Meet National Award-winning actor, entrepreneur who was once fat-shamed and has worked with Suriya and Dhanush
Guess the South Indian actress who predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films. She is a recipient of a National Film Award and has worked with Suriya as his love interest.
Today, we will be talking about a young and talented National-Award-winning actress who has worked predominantly in several hit Tamil and Malayalam films. Recently, the actress was seen with Dhanush and Sundeep Kishan. Besides, the actor was once body-shamed. We are talking about Aparna Balamurali. In this article, we will discuss Aparna’s professional and personal life in detail.
Who is Aparna Balamurali?
Aparna Balamurali was born on September 11, 1995, in Thrissur, Kerala. She is the daughter of KP Balamurali Menon, a music director, and Shobha Balamurali. Aparna has completed her schooling at Devamatha CMI Public School. It is worth mentioning that apart from acting, Aparna is a playback singer. After completing her primary education, the actress pursued a Bachelor's degree in Architecture from the Global Institute of Architecture in Palakkad, Kerala.
Today, Aparna is a talented actress who is regarded for her brilliant screen presence, versatile choice of roles, and gorgeous looks. Take a look at how Aparna stepped into the film industry and what are some of her notable works in the South Entertainment industry.
Aparna Balamurali's filmography
It was in 2013 that Aparna stepped into the film Industry. She debuted with the film Yathra Thudarunnu. After that, Aparna appeared in the Malayalam film Oru Second Class Yathra. She was seen in the role of Amritha Unnikrishnan in Vineeth Sreenivasan, Chemban Vinod Jose’s film.
Directed by Rejish Antony and Jeckson Antony, the thriller drama revolves around a boy who plans to kill his father as he misbehaves with his stepsister. Coming back to Aparna, her breakthrough came with Maheshinte Prathikaaram in 2016. In the film, Aparna was seen playing the lead female character and garnered a lot of praise for her portrayal. This Fahadh Faasil starrer is based on an incident in the life of Thampan Purushan.
Maheshinte Prathikaara focuses on Mahesh, a photographer, who gets beaten up by a stranger when he tries to solve an issue in his village. The film further explores how he sets out to take revenge on the stranger as he feels insulted after the incident. The same year, Aparna appeared in Oru Muthassi Gadha. In 2017, the actress made her Tamil debut with 8 Thottakkal.
Aparna Balamurali's National Film Award
Aparna Balamurali bagged the highest acting honor ‘Best Actor’ in the prestigious 68th National Awards. She bagged the award for her role in the Tamil film Soorarai Pottru starring Suriya.
Reacting to the big news, as per a report in the Hindustan Times, Aparna said, “It was a life-changing journey for me to work on the film alongside such exemplary talents like Sudha ma’am (Sudha Kongara, the film’s director) and Suriya (who also won the National Award for best actor). Receiving a National Film Award for Soorarai Pottru is truly an honor as well as a responsibility to work even harder on my upcoming films.”
For the unversed, helmed by Sudha Kongara, apart from Aparna and Suriya, Soorarai Pottru stars Mohan Babu and Paresh Rawal in prominent roles. The 2020 film is based on the life of Simplifly Deccan founder GR Gopinath. Recently, the Hindi remake called Sarfira was released featuring Akshay Kumar and Radhika Madan in the lead roles.
Talking about Aparna Balamurali’s notable works, it includes films like Sunday Holiday, Thrissivaperoor Kliptham, Sarvam Thaala Mayam, Mr. & Ms. Rowdy, and Jeem Boom Bhaa among others. Recently, the actress was seen in the Dhanush-led film, Raayan opposite Sundeep Kishan.
In an interview with Chennai Express, Aparna revealed that her character Meghala is unlike anything she has done before, as the character has a North Chennai essence. The actress also said that unlike many filmmakers who encourage actors to prepare for their roles beforehand, superstar Dhanush did not.
Moreover, Aparna stated that as she cannot read Tamil, Dhanush who was also the director of Raayan, gave her the script with sentences written in English which helped her get a hold of the character.
Besides, Aparana is a successful businesswoman who runs an event management company with her friends. It is worth mentioning that her company organized the engagement and wedding functions of Malavika Jayaram, daughter of actor Jayaram Subramaniam.
When Aparna Balamurali recalled being body-shamed
The talented actress once revealed how she was trolled and was a victim of body shaming online. As per several reports, Aparna was diagnosed with Thyroid which led to her weight gain. Talking about the same, she said that after Raayan, she lost a few kgs as she got on a diet and adapted to a healthy lifestyle.
As quoted by TOI, Aparna said, "Dhanush sir and team gave me a lot of confidence when acting in the movie Raayan. I put on a lot of weight during that time. Even though I don’t pay much attention to such things, people’s constant remarks made me conscious. Now I have lost some weight. But during the shooting of ‘Raayan’, no one ever taunted me for my weight. No matter how high I reach, I will always be grateful for everything I have received.”