Manisha Yadav is an Indian film actress and model who predominantly works in the Tamil film industry. She is best known for her lead role as Aarthi in the 2012 Tamil film Vazhakku Enn 18/9, which also marked her debut in the film industry.

Early life
Manisha Yadav was born in Bangalore and started off her career in the entertainment industry by working as a model.

Movie career
Manisha Yadav debuted in the film industry with the Tamil film Vazhakku Enn 18/9 in 2012 under the direction of Balaji Shakthivel. This crime thriller revolves around how an MMS of a young girl, made by her neighbour, gets her into trouble and ruins her life. Manisha played the role of Aarthi - the female lead in the movie, alongside other newcomers like Mithun Murali, Sri, and Urmila Mahanta. This hard-hitting film that critics claimed to be refreshing and rewarding, garnered high critical acclaim receiving various awards and nominations. Not only this, film directors made remakes of this film in other Indian languages. Manisha was nominated with the Vijay Award for Best Debut Actress. After such a successful debut film in the Tamil industry, Manisha made her debut in Telugu cinema in the same year with Tuneega Tuneega as Maithri. The movie is based on childhood friends, who meet after many years and fall for each other, but the girl`s family wants her to marry someone else. The film, directed by M. S. Raju, opened to negative reviews.

Her second Tamil film, Aadhalal Kadhal Seiveer in 2013, based on premarital sex and teen pregnancy, was a success too. Critics applauded the film for its narration, praising the director Suseenthiran for bravely focusing on a social problem and eventually creating a strong impact. Manisha portrayed the character of Shwetha alongside the then debutant Santhosh Ramesh. Aadhalal Kadhal Seiveer focuses on how teens Shwetha and Karthik`s parents handle a situation when they get to know about Shwetha`s pregnancy with Karthik`s child. Next was again a Tamil comedy drama film Jannal Oram directed by Karu Pazhanaiappan in the same year, which was a remake of a Malayalam film Ordinary. In Jannal Oram Manisha starred alongside Parthiban, Vimal, Vidharth and Poorna.

She then acted in the 2014 Tamil movie Pattaya Kelappanum Pandiya as Kanmani, co-starring Vidharth, Kovai Sarala and Soori. This S.P. Rajkumar direction revolves around a mini bus driver played by Vidharth, a conductor (Soori) and a budding romance in the bus with Kanmani by Manisha. The film just garnered average reviews with critics appreciating the situational comedies as the saving grace.

Her next role was as Aditi in the 2015 release Trisha Illana Nayanthara alongside G. V. Prakash Kumar and Anandhi in leading roles, and Simran in a supporting role. The film revolves around the views of youth on love. This adult comedy film, directed by Adhik Ravichandran, was a blockbuster at the box office. Her 2016 release is the dark fantasy film Kaashmora directed by Gokul starring Karthik, Nayantara and Sri Divya in the lead. Her 2020 release includes Sandimuni.

Television career
After a few projects in South Indian films, the actress marked her entry into the Hindi entertainment industry with the 2013-2015 TV series Jodha Akbar. The epic drama was set to the sixteenth century story that involved a political marriage between Mughal emperor Akbar and Rajput princess Jodha Bai. Manisha essayed the role of Salima Sultan Begum, the empress of the Mughal Empire as a wife of Emperor Akbar.