Jyothika is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films. She also acted in some Malayalam, Telugu, and Kannada films. She won one National Award, five Filmfare Awards, seven Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, two Cinema Express Awards, one South Indian International Movie Award, International Tamil Film Award and four Dinakaran Awards. She is also a recipient of the Kalaimamani Award. She is regarded as one of the most prolific actresses in Tamil cinema. She has been ranked among the best actresses of South India by The Times of India and The Hindu.

She debuted in Bollywood in the Hindi film Doli Saja Ke Rakhna (1997), directed by Priyadarshan. She starred in her first Tamil film Vaalee (1999) and her first Telugu film Tagore (2003), opposite Chiranjeevi. She received her first Filmfare Award for Vaalee (1999) as Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut – South. She was awarded the Filmfare Best Tamil Actress Award for Kushi (2000). A string of successful films followed and gained prominence for her performances in Kushi (2000), Dumm Dumm Dumm (2001), Poovellam Un Vasam (2001), Kaakha Kaakha (2004), Perazhagan (2004), Chandramukhi (2005) and Mozhi, (2007), for the latter three she won Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress.For the movie, Mozhi, she was in the final three for National Film Award for Best Actress for her outstanding performance, however she lost the award to Umashree for the Kannada film Gulabi Talkies. She has been nominated 16 times for Best Tamil Actress at South Filmfare Awards.

Jyothika left the industry at the peak of her career marrying Tamil actor Suriya on 11 September 2006, after being engaged in a relationship for several years, and with whom she was paired in seven films. She made a comeback in the film 36 Vayadhinile (2015) where her performance was given good reviews and she received Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress and Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress – Tamil. By winning her fourth Best Actress Award at Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, she broke the record of winning most Best Actress Title till date with four as her record. After the success of 36 Vayadhinile, she appeared in a series of women centric movies like Magalir Mattum (2017), Naachiyaar (2018), Kaatrin Mozhi (2018), Raatchasi (2019), and Ponmagal Vandhal (2020) and also played a role in Mani Ratnam's multi-starrer Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (2018). In Pachaikili Muthucharam (2007) she had a crucial role. In 2018, she appeared as the lead role of Chitra, a housewife to Arvind Swamy's character in Mani Ratnam's film Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (2018). She was next seen as a housewife struggling to find her own identity in Kaatrin Mozhi, the Tamil remake of Vidya Balan's Tumhari Sulu. The project was directed by Radha Mohan and marked his reunion with Jyothika after Mozhi. After the success of Kaatrin Mozhi, Jyothika signed three films, Raatchasi, produced by Dream Warrior Pictures in which she plays a school teacher; Jackpot, in which she appears as a cop co-starring Revathi under 2D Entertainment and Thambi, a Jeethu Joseph film along with Karthi. She made a comeback to Malayalam and Hindi film industry with critically acclaimed performances in Kaathal – The Core (2023) with Mammootty and Shaitaan (2024) with Ajay Devgn and R. Madhavan. The latter became the fourth highest grossing Indian film of 2024.

Films

+ List of Jyothika film credits Year Title Role Language Notes 1998 Doli Saja Ke Rakhna Pallavi Sinha Hindi 1999 Vaalee Meena (Sona) Tamil Poovellam Kettuppar Janaki Kannan (Kalyani) —Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil2000 Mugavaree Viji Kushi Jennifer "Jenny" (Selvi) Rhythm Aruna Karthikeyan —Cinema Express Award for Best Sensational Actress —Cinema Express Award for best Onscreen pair (along with Arjun)Uyirile Kalanthathu Priya Mahalakshmi Thenali Janaki Snegithiye Vani "Vasu" Subramaniyam 2001 Little John Vani Tamil / Hindi / English Dumm Dumm Dumm Ganga Veluthambi Tamil —Cinema Express Award for best actress Star Preethi Poovellam Un Vasam Chella 12B Jyothika "Jo" 2002 Raja Priya One Two Three Narmadha Nagarahavu Keerthi, Prema Patel Kannada —Udaya Film Award for Best Actress —Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Kannada 2003 Dhool Eshwari Tamil —ITFA Best Actress Award —Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil Priyamana Thozhi Nandhini Ashok Kaakha Kaakha Maaya Anbuchelvan —ITFA Best Actress Special Jury Award —Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil Thirumalai Swetha Tagore Nandini a.k.a. Nandu Telugu Three Roses Pooja Tamil 2004 Arul Kanmani Arulkumaran Perazhagan Priya / Shenbagam —Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil Manmadhan Mythili —Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil Mass Anjali Telugu —Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu 2005 Maayavi Jyotika a.k.a. Jo Tamil Chandramukhi —Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil 2006 Saravana Sadhana Shock Madhuri Telugu —Filmfare Award for Best Actress – TeluguJune R June R. Tamil Vikramarkudu Chithra Vikram Singh Rathore narrated as wife of Vikram Singh Rathore (uncredited, portrait appearance only)Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu Aaradhana —Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil Sillunu Oru Kaadhal Kunthavi Gautham (Jill) —Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil 2007 Mozhi Archana —Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress —Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil Pachaikili Muthucharam Smitha (Geetha / Kalyani) —Ananda Vikatan Award for best villain – Female Manikanda Mahalakshmi Rakklippattu Josephine Malayalam 2009 Seetha Kalyanam Nimisha —Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Malayalam 2010 Nagavalli Ganga Kailash Telugu (uncredited, archival footage from Chandramukhi) 2015 36 Vayadhinile Vasanthi Thamizhselvan Tamil —Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil 2017 Magalir Mattum Prabhavathi Surendhar —Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil 2018 Naachiyaar P. Naachiyaar Kumari Chekka Chivantha Vaanam Chithra Varadharajan Kaatrin Mozhi Vijayalakshmi Balakrishnan (Viji) / RJ Madhu —Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil2019 Raatchasi Geetha Rani (Ammu) Jackpot Akshaya Thambi Parvathy 2020 Ponmagal Vandhal Venba Pethuraj / Angel / Sakthi Jyothi —Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil 2021 Udanpirappe Mathangi Sargunam —Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil Nominated—JFW Movie Awards for Best Actress - Lead Role 2023 Chandramukhi 2 Ganga Senthilnathan (footage from Chandramukhi) Kaathal – The Core Omana Philip Matthew Malayalam —Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress – Malayalamhttps://www.filmfare.com/news/bollywood/full-list-of-winners-of-69th-sobha-filmfare-awards-south-telugu-2024_-67634.html Won—Vanitha Film Awards for Best Actress Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Malayalam Nominated—Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress 2024 Shaitaan Jyoti Rishi Hindi —Showsha Reel Awards 2025 for Best Supporting Actress - Popular ChoiceSrikanth Devika Malvade —Showsha Reel Awards 2025 for Best Supporting Actress - Popular Choice—IIFA Award for Best Supporting Actress 2026System Sarika Rawat Amazon Prime Video film

Television + List of Jyothika television credits Year Title Role Language Network Notes2025 Dabba Cartel Varuna Panniker HindiNetflix —OTTPlay Awards for Best Supporting Actor (Female)

Short films

+ List of Jyothika short film credits Year Title Role Language Notes 2006 Nimisham Nimisha Malayalam Short film directed by Revathi S Varma 2008 Herova? Zerova? Herself Tamil Docudrama 2017 Manadhaal Inaivom, Maatrathai Varaverppom Jo Directed By Sudha Kongara Brand Shorts For Zee Tamil

See also List of awards and nominations received by Jyothika 2D Entertainment

Footnotes

References

External links