The Biography

Sai Pallavi Senthamarai Kannan, known mononymously as Sai Pallavi, is an Indian actress, dancer, and physician who predominantly works in Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam cinema. Born on May 9, 1992, in Kotagiri, Nilgiris district, Tamil Nadu, into a Badaga family, she grew up in Coimbatore and completed her schooling at Avila Convent School. She rose to early public prominence as a contestant on dance reality shows including *Ungalil Yaar Adutha Prabhu Deva* (2008) and *Dhee Ultimate Dance Show* (2009). Prioritizing her academic education, she completed her medical degree (MD) from Tbilisi State Medical University in Georgia before pursuing acting full-time. She made a historic acting debut portraying the college lecturer Malar in Alphonse Puthren's cult romantic drama *Premam* (2015), which became a massive pan-South sensation and won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut – South. She followed this with Sameer Thahir's *Kali* (2016) before making an equally sensational Telugu debut in Sekhar Kammula's blockbuster romance *Fidaa* (2017). Renowned for her natural performances, refusal to wear heavy on-screen makeup, and exceptional dancing skills, she quickly established herself as one of the most celebrated performers in contemporary Indian cinema. Her prominent works across industries include *Middle Class Abbayi* (2017), *Maari 2* (2018), *Athiran* (2019), Netflix's anthology *Paava Kadhaigal* (2020), *Love Story* (2021), *Shyam Singha Roy* (2021), the period drama *Virata Parvam* (2022), and the critically acclaimed social courtroom drama *Gargi* (2022). Sai Pallavi further expanded her critical and commercial standing by portraying Indu Rebecca Varghese in Rajkumar Periasamy's biographical war drama *Amaran* (2024) opposite Sivakarthikeyan and starring alongside Naga Chaitanya in Chandoo Mondeti's romantic drama *Thandel* (2025). She made her Hindi cinema debut with the romantic drama *Ek Din* (2026) alongside Junaid Khan and took on the pivotal role of Sita in Nitesh Tiwari's mythological epic *Ramayana: Part 1* (2026) opposite Ranbir Kapoor. A recipient of the Kalaimamani honour from the Government of Tamil Nadu (2021), she has won seven Filmfare Awards South (including multiple Best Actress and Critics Choice trophies), a Tamil Nadu State Film Award, and three SIIMA Awards.