug MacLaren, producer Mark Vahradian

The seven-seater with a 14-speaker entertainment system hit the market in 2005 and is best known for its mileage-enhancing turbo-diesel engine. A face-lift for 2011 brought an eight-speed transmission and optional LED driving lights. A center aisle in the second row of seating offers easy access to the third row.

♦ BMW X5
Fully Loaded: $97,092
Industry Fans: Gwyneth Paltrow, Alanis Morissette

The X5 allows Bimmer die-hards to remain in-brand while opting for as many as seven seats and cargo capacity of 75 cubic feet. The 4.4-liter V8 variant has 400 horsepower. The model debuted in 1999 and got a significant update in 2006. Access to the optional third row requires flipping the second-row seats forward.

♦ Lexus RX
Fully Loaded: $59,180
Industry Fans: Halle Berry, Salma Hayek

One of the earliest crossovers, the five-seater has been a best-seller since its 1998 debut. All-wheel drive is available, but partisans prefer its smooth-like-a-sedan front-wheel ride. The RX gets 18 mpg in the city, but the hybrid returns an impressive 32 mpg. A lack of an optional third row of seats makes the RX a choice for smaller families.

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♦ Mercedes GL
Fully Loaded: $89,919
Industry Fans: Ben Affleck, Christina Applegate

The GL has nine air bags, 83 cubic feet of cargo space and a system that tightens seat belts before impact. Optional upgrades include heating for all three rows of seats, with climate controls in the rear. Easy access to the third row is made possible by a center aisle in the second row.

♦ Porsche Cayenne
Fully Loaded: $140,105
Industry Fans: Mariah Carey, Sharon Stone

Dismissed by some Porsche purists (many of the brand's loyalists abhor SUVs and crossovers) when it debuted in 2002, the five-seater has proved critics wrong, excelling as the quickest in its class. It's now Porsche's top-selling offering. But a tight backseat and limited cargo capacity make it a somewhat impractical family car.

♦♦♦♦♦

REPORT CARD: The crossovers that pull up at two local private schools.

Campbell Hall


Lexus RX
2Mercedes GL
BMW X5
Audi Q7
Porsche Cayenne


Crossroads
Lexus RX
Mercedes GL
Audi Q7
Porsche Cayenne
5BMW X5


Findings based on morning visits to Campbell Hall on Jan. 19 and Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences on Jan. 20.

Sources: THR

Lily Collins Boards 'Mortal Instruments' Adaptation

Just as one wildly popular literary adaptation starring Lily Collins is about to hit theaters (that'd be Mirror Mirror, out March 30), the actress has signed up for another: Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments. Harald Zwart (2010's The Karate Kid, et al.) will direct.
 
Collins will play lead character Clary Fray, a seemingly normal teenager forced to navigate New York City's demon-inhabited underworld -- with the help of Shadowhunters -- after the disappearance of her mother. 

Producer Robert Kulzer issued the following statement regarding the suddenly red-hot Collins' casting: "Lily Collins is the perfect Clary. Harald Zwart really understands the visuals and heart of 'The Mortal Instruments.' That was crucial to us. Of course, having Cassandra Clare's support throughout and collaborating with her on this project has been especially rewarding." 

Kate Beckinsale Movies

How Have 'Sherlock Holmes' 'Alvin and the Chipmunks' and 'Mission: Impossible' Changed?

Tomorrow marks the release of three undoubtedly big Hollywood movies: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-wrecked, and the IMAX experience of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. What makes us so confident that they’ll be hits? Simply, these films are all things that we have seen, and loved, in the past.

And I’m not just referring to the fact that they are, respectively, a sequel, threequel and fourquel. The characters and stories in all three of these new movies have existed long prior to the creation of their current film series. Whether it be from previous movies, television shows, literature or Christmas albums, most of us have had some knowledge and attachment to Sherlock Holmes, Alvin and the Chipmunks and the IMF team for many years now.

