Samyuktha

Samyuktha (born 11 September 1995; formerly Samyuktha Menon) is an Indian actress who primarily appears in Malayalam and Telugu films. She is a recipient of several awards including one Kerala Film Critics Association Award and one Santosham Film Award.

Samyuktha made her acting debut with the Malayalam film Popcorn (2016). She went on to appear in commercially successful films such as Kalki (2019), Edakkad Battalion 06 (2019), Bheemla Nayak (2022), Kaduva (2022), Bimbisara (2022), Gaalipata 2 (2022), Vaathi (2023) and Virupaksha (2023). She won the Santosham Film Award for Best Actress for Virupaksha.

Early life Samyuktha Menon was born on 11 September 1995, in Palakkad, Kerala, India. She completed her schooling from Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Thathamangalam and graduated a bachelors in economics.

Career Debut and early work (2016-2021) Samyuktha made her acting debut in 2016 with the Malayalam film Popcorn, where she played the lead opposite Shine Tom Chacko. In 2018, she had two Malayalam film releases: Theevandi opposite Tovino Thomas and Lilli, where she played the titular role of a pregnant woman. Cris of The News Minute stated, "Samyuktha Menon is convincing as a pregnant woman, but her lines are flawed." That year, Samyuktha also made her Tamil film debut with Kalari opposite Krishna.

The year 2019 was a turning point in her career with six film releases. She first appeared in July Kaatril opposite Ananth Nag. She went on to appear in Oru Yamandan Premakadha opposite Dulquer Salmaan, in Uyare, and in Under World opposite Asif Ali. Samyuktha reunited with Tovino Thomas for her last two releases of the year, Kalki, where she played a doctor and Edakkad Battalion 06, where she played a teacher. For Kalki, Sify found her to be "decent" in her limited role. In 2021, Samyuktha worked in four films, Vellam opposite Jayasurya, the anthology Aanum Pennum, Wolf opposite Arjun Ashokan and Erida, where she played the titular role.

Expansion and commercial success (2022-present) Samyuktha had four commercial successes in 2022. Her first release was, Bheemla Nayak, one of the highest grossing Telugu film of the year, opposite Rana Daggubati. She then appeared in one of the highest grossing Malayalam film of the year, Kaduva opposite Prithviraj Sukumaran. In Bimbisara, she played a police officer opposite Nandamuri Kalyan Ram. Later, she made her Kannada film debut with Gaalipata 2 opposite Diganth. A Sharadhaa of The New Indian Express stated that she justifies her character with her act.

In 2023, she first played a teacher opposite Dhanush in Vaathi, highest-grossing Tamil film of the year. She went onto appeared in Boomerang opposite Shine Tom Chacko, and in Devil: The British Secret Agent opposite Nandamuri Kalyan Ram. Neeshitha Nyayapati of Hindustan Times stated, "Samyuktha delivers a good performances for the most part. " Later, she appeared opposite Sai Durgha Tej in Virupaksha, one of the highest grossing Telugu film of the year. Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu noted, "Samyuktha has a good screen presence and makes it count in the later portions that demand something more from her." In 2024, her only appearance was in the Telugu film Love Me.

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Samyuktha is considered as one of the highest paid Malayalam actresses. In the Kochi Times Most Desirable Women list, she was placed 7th both in 2018 and 2019, and 2nd in 2020.

Personal life In 2023, Samyuktha dropped her surname Menon from her name and said, "When I want to see equality, humanity and love all around, keeping a surname makes it very contradictory to what I want."

Filmography

Films Year Title Role Language Notes Ref. 2016 Popcorn Anjana Malayalam 2018 Theevandi Devi Lilli Lilli Kalari Thenmozhi Tamil 2019 July Kaatril Revathi Oru Yamandan Premakadha Jesna Koshy Malayalam Uyare Tessa Cameo appearance Kalki Dr. Sangeetha Edakkad Battalion 06 Naina Fathima Under World Aishwarya 2021 Vellam Sunitha Murali Aanum Pennum Kochuparu / Savithri Segment: "Savithri" Wolf Asha Erida Erida Malayalam Bilingual film Tamil 2022 Bheemla Nayak Kamali Telugu Kaduva Elsa Kurian Malayalam Bimbisara S.I Vyjayanthi Telugu Gaalipata 2 Anupama Kannada 2023 Vaathi Meenakshi Tamil Bilingual film Sir Telugu Boomerang Honey Paul / Anjali Malayalam Virupaksha Nandini Chalapathy Telugu Devil: The British Secret Agent Nyshada 2024 Love Me Divyavathi Cameo appearance 2025 Akhanda 2: Thaandavam Archana Goswami 2026 Nari Nari Naduma Murari Dia Kakarla Filming Mohini Hindi Filming Malayalam Filming Tamil Filming Telugu Filming Telugu Filming

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Work Result Ref. 2021 Kerala Film Critics Association Awards Best Actress Aanum Pennum, Vellam & Wolf 2023 South Indian International Movie Awards Best Supporting Actress – Telugu Bheemla Nayak 2024 Best Actress – Telugu Virupaksha Santosham Film Awards Best Actress