Amala Paul is an Indian actress who made her acting and Malayalam movie debut in 2009 with Neelathamara, where she played a supporting role. Having worked in the Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam film industry, Amala is best remembered for her performance in the 2010 Tamil drama Sindhu Samaveli.

Early Life
Amala was born to Anice Paul and Paul Varghese on 26th of October, 1991 in Ernakulam, Kerela, and has a brother called Abijith Paul. She completed her schooling from Nirmala Higher Secondary School, Aluva, and was simultaneously modeling. However, she took a year off from studying before joining college to focus on her modeling and acting career. Since her father disapproved of her decision to quit studying, she then enrolled herself at St. Teresa`s College, Kochi, where she pursued a bachelor`s degree in arts. While in college, director Lal Jose saw her modeling profile and offered her a supporting role in his 2009 movie Neelathamara.

Personal Life
In 2011, Amala Paul reportedly started dating director A. L. Vijay while she was shooting for the movie Deiva Thirumagal. But both of them denied the rumors. However, in 2014, the couple announced that they soon plan to get married and got engaged the same year on June 7. Five days after their engagement, the couple got married on June 12 at the Mayor Chettiar Hall in Chennai. However, two years after their marriage, Amala and Vijay filed for a divorce in 2016.

Movie Career
It was the Malayalam director Lal Jose who gave Amala a golden opportunity to begin her acting career after he saw her modeling portfolio. The actress made her acting debut in a supporting role in the 2009 movie Neelathamara. Despite the movie`s success, Amala failed to bag any roles, much to her surprise and disappointment. She was then cast in Vikadakavi, but to add to her disappointment, the movie was delayed and eventually became her sixth released film. Unable to find substantial work, Amala began taking up small-budget movies and was seen in Veerasekaran, marking her Tamil debut. But the movie went on to become a box office failure and was declared a disaster. With a shaky start to her acting career, Amala was yet to be noticed by the industry. However, it all changed in 2010 after she played the role of Sundari, which is considered to be one of most controversial roles of her career, in Samy`s Tamil drama Sindhu Samaveli. Her character, Sundari, ends up having an illicit relationship with her father-in-law. Disgusted by the movie`s plot, few critics refused to rate the movie, while some critics praised Amala`s performance.

After having received positive reviews for her previous performance, Amala was next seen in Prabhu Solomon`s Mynaa in 2010, where she was seen playing the titular role. The shadow that marred her success in the previous movie was quickly disposed as she silenced her critics with a commendable performance in the movie. Tamil cinema legends like Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth also lauded her for her work. The actress was soon named the new top star of 2011. Staying true to her tag, Amala delivered another riveting performance in the movie Vikadakavi, which released in 2011. She was next seen in a small role in the big budget movie Deiva Thirumagal in 2011 directed by A. L. Vijay. The movie starred Vikram and Anushka Shetty in lead roles, while Amala portrayed the role of Shewtha Rajendran, a school correspondent. She received critical acclaim for her role with one of the reviewer stating "her expressive eyes help her leave a mark in a small but important role" whilst another critic claimed she "acquits herself well. In the same year she also made her Telugu film debut with Ram Gopal Varma`s Bezawada, which was a box office failure.

In 2012, Amala was first seen in the movie Vettai, which received mixed reviews. However, the actress had lined up three releases on the Valentine`s Day weekend viz. a bilingual movie Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Eppadi and Love Failure in Tamil and Telugu respectively, and the Tamil romantic thriller Muppozhudhum Un Karpanaigal opposite Adharvaa Murali. For Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi, Amala`s portrayal of Parvathi, a college girl, received immense praise with The Hindu stating, "Amala Paul, after coming across as convincing in her last few movies, looks finally set as a leading lady". The Telugu version of the movie was also praised by the critics, while her third release of the year, Muppozhudhum Un Karpanaigal, went on to become a hit. Later, she starred in the art-house film Aakashathinte Niram directed by Dr. Biju, which was screened at the 15th Shanghai International Film Festival.

The year 2013 saw her star in the Telugu movie Naayak, which went on to become one of the biggest commercial and critical success of that year. She was next seen in another successful Telugu movie Iddarammayilatho opposite Allu Arjun, followed by Thalaivaa, a Tamil film opposite Vijay. Amala`s last release of the year was Oru Indian Pranayakatha, a Malayalam romantic-comedy film directed by Sathyan Anthikad. She won the SIIMA Award for Best Actress for her performance in the movie. In the next couple of years the actress went on to star in movies such as Velaiyilla Pattathari (2014), Mili (2015), and Lailaa O Lailaa (2015). Amala`s 2016 releases include 2 Penkuttikal, Shajahanum Pareekuttiyum, and Amma Kanakku. Her other projects include Hebbuli (2017), Achayans (2017), Velaiilla Pattadhari 2 (2017), Thiruttu Payale 2 (2017), Bhaskar Oru Rascal (2018), Ratsasan (2018), Aadai (2019), Kutty Story (2021), Pitta Kathalu (2021), Cadaver (2022), The Teacher (2022), Christopher (2023), Bholaa (2023) and Aadujeevitham (2024).