Laila (actress)

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.^[3]

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.^[4] 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.^[5]

She ventured into Tamil films in Kallazhagar (1999) with Vijayakanth. Laila then worked with Prashanth in Parthen Rasithen (2000) and Ajith in Dheena (2001).^[6][7] 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.^[8]

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.^[9] She made her post-sabbatical film comeback with Sardar (2022).^[10]

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.^[1] According to Laila, they were engaged for four years before marriage. The couple has two sons.^[11]