| Madonna Sebastian | |
| Birth Date: | 1 October 1992 |
| Birth Place: | Cherupuzha, Kerala, India |
| Alma Mater: | Christ University, Bangalore |
| Occupation: | Actress |
| Years Active: | 2015–present |
Madonna Sebastian is an Indian actress who primarily works in Tamil and Malayalam films, in addition to Telugu and Kannada films. She made her acting debut with the 2015 Malayalam film Premam. She made her debut in Tamil with Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum (2016), and in Telugu with Premam (2016) and in Kannada with Kotigobba 3 (2021).
She has appeared in successful films such as Premam (2015), King Liar (2016), Pa Paandi (2017), Kavan (2017), Iblis (2018), Virus (2019), Brother's Day (2019), Kotigobba 3 (2021), Shyam Singha Roy (2021) and Leo (2023).
Sebastian was born to Sebastian & Shyla at Cherupuzha, Kannur, India and raised in Angamaly. She did her higher studies at St Peter's Senior Secondary School, Kadayiruppu.[1] She did a one-year Master Training course at START Kozhikode. She graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce from Christ University, Bangalore.
Madonna Sebastian has sung tracks for composers like Deepak Dev and Gopi Sunder. Her participation in Malayalam musical program Music Mojo, After seeing her host a program for Surya TV, director Alphonse Putharen called her to audition for his romantic film Premam (2015). Even though she was not interested in acting, she auditioned and was considered for the role of Mary. However, on her insistence that she related more with Celine, Mary's role was given to Anupama Parameswaran.
After Premam, she then made her Tamil debut opposite Vijay Sethupathi in Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum (2016), the film makes mixed to positive reviews from critics, and became an average hit at box office.[2] Her second Malayalam movie was King Liar (2016), in which she starred opposite Dileep. The film received mixed reviews and became a moderate success.[3] Then Sebastian reprised her role for the Telugu remake of Premam (2016), with Naga Chaitanya and Shruti Hassan replacing Nivin Pauly and Sai Pallavi, respectively, and marking her debut in Telugu cinema.[4] The film received mixed reviews,[5] though becomes an average success.[6]
In 2017, Sebastian has also paired up with Sethupathi again after her Tamil debut with him in the Tamil film Kavan directed by K. V. Anand.[7] the film makes mixed to highly positive reviews from critics.[8] Then she appeared in Dhanush's directorial debut Power Paandi where she played the role of "Young Poonthendral".[9] Both the films were commercially successful at Box office.[10]
In 2018, Sebastian's first release is a Tamil movie Junga, she landed in an extended cameo appearance in the film, opposite Vijay Sethupathi, marking collaboration with him for the third time, directed by Gokul. Her second release is a Malayalam film Iblis, opposite Asif Ali directed by Rohit VS.[11] the film was a commercial success.
In 2019, her first release was a multi-starrer medical thriller film titled Virus, in which she played the role of Dr.Sara Yakub, directed by Aashiq Abu.[12] The film becomes a major commercial success, and became one of the top 25 Malayalam films of decade.[13] And second release was Brother's Day, opposite Prithviraj Sukumaran, directed by Kalabhavan Shajohn. The film becomes an blockbuster at the box-office.
Her only release in 2020 was Vaanam Kottattum, opposite Vikram Prabhu, directed by Dhana Sekaran.[14] the film receives mixed to positive reviews, but became a commercial failure.
In 2021, Sebastian made her Kannada debut with Kottigobba 3, opposite Sudeep, directed by Shiva Karthik.[15] The film was released by theatrically on October 15, 2021, the film makes a mixed reviews and performed well in Box-office collection. Her second release was Shyam Singha Roy starring Nani and Sai Pallavi, directed by Rahul Sankrityan. The film was received mixed to positive reviews from both critics and audience.[16] and becomes a box-office hit.
