Sameera Reddy is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Hindi movies. Making her acting debut with the Bollywood film Maine Dil Tujhko Diya, Sameera went on to appear in several Tamil and Telugu films as well. The actress made her Tamil film debut with the movie Varanam Aayiram and won the Vijay Award for Best Debut Actress in 2008. One of her popular roles came with the movie Race (2008), wherein she appeared as Mini alongside Anil Kapoor.
Early Life
Sameera was born to businessman Chinta Poli Reddy and Nakshatra, who was a microbiologist. She has two elder sisters - Meghna Reddy, a former VJ, and Sushma Reddy, who also appears in Bollywood films. The actress completed her schooling from the Bombay Scottish School and later was enrolled at the Sydenham College.
Personal Life
Sameera met Akshai Varde, an entrepreneur who runs the customized bike company Vardenchi, during a shoot and the couple dated for almost two and a half years before getting engaged in December 2013. A month later, Sameera married Akshai on 21st January 2014 in a traditional Maharashtrian ceremony. A year later, the couple welcomed their first child, a boy, on 24th May 2015.
Movie Career
It was in 1997 that Sameera first appeared in a music video of the song “Aur Aahista” by ghazal singer Pankaj Udhas. Three years later, she was all set to make her acting debut with the Tamil movie Citizen, however, she eventually did not feature in the movie. A couple of years later, in 2002, Sameera got her big break with Sohail Khan’s Maine Dil Tujhko Diya - which was her debut movie. However, the film failed at the box office and received negative reviews from the critics. The actress was next seen in Ram Gopal Varma’s Darna Mana Hai (2003), which went on to become a box office hit and was critically acclaimed for its direction and performances of the actors. Her next film, Plan (2004), turned out to be a hit and did well in single screens. In the same year, the actress was also seen in Sanjay Gupta’s movie Musafir.
After achieving moderate success in Bollywood, Sameera ventured into Tollywood making her debut with the movie Narasimhudu (2005) directed by B. Gopal. However, unfortunately, her first stint in the Telugu film industry turned out to be a disaster as the movie received negative reviews and bombed at the box office. In the same year, she starred in another Telugu movie, Jai Chiranjeeva, alongside Chiranjeevi. The movie, alike her debut, turned out to be an average grosser at the box office. In the next few years, she appeared in Hindi movies such as Taxi Number 9211 (2006), Naksha (2006), and Fool & Final (2007).
In 2007, Sameera made her Bengali film debut with the movie Ami, Yasin Ar Amar Madhubala directed by Buddhadev Dasgupta. The movie was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival. The following year Sameera starred in one of the prominent roles of her career in the movie Race (2008). She essayed the character of an idiotic personal assistant, Mini. The movie turned out to be a blockbuster and was one of the most successful movies of the year. 2008 turned out to be one of the most successful years of her career as he also made her Tamil debut with the movie Vaaranam Aayiram. Directed by Gautham Menon, the movie won the National Film Award for Best Film in Tamil, while Sameera won the Vijay Award for Best Debut Actress. Her next Hindi movie De Dana Dan was declared as a hit at the box office.
2010 saw another landmark in Sameera’s career as she made her Malayalam film debut with T. K. Rajeev Kumar’s Oru Naal Varum. In subsequent years, the actress appeared in Hindi movies such as Red Alert: The War Within (2010), Aakrosh (2010), and Tezz (2012). She was also seen in several Tamil films such as Nadunissi Naaygal (2011), Vedi (2011), and Vettai (2012). In 2013, she made her Kannada film debut with the movie Varadhanayaka (2013).