| Sunaina | |
| Other Names: | Hemaakshi |
| Birth Name: | Sunaina Yella |
| Birth Place: | Nagpur, Maharashtra, India |
| Occupation: | Actress, model |
| Yearsactive: | 2005–present |
Sunaina Yella is an Indian actress and model. She has been predominantly working in Tamil movies as well as few Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. She made her film debut with Telugu film Kumar Vs Kumari (2005) and her Tamil debut was Kadhalil Vizhunthen (2008).[1] [2] [3]
Sunainaa's rise to fame was by starring with Nakul in Kadhalil Vizhunthen (2008) which was her Tamil début film. Prior to that, she shot for a short scene in Sivaji (2007), which did not make the final cut. She later starred in Maasilamani (2009), Vamsam (2010) in which she appeared as a beautiful village girl and did very well, and continued with a performance oriented films where she secured her first Filmfare nomination for Neerparavai (2012), in which she played Esther.[4] Her performance was critically praised and she was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil.
After that she appeared in films like Samar (2013), Vanmam (2014) and also gave a guest appearance opposite Vijay in Theri (2016). She then appeared in Nambiyaar (2016), Kavalai Vendam (2016), Thondan (2017). In 2018, she acted in the drama film Kaali starring Vijay Antony and Anjali. Next, she appeared in Nila Nila Odi Vaa, Viu original romantic thriller vampire web series from 24 July to 5 September 2018.[5] She has also done Sillu Karupatti (2019), and comedian Yogi Babu’s film titled Trip (2021). Sunainaa plays the female lead in the action film Laththi (2022) marking her second association with Vishal after Samar.
| Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| Year | Film | Role | Language | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Kumar Vs Kumari | Sudha | Debut Telugu film | |
| 2006 | Something Special | |||
| 10th Class | Sandhya | |||
| Best Friends | Kavya | Debut Malayalam film | ||
| 2007 | Missing | Telugu | ||
| 2008 | Gange Baare Thunge Baare | Ganga | Debut Kannada film | |
| Kadhalil Vizhunthen | Meera | Debut Tamil film | ||
| 2009 | Maasilamani | Divya Ramanathan | ||
| 2010 | Yaathumagi | Anna Lakshmi | ||
| Vamsam | Malar Kodi | |||
| 2012 | Pandi Oliperukki Nilayam | Valar Mathi | ||
| Thiruthani | Sugeesha | |||
| Neerparavai | Younger Esther | Nominated, Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil | ||
| 2013 | Samar | Roopa | ||
| 2014 | Vanmam | Vadhana | ||
| 2016 | Theri | Bride | Cameo Appearance | |
| Nambiar | Saroja Devi | |||
| Kavalai Vendam | Deepa | |||
| 2017 | Thondan | Bagalamugi | ||
| Pelliki Mundu Prema Katha | Anu | Telugu | ||
| 2018 | Kaali | Poo Mayilu (Parvathy) | Tamil | |
| 2019 | Enai Noki Paayum Thota | Mythili | ||
| Sillu Karupatti | Amudhini | |||
| 2021 | Trip | Lidi (Paapi) | ||
| Raja Raja Chora | Vidya | Telugu | ||
| 2022 | Estate | Reba | Tamil | |
| Laththi | Kavitha | |||
| 2023 | Regina | Regina | ||
| Year | Title | Role | Language | Network | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Nila Nila Odi Vaa | Nila | Tamil | Viu | Web Debut | ||
| 2019 | High Priestess | Radhika | Telugu | ZEE5 | Appears in the episode "Friends" | [6] | |
| Fingertip | Rekha | Tamil | Season 1; Appears under segment "Greed". | [7] [8] | |||
| 2020 | Chadarangam | Kranthi | Telugu | [9] | |||
| 2022 | Meet Cute | Kiran | SonyLIV | Appears under segment "Ex-Girlfriend" | [10] | ||
| 2024 | Inspector Rishi | Kathryn "Kathy" | Tamil | Amazon Prime Video |