Madonna Sebastian is an Indian actress who primarily works in Tamil and Malayalam films, in addition to few Telugu films. She made her acting debut with the 2015 Malayalam film Premam, and Tamil debut with Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum (2016), and in Telugu with Premam (2016) and in Kannada with Kotigobba 3 (2021).

Madonna Sebastian
Madonna in 2020
Born
Alma materChrist University, Bangalore
OccupationActress
Years active2015–present

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), Padmini (2023) and Leo (2023).

Early life

edit

Madonna was born to Sebastian and Shyla at Cherupuzha, Kerala, India, and she belongs to a Malayali Syrian Christian family 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.[1]

Career

edit

Debut and other language ventures (2015-2018)

edit

Madonna Sebastian has sung tracks for composers like Deepak Dev and Gopi Sunder.[1] 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).[1] 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.[1]

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. Her second Malayalam movie was King Liar (2016), in which she starred opposite Dileep. The film received mixed reviews and became a moderate success.[2] Then Madonna 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.[3] The film received mixed reviews,[4] though becomes an average success.[5]

In 2017, Madonna Sebastian has also paired up with Sethupathi again after her Tamil debut with him in the Tamil film Kavan directed by K. V. Anand.[6] the film makes mixed to highly positive reviews from critics.[7] Then she appeared in Dhanush's directorial debut Power Paandi where she played the role of "Young Poonthendral".[8] Both the films were commercially successful at Box office.[9]

In 2018, Madonna 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,[10] 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.

Carrier expansion and future ventures (2019- present)

edit

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 her 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, Madonna 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 a webseries in Telugu launguage, Anger Tales, which was premiered 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, and was a box-office success.[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.[22] The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics and became a box-office hit.[23]

Other work

edit

From childhood, Madonna 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.[24] 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.[25]

In January 2016, the band released online its first music video titled "Veruthe".[26] In 2016, she also sang a song for the film Valleem Thetti Pulleem Thetti titled "Pularkalam Pole". Madonna Sebastian has also sung the jingle composed by Deepak Dev for Hit 96.7, a radio station based in Dubai.[27]

Filmography

edit
Key
Denotes films that have not yet been released

Films

edit
List of films and roles
Year Title Role(s) Language(s) Notes Ref.
2015 Premam Celine George Malayalam Malayalam debut [1]
2016 Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum Yazhini Bhakthirajan Tamil Tamil debut [28]
King Liar Anjali Malayalam [29]
Premam Sindhu Telugu Telugu debut [30]
2017 Kavan Malar Tamil [31]
Pa Paandi Young Poonthendral Tamil
2018 Junga Thoppuli Tamil Cameo appearance [10]
Iblis Fida Malayalam [32]
2019 Virus Dr. Sara Yakub Ali Malayalam [12]
Brother's Day Jema George Malayalam [33]
2020 Vaanam Kottatum Preetha George Tamil [14]
2021 Kotigobba 3 Priya Kannada Kannada debut [34]
Shyam Singha Roy Lawyer Padmavathi Telugu [35]
2022 Kombu Vatcha Singamda Thamizhselvi Tamil [36]
2023 Padmini Padmini Malayalam [20]
Leo Elisa Das Tamil [22]
2024 Jolly O Gymkhana Bhavani Tamil [37]
2025 Adhirshtasaali TBA Tamil Completed [38]

Web series

edit
List of films and roles
Year Title Role Language Notes Ref.
2022 Kaiyum Kalavum Meenakshi Tamil [18]
2023 Anger Tales Pooja Reddy Telugu [citation needed]

Discography

edit
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 [39]
2019 Virus Spread Love Sushin Shyam Malayalam

Awards and nominations

edit
Year Award Category Film(s) Result
2016 5th South Indian International Movie Awards Best Female Debut – Malayalam Premam Nominated
1st IIFA Utsavam Best Performance In A Supporting Role - Female Nominated
2017 6th South Indian International Movie Awards Best Debut Female – Tamil Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum Nominated
Behindwoods Golden Medals Best Actor – Female Nominated[40]
Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards Best Debut Actress Won
2021 She Awards India Beauty of The Year ———— Won[41]
2022 Filmfare Awards South Best Supporting Actress – Telugu Shyam Singha Roy Nominated

