Shriya Saran (born as Shriya Saran Bhatnagar on 11 September 1982),also known by the mononym Shriya, is an Indian film actress and model. She has acted in Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi language films, as well as a few films in English, Malayalam and Kannada. While in her sophomore year at the LSR College in Delhi, Saran got her first opportunity to appear in front of the camera for a video shoot. Following her dance teacher's recommendation, she was invited to appear in the music video of Renoo Nathan's "Thirakti Kyun Hawa". Shot in Banaras, the video was seen by Ramoji Films who offered her the lead role of Neha in their film Ishtam. Saran accepted the part and even before it was released she was signed to four more films,including Nuvve Nuvve, in which she played a millionaire's daughter who falls for a middle-class man. In 2002, she starred in Santosham, co-starring Nagarjuna, Prabhu Deva and Gracy Singh, which was her first commercial success.The film took the Nandi Award for Best Feature Film and Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu). Her notable films are Thujje Meri Kasam, Awarapan, Mission Istaanbul etc.