Varada Sethu (born Varada Sethumadhavan, 12 May 1992) is an Indian-born British actress. Her most notable credits include playing Detective Sergeant Mishal Ali in Hard Sun (2018), Lance Corporal Manisha Chetri in Strike Back: Vendetta (2020), Cinta Kaz in Andor (2022–2025), and Belinda Chandra in Doctor Who (2025).
Her credits also include Sket (2010), English: An Autumn in London (2012), Doctors (2015), New Blood (2016), Doctor Foster (2017), Hanna (2019), Strike Back: Vendetta (2020), Jurassic World Dominion (2022), and Annika (2023).
Early life Varada Sethumadhavan was born on 12 May 1992 in Kerala, India. She and her twin sister Abhaya are of Malayali ancestry. Sethu's parents are doctors. She moved to the North East of England at a young age and she grew up in Benton, Tyne and Wear, near Newcastle upon Tyne. Sethu attended Dame Allan's Schools and was a member of the National Youth Theatre. During her final year of sixth form, Sethu won the 2010 Miss Newcastle competition. She went on to study at University of Bristol.
Sethu has been performing the Indian classical dance traditions of both Bharatanatyam and Mohiniyattam from a young age. Sethu continued her acting education at the Identity School of Acting in London.
Career
In 2010, Sethu made her debut appearance on screen in the short film Impressions as Samena. In 2011, Sethu landed the role of Kiran in the feature film Sket, then as Meghana Scariah in English: An Autumn in London in 2012. In 2015 she made an appearance as PC Kylie Green in the 2000 TV series Doctors.
Her career continued in 2016 appearing as Peaseblossom in a 2016 TV movie version of A Midsummer Night's Dream., Now You See Me 2 and New Blood.
In 2017, Sethu appeared as Aisha in two episodes of Doctor Foster. In 2018, Sethu starred as DS Mishal Ali for six episodes in the BBC apocalyptic TV crime series Hard Sun.
In 2019, Sethu performed as a series regular in season seven of Strike Back: Revolution as Lance Corporal Manisha Chetri of the British Army. In 2022, She played rebel Cinta Kaz in both seasons of Andor.
In 2025, Sethu portrayed the companion Belinda Chandra in Doctor Who alongside Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor in series 15. Prior to this, she played Mundy Flynn in the series 14 episode "Boom".
Filmography Film YearTitleRoleNotes 2010 Impressions Sameena Short film 2011 Sket Kiran 2013 English Meghana Scariah Indian film 2016 A Midsummer Night's Dream Peaseblossom Now You See Me 2 Tressler Assistant 2018 Special Delivery Parminder Short film 2020 Bad News Mindi 2022 Jurassic World Dominion Shira I Came By Naserine 'Naz' Raheem 2025 100 Nights of Hero Esa
Television YearTitleRoleNotes 2015 Doctors PC Kylie Green 1 episode 2016 New Blood Indian Nurse 3 episodes 2017 Doctor Foster Aisha 2 episodes 2018 Hard Sun DS Mishal Ali 6 episodes 2019 Strike Back: Revolution Lance Corporal Manisha Chetri, British Army 10 episodes Hanna CIA Analyst McArthur 2 episodes 2020 Strike Back: Vendetta Lance Corporal Manisha Chetri, British Army 9 episodes 2021-2023Annika DS Harper Weston 10 episodes 2022–2025Andor Cinta Kaz 10 episodes 2024Doctor Who Mundy Flynn Series 14: "Boom" (guest role) 2025 Belinda Chandra Series 15 (main cast); 8 episodes2026The Other Bennet SisterAnn Baxter3 episodes
References
External links 2016 Portfolio - Varada Sethu
Vimeo showreel 2015 Vimeo spotlight 2018