Namitha Indian Actress Born 1981 in Surat

Early life

Namitha, whose full name is Namitha Vankawala, was born on 10 May 1981 in Surat, Gujarat. Her route into entertainment began with beauty pageants. In 1998 she was crowned Miss Surat, and in 2001 she entered Miss India, finishing as third runner-up in the year Celina Jaitley won the crown. The attention from the contest led her to move to Mumbai, where she appeared in a number of television commercials for well-known brands. Hindi cinema did not open up for her at that stage. She took up a course in English literature and considered going back to Surat, but eventually accepted an invitation to audition for a Telugu film.

Career

Namitha made her screen debut in 2002. Her first release was the Telugu coming-of-age romance Sontham, and later that year she appeared opposite Venkatesh in the action film Gemini, which brought her wider notice. For a short time she used the stage name Bhairavi for the project before returning to her own name.

From the middle of the decade she became a prominent presence in Tamil cinema. Directors cast her opposite leading men of the time, and she worked in action films and comedies, including Engal Anna in 2004 and Aai, Chanakya and Aanai in 2005. She also appeared in several comedy dramas by the director Sakthi Chidambaram. Over these years she also took on her first Hindi film, Love Ke Chakkar Mein, and made a Kannada film titled Namitha I Love You.

In 2007 she appeared with Vijay in Azhagiya Tamil Magan, a film with music by A. R. Rahman, and with Ajith Kumar in Billa, directed by Vishnuvardhan. She also featured in Viyabari that year, the title that her record lists as her best known. Other films from this period include Kovai Brothers, Pachchak Kuthira and Thagapansamy in 2006, Naan Avanillai in 2007, and Sandai and Pandi in 2008. Her screen partners across these titles include the comedian Vivek, who appears in three of her listed films, among them 1977 and Sandai, and Nayanthara and N. Santhanam, each of whom appears in two. In 2009 she was in a second Billa, as well as 1977, Thee, Perumal and the horror film Jaganmohini, in which she played the title role.

The 2010s were quieter. She worked in Kannada films in the early part of the decade, and several projects were delayed. In 2016 she announced plans to return to the screen, and that year she played Julie in the Malayalam film Pulimurugan. In 2017 she took part in the Tamil version of the reality programme Bigg Boss, hosted by Kamal Haasan. She later appeared in the horror films Pottu in 2019 and Miya in 2020. In 2021 she was seen in the television serial Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal and took part as a special guest in the comedy show Kanni Theevu Ullasa Ulagam 2.0. Her credits on record number thirty-one films between 2002 and 2016, and she has worked mainly in Tamil and Telugu, with some Kannada and Malayalam films.

Recognition

Namitha's earliest recognition came in beauty contests: the Miss Surat title in 1998 and the third runner-up place at Miss India in 2001. Her work on screen later brought her a devoted following in Tamil Nadu, and by 2008 admirers near Coimbatore had built a temple in her name. Her Instagram account had more than 890,000 followers as of October 2026.

Public roles

Namitha entered politics in 2016, when she joined the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) on 24 April in Tiruchirappalli, in the presence of the party's general secretary and Tamil Nadu's chief minister, J. Jayalalithaa. In 2019 she joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in Chennai, alongside the actor Radha Ravi, in the presence of the party's national president, J. P. Nadda. In July 2020 she was named one of the party's state executive members for Tamil Nadu. She has also promoted road safety, appearing with the actor Bharath in June 2012 to encourage safer driving.

Personal life

In November 2017 Namitha married the businessman Veerendra Chowdary in Tirupati.