Hansika Motwani is an Indian actress who primarily works in the Telugu and Tamil film industries. Although she first appeared as a child actor in the Hindi movie Koi Mil Gaya (2003), Hansika made her lead role debut with the Telugu movie Desamuduru (2007) and won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.

Early Life
Hansika was born in a Sindhi family to Mona Motwani, a dermatologist, and Pradeep Motwani, a businessman, in Mumbai. The actress first attended the Podar International School, and then the International Curriculum School, in Mumbai.

Movie Career
Hansika`s association with the acting world began with TV. A young Hansika first appeared in TV serial Shakalaka Boom Boom, which aired on Star Plus. She later starred in the serial Desh Main Nikla Hoga Chand, winning the Favorite Child Award at the Star Parivaar Awards. Soon, she was seen on the silver screen for the first time in the movie Koi Mil Gaya (2003) starring Hrithik Roshan and Preity Zinta.

Four years after she made her first appearance in a feature film, Hansika bagged her first lead role in the Telugu film Desamuduru (2007), directed by Puri Jagannadh. Her brilliant performance was appreciated by the critics and she won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut - South. In the same year, the young actress made her Bollywood debut in a lead role with Aap Ka Suroor (2007) opposite Himesh Reshammiya. However, the movie was an average hit and Hansika failed to equal her success down south. Continuing to explore different industries, Hansika next appeared in the Kannada movie Bindaas in 2008. The actress next starred in an above average grossing Telugu movie, Kantri (2008).

In 2011, Hansika ventured into the Tamil film industry and starred in three movies. Her first movie of the year, which was her debut Tamil film, Mappillai, opposite Dhanush, received mixed reviews at the box-office. However, it was declared as a box office hit. Her second movie of the year, Engeyum Kadhal, was received poorly at the box office. However, the actress ended the year on a high note. Her third movie, Velayudham, was a hit. Hansika, for the first time in her career, essayed a negative character, receiving positive reviews from the critics.

In the following year, the actress starred in a Tamil and Telugu movie; the Tamil movie being a romantic comedy Oru Kal Oru Kannadi. The movie was a runaway hit and garnered positive reviews from audiences and critics alike. She also earned accolades for her performance in the Telugu movie Dhenikaina Ready, opposite Vishnu Manchu, for which she also received her first Filmfare Best Actress award nomination. The year 2014 saw the actress appear in four Tamil movies with Sundar C`s Theeya Velai Seiyyanum Kumaru and Hari`s Singam 2 being immensely successful. Carrying forward her success to the next year, Hansika featured in three super hit movies. One was a Telugu comedy movie Pandavulu Pandavulu Thummeda, and the other two being Tamil movies: Maan Karate, a fantasy film, and Aranmanai, a horror comedy. For her performance in Aranmanai, Sify, an online portal, wrote: "The commercial elements comedy, horror, and glamor has been mixed in the right proposition by the writer and director. What works is a riveting performance by Hansika, along with comedy track of Santhanam & Co and is packaged as a fun entertainer by Sundar C." Compared to the rest of her career, the year 2015 was highly disappointing for the actress, with four of her five films performing terribly at the box office.

Her sole successful project of the year 2015 was the Tamil movie Vaalu, an action comedy movie, which also features Silambarasan in the lead role. In her first release of 2016, the actress starred alongside Sundar C, Siddharth, Trisha Krishnan, and Poonam Bajwa in the Tamil comedy horror Aranmanai 2, which is the sequel to the 2014 film of the same name. Upon release, the film received average reviews but Hansika for her stellar performance won many praises from the critics.

This was followed by the Kollywood legal thriller Manithan alongside Udhayanidhi Stalin, Prakash Raj and Vivek. Manithan, which was a remake of the Bollywood film Jolly LLB (2013), was received positively upon it release. In 2017, Hansika debuted in Malayalam cinema with the crime drama Villain, where she starred alongside Mohanlal, Manju Warrier and Vishal. The film opened to mixed reviews and was a moderate box office success. The gangster comedy Gulaebaghavali alongside Prabhu Deva and the action thriller Thuppakki Munai opposite Vikram Prabhu were Hansika`s two releases in 2018, but both the films failed to make a major impact with the critics and the audience alike.

Significant among the her recent projects are the Telugu biographical drama N.T.R: Kathanayakudu (2019) and 100 (2019) and Tenali Ramakrishna BA BL (2019).