Shamna Kasim

Shamna Kasim, also known by her stage name Poorna is an Indian actress, dancer, and model, who appears in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada films.

Early life

She was born in Kannur to a Malayalee couple Kasim and Ramla. She has done her schooling from St. Teresas Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School in Kannur after shifting from Ursuline Senior Secondary School. She shifted her school to concentrate more on her dancing skills.

She resides in Kochi, Kerala.

Her biggest hit came with Jhossh (2009), a Kannada movie that completed 100 days in the theatres. She has starred in several Tamil films including Kodaikanal (2008), Kandhakottai (2009), Drohi (2010), Aadu Puli (2011), Vellore Maavattam (2011) and Vithagan (2011).

2012–2016: Experimental roles and television

She is best known for her Malayalam movies Chattakkari (2012), Aaru Sundarimaarude Katha (2013) and Mili (2015).

Kasim appeared in a series of films where she portrayed a ghost, with The Hindu labelling her as "the ghost queen of South films". She essayed the lead role in Avunu (2012) and the sequel Avunu 2 (2015) that were successful at the box office. In this brief period of time, she turned down several similar scripts, before acting as a ghost again in Raju Gari Gadhi (2015), which became a hit at the box office.

2017–present Shamna shaved her head completely bald for her role in the Kodiveeran (2017), but the movie met with average reviews.

She has also done a lot of Malayalam like Madhura Raja (2019), Maarconi Mathaai (2019) and Telugu films Akhanda (2021), Drushyam 2 (2021), Dasara (2023) as well. In 2024, she appeared in Tamil horror thriller, Devil.

Poorna had a solo release in 2025 reprising her role from Akhanda in its sequel, Akhanda 2: Thaandavam. After her viral performance in the chartbuster Kurchi Madathapetti song, in 2026, she is all set to feature in another chartbuster alongside Superstar Rajinikanth in Jailer 2.

Personal life In June 2020, police arrested members of a gang on a complaint lodged by Shamna's mother that they blackmailed her daughter. Police revealed that the gang locked film actresses in hotel rooms and forced them to accompany as escorts for transporting black money. Shamna married Shanid Asif Ali, a Dubai-based businessman in October 2022, and they have two children: a son and a daughter.

Filmography Film

Television + List of Poorna television credits Year Title Role Language Network 2020 Kannamoochi Priya Tamil ZEE52021 Navarasa Lakshmi Netflix 3 Roses Indu Telugu Aha

Television shows