Gowri Munjal

Gowri “Sonali” Munjal is a former Indian actress and model who primarily worked in Telugu and Kannada films. She is probably best known for her performance as Mahalakshmi Somaraju in her debut film Bunny.

Career When she moved to Mumbai to pursue a career in acting, she got to know, that the producers of the Telugu film Bunny were looking for a new face to play the leading female role opposite Allu Arjun. She met the producers and immediately got the role of Mahalakshmi Somaraju, eventually becoming an actress. The film went to become a box office hit, after which she received acting offers from other South Indian film industries as well. She debuted in Kannada in the same year with the film Namma Basava, whilst in Telugu she played leading roles in Sri Krishna 2006 and Gopi - Goda Meedha Pilli.

Gowri Munjal then got the offer to essay the female leading role in a Tamil film, directed by P. Vasu, starring his son Sakthi Vasu in the lead role, following which she starred in another Tamil film Singakutty opposite Sivaji Ganesan's grandson, named Sivaji as well. Both the film were unsuccessful at the box office, failing to gain her popularity and fame in Kollywood. In Telugu, however, she got to play a vital role in Kousalya Supraja Rama as Charmi's sibling, whilst in Kannada she enacted the female lead in Jaaji Mallige, a remake of the Tamil film Devathayai Kanden. In 2009 then, she got a role in a Malayalam film Paleri Manikkam, a crime thriller, based on the same-named novel by T. P. Rajeevan, which was directed by popular director Ranjith and in which she appeared opposite Malayalam actor Mammootty.

Filmography Year Film Role LanguageNotes 2005 Bunny Mahalakshmi Somaraju Telugu Namma Basava Gauri Kannada 2006 Sri Krishna 2006 Indu Telugu Gopi Vasu Kannada Gopi - Goda Meedha Pilli Lakshmi Telugu 2007 Bhookailas Telugu Special appearance Thottal Poo Malarum Anjali Tamil Gandana Mane Gauri Kannada 2008 Singakutty Anjali Tamil Kousalya Supraja Rama Kausalya Ravi Telugu 2009 Jaaji Mallige Uma Kannada Mast Maja Maadi Herself Kannada cameo in song Bangaru Babu Telugu Paleri Manikyam Sarayu Sharma Malayalam 2011 Race Shwetha Malayalam Hori Kannada