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Meera Jasmine started her
life in the small town of Kuttapuzha and completed her schooling in Mar
Thoma Residential School in Tiruvalla. It was destiny that brought Jasmine
Mary Joseph to the world of cinema. Acting was far from her aspirations, she
just wanted to study and become a doctor. She was totally unaware of her
beauty and talent. It was purely by chance that Jasmine Mary Joseph went to
see the filming of a movie along with her classmates. While she was busy
gaping at the actors and the shooting process, the director Lohitadas
noticed her and felt that she was rather out of the ordinary. He offered her
the role of the heroine in his next venture, she was quite stunned. Her
conservative family background forbade her becoming part of the film
industry. Nevertheless she agreed Lohitadas, and Jasmine Mary Joseph became
Meera Jasmine, the heroine of Soothradharan, opposite Dileep.
Unfortunately, after
Soothradharan, the inexperienced young girl became the target of the yellow
press in Kerala. She was so unsettled that she declined to take up even a
single film in Malayalam for some time. Her contemporaries like Navya Nair
and Kavya Madhavan, surged ahead. But Meera Jasmine's providence had other
plans in store for her. She received an offer to act in a Tamil film Run
opposite teenage heartthrob Madhavan. Run, directed by Lingusamy, became a
resounding hit in Tamil Nadu and overnight Meera Jasmine became a much
favored actress. She worked in few films in Malayalam and one of them,
Swapnakoodu, was a huge hit in Kerala.
Despite the fact that the
films that followed Run failed to generate profits at the box office, her
talent was spotted by none other than veteran film maker Mani Ratnam who
presented her a role opposite Madhavan in Aayutha Ezhuthu. All of a sudden,
all filmmakers started considering Meera Jasmine with a lot more respect..
The film Aayutha Ezhuthu had sync sound and Meera, who was not at all well
versed or fluent in Tamil, labored hard on her pronunciation, and delivered
all her dialogues herself. However, Meera was condemned in Kerala for
rejecting a Malayalam film (Mullavalliyum Thenmavum) for a Mani Ratnam film.
"I cannot understand why people criticise me. Any artiste would have done
the same thing, I am sure."
Lady Luck came to her
rescue once again. She was inundated with offers in Telugu. Even then she
was assailed with negative journalism for giving preference to Telugu films,
but by this time she had gained a lot of assurance and nerve. Next she
turned to Kannada films, signing one opposite Puneet Rajakumar.
Even though she ruled the
roost in commercial ventures in all the South Indian languages, Meera
agreed to act as Shahina in T V Chandran's Paatham Onnu Oru Vilaapam. The
film was about a young Muslim schoolgirl married off to a married man. Meera
Jasmine's staggering performance in the film won her the National Award. She
decided to donate the money that comes with the award to a charitable
organisation in Palghat.
Notwithstanding her
Christian origin, Meera Jasmine is known for visiting Hindu temples. She is
a self-confessed fan of Tamil cinema's noted music composer Ilayaraaja. She
currently resides in Panampilly Nagar in Kochi.
Awards:
Year Award Film
2004 National Film Award
for Best Actress Padam Onnu:Oru Vilapam
2004 State Film Award
for the Best Actress Padam Onnu:Oru Vilapam |