Of course, just because the stories and characters are familiar, it doesn’t mean they are identical to their past incarnations. We’ve decided to keep the older manifestations of Arthur Conan Doyle’s brilliant detective, the triad of singing rodents, and the superspy IMF agency in mind when looking at these new movies, to consider what they may have left out, kept in, and added to the mix.




Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows




The Old Movies

What They Kept: The unflappable genius detective thing, equipped with an inseparable partnership with Dr. John Watson. The framework is all the same: the duo would solve a mystery or two (against all odds), defeating the evil Moriarty or some other criminal who forgot to double-check his work.

What They Changed: Basil Rathbone, who is the actor most synonymous with Sherlock Holmes (he played him in fourteen feature films) embodied the character as a proper, sophisticated and elegant gentleman—this is the sort of image that enveloped the character prior to his revival in Guy Ritchie’s adaptations, which star Robert Downey, Jr., as a more rogue, ruffian character. Additionally, Jude Law's Dr. Watson is a much more competant figure than the character the old movies chose to portray. 

The Books

What They Kept: A lot, as a matter of fact. Guy Ritchie’s adaptation is considered a lot more faithful to Doyle’s stories than a lot of the films prior. Doyle created Holmes as an ingenious but rough fellow, who enjoyed bareknuckle boxing and a fancy cocaine addiction. Law's Watson is a lot closer to the literary version of the fellow than the old cinematic version.

What They Changed: In fairness, Holmes doesn’t explicitly do any drugs in the Ritchie adaptation…it’s just kind of hinted at.

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-wrecked




The Music Sensation

What They Kept: The basic characters created in the 1950s for the purposes of a novelty record have pretty much maintained their identities. Alvin was always a misbehaving brat, Simon was always an uptight nerd and Theodore was always also there.

What They Changed: They used to sing their own original songs. Creator Ross Bagdasarian wrote well-known Chipmunkian classics such as “Witch Doctor” and the Christmas song about a hula hoop. I’d personally rather hear either of those than a Chipmunk rendition of “Bad Romance.” Plus—the look. Art design for the novelty records depicted the chipmunks as actual chipmunks. 

The Cartoon Series

What They Kept: This is likely where a lot of us today developed our images of the Chipmunks. The 1980s cartoon series introduced the Chipettes and really fleshed out the characters’ lifestyles as a popular music troupe/unorthodox suburban family. Plus—the look. The new movies resemble the design of the cartoon characters far more than the original images, although…

What They Changed: They’re a lot smaller now. In the cartoon, the Chipmunks stood two feet tall, at the very least. Now, they’re down to the size of an actual tree rodent, give or take. But what bothers me more than any of that: what happened to Alvin’s hat? He hardly wears it anymore!

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol




The TV Series

What They Kept: The theme song. Seriously, they could change anything else and it wouldn’t matter—the mood would be retained. Name another show with as iconic a theme song as Mission: Impossible. The theme song instilled the original show with the unforgettable excitement that has carried over into a colossal movie series. 

What They Changed: The characters’ roles have been revamped to appeal to the “modern world” (the film series was pioneered before the wave of nostalgia overtook Hollywood—one might imagine some more similarities had the first installment been attempted just this year). The star of the TV show was Jim Phelps, played then by Peter Graves and in 1996’s Mission: Impossible by Jon Voight. But in the film series, the real star is agent-on-the-rise Ethan Hunt, played by Tom Cruise. Understandable, as modern audiences are generally partial to younger characters. Another understandable move: replacing the old Cold War overtones with more contemporary themes, like the threat of terrorism.

There are a good deal of things in each of these films that sharp fans of the original incarnations might find fault with. On the other hand, sometimes new developments are necessary to keep the stories and characters interesting in changing times. However you feel about the modern views of Holmes, the Chipmunks and the IMF, one thing is for certain: people are still, and probably always will be, excited to have them back in their lives.

