Aishwarya Lekshmi

Aishwarya Lekshmi has said she never planned to act. Born on 6 September 1991 in Thiruvananthapuram, she studied at Holy Angel's Convent there and at Sacred Heart Convent Girls Higher Secondary School, Angamaly, and completed her MBBS at Sree Narayana Institute of Medical Sciences, Ernakulam, in 2017. She had been modelling for magazine covers and brands since 2014. An audition won her a prominent role in Althaf Salim's Njandukalude Nattil Oridavela (2017), and with it the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut – South. She acts and produces, mostly in Malayalam and Tamil cinema. Mayaanadhi (2017), in which she played an aspiring actress opposite Tovino Thomas, and Varathan (2018), with Fahadh Faasil, were both successful; Kaanekkaane (2021) came later. Action (2019), opposite Vishal, was her first Tamil film. She had nine releases in 2022, among them Ponniyin Selvan: I, where she played Poonguzhali and which remains her highest-grossing film, Gatta Kusthi, Ammu and Kumari; she also co-produced Gargi and made a cameo in it. Ponniyin Selvan: II (2023), Hello Mummy (2024) and Maaman (2025) followed. Her awards include a Filmfare Award South, a Tamil Nadu State Film Award, a Kerala Film Critics Association Award and three SIIMA Awards. Her 2026 role was the younger daughter in Aasha, the Urvashi and Joju George thriller now streaming on ZEE5.