Laila Mehdi (born 24 October 1980), known mononymously as Laila, is an Indian actress. She made her acting debut in the mid-1990s and later became one of the leading actresses throughout the 2000s. She has acted predominantly in Tamil and Telugu films, as well as in a few Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi language films.
Career
Laila made her debut in Dushman Duniya Ka (1996) and her lead debut in the Telugu film Egire Paavurama (1997), directed by S. V. Krishna Reddy.
Laila began to receive offers from prominent directors to feature in Tamil films and turned down films such as Dharma Chakkaram and Kadhal Palli by K. S. Ravikumar and Pavithran respectively. She subsequently signed on to appear in the lead role in VIP after Pooja Kumar had walked out of the project. However, Laila was left unimpressed when the producer asked her to consider changing her stage name to Pooja, as the invitations for the film had already been printed, and furthermore, she revealed that she was unaware of Rambha also being a heroine in the film. Laila subsequently dropped out of the project, wanting to make her Tamil debut in a film where she played the sole heroine.
She ventured into Tamil films in Kallazhagar (1999) with Vijayakanth. Laila then worked with Prashanth in Parthen Rasithen (2000) and Ajith in Dheena (2001). Then came Dhill (2001) with Vikram as well as four films with Suriya in Nandhaa (2001), Unnai Ninaithu (2002), Mounam Pesiyadhe (2002) and Pithamagan (2003). In between, Laila took a break and went back to Mumbai. However, she returned to Kollywood with a big bang. Her role in the movie Ullam Ketkumae (2005) won her accolades.
Laila has made a comeback to the Tamil entertainment industry. She first appeared in a ready-made flavored milk commercial (Aachi Badam Milk) post her sabbatical in 2018. She appeared as the judge for the dance show DJD Juniors on Zee Tamil alongside actresses Sudha Chandran and Sneha. She made her post-sabbatical film comeback with Sardar (2022).
Personal life
Laila was born on 24 October 1980. She married Mehdi, an Iranian businessman on 6 January 2006. She dated him for eight years before marriage. According to Laila, they were engaged for four years before marriage. The couple has two sons.
Filmography Films + List of Laila film credits Year Title Role Language Notes 1996 Dushman Duniya Ka Lata Hindi 1997 Itha Oru Snehagatha Hema Malayalam Egire Paavurama Jyoti Telugu Pellichesukundam Laila Ugadi 1998 Khaidi Garu Rajyam Pavitra Prema Dr. Sakunthala Devi Love Story 1999 Meena Subhalekhalu Manasa 1999 Kallazhagar Aandaal Tamil Naa Hrudayamlo Nidurinche Cheli Mini Telugu Rojavanam Roja Tamil Mudhalvan Kalakkal Shuba Guest appearance 2000 Devara Maga Sowmya Kannada Parthen Rasithen Sarika Tamil Nuvve Kavali Herself Telugu Special appearance in "Ole Ole Ole" 2001 Dheena Chithra Tamil Dhill Aasha Alli Thandha Vaanam Divya Nandhaa Kalyani –Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil 2002 Kamarasu Vasanthi Unnai Ninaithu Nirmala Mounam Pesiyadhe Swetha Cameo Apperance2003 Three Roses Nandhu Pithamagan Manju –Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress ITFA Best Actress Award War and Love Serina Malayalam Swapnakoodu Guest appearance 2004 Gambeeram Vijayalakshmi Tamil Jaisurya Baby Rama Krishna Lakshmi Vishwanath Kannada Mr & Mrs Sailaja Krishnamurthy Sailaja Telugu 2005 Ullam Ketkumae Pooja Tamil Kanda Naal Mudhal Ramya Insan Indu Hindi 2006 Paramasivan Malar Tamil Thandege Thakka Maga Pancharangi Kannada Thirupathi Stage Drama artist Tamil Special appearance Mahha Samudram Devi Malayalam 2022 Sardar Sameera Thomas Tamil 2024 The Greatest of All Time Dr. Radhika Sunil 2025 Sabdham Dr. Nancy Daniel
Television + List of Laila television credits Year Program Role Language Channel Notes 2019 Dance Jodi Dance Juniors Judge Tamil Zee Tamil 2020 Gokulathil Seethai Herself Tamil Special appearance 2022 Vadhandhi: The Fable of Velonie Ruby Tamil Amazon Prime Video
References
External links