Vidhya Balan, The sexiest beauty queen of bollywood

Date of Birth

1 January 1978, Palghat, Kerala, India 

Birth Name

Vidya P. Balan 

Height

5' 4" (1.63 m) 

Mini Biography

Vidya was born in Palghat, Kerala, India. Her family consists of her dad, P.R. Balan, who is the Vice-President of ETC Channel; mom - a home-maker, and an elder sister, Priya, who is married to Kedar. She also has an aunt by the name of Raji Raju.

The Balan family re-located to live at Road No. 11, near Ambedkar Garden, Chembur, Bombay, when Vidya was very young. She studied in St. Anthony's Convent School, and thereafter in St. Xavier's College from where she obtained a degree in Sociology. She then went on to obtain a Masters degree in Sociology from Bombay University.

She also studied and performed in Prithvi Theaters' workshops. Due to tradition of most Tamil-Iyer families, Vidya and her Priya learned Carnatic dance form during their early childhood days, but Vidya opted out as the dance classes took place early on Sunday mornings and as she is not an early riser.

Considerably overweight, rather tomboyish, during her school-days, and an ardent fan of Shahrukh Khan, she decided to shed those extra pounds when she elected to opt for modeling and movies.

Facing disappointment after being rejected by a Tamil producer, she nevertheless persisted until she got her first break with a Malyalam movie 'Chakram' opposite Mohanlal, however, the project was shelved, and she had to wait until 1998 to debut in a Surf Excel commercial. She then went on to appear in several commercials directed by Pradeep Sarkar. She completed nearly 90 such ads.

She appeared in three music videos for Pankaj Udhas, Euphoria, and Shubha Mudgal in supporting roles. She then also appeared in two TV serials Ekta Kapoor's 'Hum Paanch', and Ashok Pandit's 'Hanste Khelte'.

During 2003 she was signed-up to play a role in a Bengali movie 'Bhaalo Theko' opposite Joy Sengupta. This project was completed during the year 2006, and was a considerable hit.

Then during 2006 Vidya was approached by Vidhu Vinod Chopra during a pop-concert in Mumbai to play a lead role in 'Parineeta'. She then had to undergo 17 make-up shoots and 40 screen tests before being chosen for this role. All this hard work did result in success as 'Parineeta' was very well received so much so that the Tamil producer, who had previously rejected her, invited her to appear in a 'Dasavatharam' opposite Kamal Hassan, and now it was Vidya's turn to reject this offer which eventually went to 'Asin'.

Apart from acting, Vidya occupies herself for supporting education for young Indians by promoting children's' books; is associated with Americans for Aids Research; with Hale House - that provides support and housing for children born with HIV and drug abuse; as well as hosting forums and attending events for Harvard Aids Institute.

Single, never involved in any relationship or scandal, she claims to get along well with both female and male friends.

An ardent devotee of Bhagwan Shri Sai Baba, she makes it a point to attend Mandirs every Thursday. She is proficient in Tamil, Malyalam, Hindi, English, Bengali, and can also read Urdu.

IMDb Mini Biography By: rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com) 

Trivia

A Tamilian from Kerala, she hails from the Iyer community in Palghat, on the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Did her schooling from St. Antony's School and later on at St. Xavier's College where she graduated in Sociology. She soon started work on her MA from Mumbai University when she was offered a role in a Malayalam film starring Mohanlal, but it was later shelved due to issues with the director.

Speaks English, Hindi, Malayalam, and Tamil. After filming Parineeta (2005), can also speak Bengali quite well.

Listed as number 8 of 'Top Bollywood Actresses' of 2006. (rediff.com, 8-25-2006)

Personal Quotes

"Neither of my first two Malayalam films got completed, and I walked out of the third, a Tamil film, because I was not comfortable. I was replaced in another Tamil film with the excuse that I could not act. They made me feel ugly to the point where I was scared to look in the mirror. In retrospect I thank God, and by God's grace today the going is good."

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