Sunaina Yella (born 17 April 1989), known professionally as Sunaina, is an Indian actress and model who predominantly works in Tamil and Telugu films. She debuted in Telugu with Kumar Vs Kumari (2005) and in Tamil with Kadhalil Vizhunthen (2008). She has since starred in the films Vamsam (2010), Neerparavai (2012), Trip and Raja Raja Chora (both 2021), and the television shows Nila Nila Odi Vaa (2018), Chadarangam (2020) and Inspector Rishi (2024).
Early life and career Sunaina was born in April 1989 in Nagpur, India into a Telugu family. She was raised in Nagpur and the family later moved to Hyderabad.
She had her first screen appearance in Kumar Vs Kumari (2005), a Telugu film. Her next film 10th Class (2006) was her first breakthrough in Telugu cinema. She next made her Malayalam and Kannada cinema debut in Best Friends (2006) and Gange Baare Thunge Baare (2008) respectively.
She rose to fame starring with Nakul in Kadhalil Vizhunthen (2008) which was her Tamil début film. Prior to that, she shot for a short scene in Sivaji (2007), which did not make the final cut. She later starred in Vamsam (2010) in which she appeared as a beautiful village girl and did very well, and continued with performance oriented films where she secured her first Filmfare nomination for Neerparavai (2012). Her performance was critically praised and she was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil.
After that she appeared in films like Samar (2013), Vanmam (2014) and also gave a guest appearance opposite Vijay in Theri (2016). She then appeared in Nambiyaar (2016), Kavalai Vendam (2016), Thondan (2017). In 2018, she acted in the drama film Kaali starring Vijay Antony and Anjali. Next, she appeared in Nila Nila Odi Vaa, Viu original romantic thriller series that released in September 2018. She has also done Sillu Karupatti (2019), and comedian Yogi Babu’s film titled Trip (2021).
Raja Raja Chora (2021) was considered to be her comeback in Telugu cinema after 10th Class (2006). She had also appeared in the Amazon Prime Video series Inspector Rishi, released in 2024.
Filmography
+Key Denotes films that have not yet been released
Films Year Film Role LanguageNotes2005 Kumar Vs Kumari Sudha Telugu 2006 Something Special Mahi 10th Class Sandhya Best Friends Kavya Malayalam 2007 Pagale Vennela Swapna Telugu credited as Mythili Missing Kavya 2008 Gange Baare Thunge Baare Ganga Kannada Kadhalil Vizhunthen Meera Tamil 2009 Maasilamani Divya Ramanathan 2010 Yaathumagi Anna Lakshmi Vamsam Malar Kodi 2012 Pandi Oliperukki Nilayam Valar Mathi Thiruthani Sugeesha Neerparavai Esther Nominated, Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil2013 Samar Roopa 2014 Vanmam Vadhana 2016 Theri Bride Cameo appearance Nambiar Saroja Devi Kavalai Vendam Deepa 2017 Thondan Bagalamugi Pelliki Mundu Prema Katha Anu Telugu 2018 Kaali Poo Mayilu (Parvathy) Tamil2019 Enai Noki Paayum Thota Mythili Sillu Karupatti Amudhini 2021 Trip Lidi (Paapi)Raja Raja Chora Vidya Telugu 2022 Estate Reba Tamil Laththi Kavitha Muruganantham 2023 Regina Regina 2024 Rocket Driver Kamala 2025 Kuberaa Shilpa Telugu Deepa Tamil
Television Year Title RoleLanguage NetworkNotes 2018 Nila Nila Odi Vaa NilaTamil Viu 2019 High Priestess RadhikaTelugu ZEE5Appears in the episode "Friends" Fingertip Rekha Tamil Season 1; Appears under segment "Greed". 2020 Chadarangam KranthiTelugu 2022 Meet Cute Kiran SonyLIVAppears under segment "Ex-Girlfriend" 2024Inspector RishiKathryn "Kathy"Tamil Amazon Prime Video
Personal life In June 2024, Sunaina announced her engagement through a social-media post showing her holding a man's hand with a lock emoji. Media outlets subsequently identified the fiancé as Emirati content creator Khalid Al Ameri after both shared similar photographs featuring engagement rings. In December 2025, Al Ameri publicly confirmed their relationship by posting a birthday photo featuring the couple together.
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