In 2022, her first release Kombu Vatcha Singamda, opposite Sasikumar, directed by S.R. Prabhakaran.[17] the film received mixed to negative reviews from critics and audience, and was a flop at the box-office. Later she made her digital streaming debut with a Tamil webseries Kaiyum Kalavum, which was released on Sony LIV and received generally positive reviews from critics.[18]
In 2023, her first release was webseries in Telugu launguage, Anger Tales, which was premierd on Disney + Hotstar and received mixed reviews.[19] Her second release was Padmini, opposite Kunchacko Boban.[20] The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and audience.[21]
After a break, In October 2023, she took part of a Tamil film Leo, starring Vijay where she played Vijay's twin sister character Elisa Das. The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics and became a box-office hit.[22]
From childhood, Sebastian had a strong interest in music. A trained singer in Carnatic and Western music, she has performed for Music Mojo of Kappa TV and numerous popular Malayalam music directors and singers.[23] In 2015, she sang a song titled "Raavukalil" for the movie You Too Brutus with musical backing from Roby Abraham. The pair subsequently formed a band named Everafter.[24]
In January 2016, the band released online its first music video titled "Veruthe".[25] In 2016, she also sang a song for the film Valleem Thetti Pulleem Thetti titled "Pularkalam Pole". Sebastian has also sung the jingle composed by Deepak Dev for Hit 96.7, a radio station based in Dubai.[26]
| Year | Title | Role(s) | Language(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Premam | Celine George | Malayalam | Malayalam debut | |
| 2016 | Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum | Yazhini Bhakthirajan | Tamil | Tamil debut | [27] |
| King Liar | Anjali | Malayalam | [28] | ||
| Premam | Sindhu Vikram Vatsalya | Telugu | Telugu debut | [29] | |
| 2017 | Kavan | Malar | Tamil | [30] | |
| Pa Paandi | Young Poonthendral | Tamil | [31] | ||
| 2018 | Junga | Thoppuli | Tamil | Cameo appearance | [32] |
| Iblis | Fida | Malayalam | [33] | ||
| 2019 | Virus | Dr. Sara Yakub Ali | Malayalam | ||
| Brother's Day | Jema George | Malayalam | [34] | ||
| 2020 | Vaanam Kottatum | Preetha George | Tamil | ||
| 2021 | Kotigobba 3 | Priya | Kannada | Kannada debut | [35] |
| Shyam Singha Roy | Lawyer Padmavathi | Telugu | [36] | ||
| 2022 | Kombu Vatcha Singamda | Thamizhselvi | Tamil | [37] | |
| 2023 | Padmini | Padmini | Malayalam | ||
| Leo | Elisa Das | Tamil | [38] | ||
| 2024 | Adhirshtasaali | Tamil | Filming | [39] | |
| Jolly O Gymkhana | Tamil | Filming | [40] |
| Year | Title | Role(s) | Language(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Kaiyum Kalavum | Meenakshi | Tamil | ||
| 2023 | Anger Tales | Priya Reddy | Telugu | [41] |
| Year | Film | Song | Music Director | Language | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Valleem Thetti Pulleem Thetti | Pularkalam Pole | Sooraj S. Kurup | Malayalam | |
| 2017 | Kavan | Happy New Year | Hiphop Tamizha | Tamil | |
| 2019 | Virus | Spread Love | Sushin Shyam | Malayalam | |
| Year | Award | Category | Film(s) | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 5th South Indian International Movie Awards | Best Female Debut – Malayalam | Premam | ||
| 1st IIFA Utsavam | Best Performance In A Supporting Role - Female | ||||
| 2017 | 6th South Indian International Movie Awards | Best Debut Female – Tamil | Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum | ||
| Behindwoods Golden Medals | Best Actor – Female | [42] | |||
| Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards | Best Debut Actress | ||||
| 2021 | She Awards India | Beauty of The Year | ———— | [43] | |
| 2022 | Shyam Singha Roy |