Meera Jasmine (born Jasmine Mary Joseph on 15 February 1984) is an Indian actress from Kerala State. She won India's National Film Award for Best Actress in 2004 for her role in 2003 Malayalam film Paadam Onnu: Oru Vilaapam. Meera Jasmine is the highest paid Malayalam actress
Born as Jasmine Mary Joseph to Joseph Philip and Aleyamma in Kuttappuzha, Tiruvalla, Pathanamthitta District, Kerala, India. She is a Syrian Christian by birth.She has two sisters and two brothers. She completed her schooling in Mar Thoma Residential School in Tiruvalla, before her entry into films. A chance meeting with Malayalam screenwriter Lohithadas gave way to her debut in Malayalam Cinema through the film Soothradharan in 2001. Soothradharan did not do well at the box office. However, she continued to receive offers from Malayalam and Tamil film-makers, including the 2002 Tamil films Run and Bala.The success of Run made her a well-known star in Kollywood.
She acted in a number of Tamil movies with popular actors, and then proceeded to work with director Mani Ratnam in the film Aayitha Ezhuthu.She entered Telugu cinema in 2004 with Ammayi Bagundi and Gudumba Shankar. She also entered Kannada cinema in 2004 with the film Mourya, in which she co-starred with Puneet Rajkumar. Her latest Kannada film, Arrasu, was also a success.
After making her entry into all four South Indian languages, she has acted concurrently in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. Her successful films include Achuvinte Amma (Malayalam), Bhadra (Telugu) and Rasatantram (Malayalam),Vinodayathra(Malayalam),Araasu(Kannada). Her 2005 Tamil film Sandakozhi completed 200 days at the box office.