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e f Soman, Deepa (3 June 2015). "While acting, I let myself go, says Madonna". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  2. ^ "This is how Oru Murai Vanthu Paarthaya, Yodhavu, and Kammatipaadam fared at Kerala Box Office". www.catchnews.com. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  3. ^ "Premam Telugu remake: Madonna Sebastian to reprise her own role". India Today. 20 February 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  4. ^ Iyer, Purnima Sriram (8 October 2016). "'Premam' Review: Second half saves the film". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  5. ^ "Premam movie review: Naga Chaitanya pumps up flavour, can't match up to original". The Indian Express. 7 October 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  6. ^ "Kavan will be a hard-hitting film". The Times of India. 26 March 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  7. ^ "Kavan movie review: Vijay Sethupathi-starrer is fun to watch". The Indian Express. 1 April 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  8. ^ "Power Paandi new trailer: Dhanush and Madonna Sebastian will charm their way into your heart. Watch video". The Indian Express. 1 April 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  9. ^ "'Pa Paandi' crosses 25 days, Dhanush is truly overwhelmed". Sify. Archived from the original on 8 May 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  10. ^ a b "Madonna Sebastian joins Vijay Sethupathi again". The Times of India. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  11. ^ "Iblis is going to be very fresh and entertaining: Madonna Sebastian". Cinema Express. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Meet Madonna from 'Virus'". The Times of India. 27 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  13. ^ Nagarajan, Saraswathy (19 December 2019). "The 25 best Malayalam films of the decade: 'Premam', 'Maheshinte Prathikaram', 'Kumbalangi Nights' and more". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  14. ^ a b "Mani Ratnam's Vaanam Kottattum starts rolling!". Sify. Archived from the original on 20 July 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  15. ^ "This Malayalam Premam star is Sudeep's heroine in Kotigobba 3". Asianet News Network Pvt Ltd. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  16. ^ "Shyam Singha Roy movie review highlights: Nani, Sai Pallavi, Krithi Shetty, Madonna Sebastian's film is an exciting ride so far". The Times of India. 24 December 2021. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
  17. ^ "Madonna Sebastian joins Sasikumar's Kombu Vecha Singamda". Cinema Express. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  18. ^ a b PTI; PTI (18 June 2022). "SonyLIV unveils slate of originals: Sudhir Mishra, Karthik Subbaraj to helm projects". ThePrint. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  19. ^ "'Anger Tales' Telugu anthology review: Hits and misses in stories that explore anger through effective performances". The Hindu. 9 March 2023. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  20. ^ a b "Senna Hegde's 'Padmini' adds Madonna Sebastian". The New Indian Express. 13 January 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  21. ^ "'Padmini' review: Senna Hegde delivers yet another light-hearted, innovative film". OnManorama. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  22. ^ a b "Madonna Sebastian joins the cast of 'Leo'". The Times of India. 11 June 2023. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  23. ^ "'Leo' box office collection day 1: Vijay and Lokesh Kanagaraj's action drama thrashes all Tamil films to set a new record". The Times of India. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  24. ^ "Madonna likes to take things slowly". Deccan Chronicle. 3 October 2015. Archived from the original on 2 March 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  25. ^ "Madonna's band to go live". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 18 March 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  26. ^ "Premam' actress Madonna Sebastian releases her first music video". Daily News and Analysis. 8 January 2016. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  27. ^ "Hit967 BRAND NEW JINGLE - Hit 96.7". Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  28. ^ "Mollywood girl Madonna is Vijay's pair". The Times of India. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  29. ^ "Madonna Sebastian to play Dileep's heroine". The Times of India. August 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  30. ^ "Madonna Sebastian in 'Premam' Telugu remake". The Indian Express. 20 February 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  31. ^ "Vijay Sethupathi's film with KV Anand titled Kavan". The Times of India. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  32. ^ Agencies. "Madonna Sebastian signs her next Malayalam film". Telangana Today. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  33. ^ "Another look from Brother's Day released to mark Brother's Day". The Times of India. 25 May 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  34. ^ "Sudeep-starrer Kotigobba 3 to release on October 14". The New Indian Express. 23 August 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  35. ^ Krishna, Murali (25 December 2021). "'Shyam Singha Roy' movie review: Nani-starrer is so near and yet so far". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 4 December 2022.
  36. ^ "Sasikumar's 'Kombu Vecha Singamda' shooting completed". The Times of India. 10 May 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  37. ^ "Jolly O Gymkhana - Title of Prabhudeva and Madonna Sebastian's new film revealed". OTTPlay. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
  38. ^ "Madhavan completes shooting for Mithran Jawahar's 'Adhirshtasaali'". The Hindu. 17 January 2024. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  39. ^ Happy New Year (Single) - Kavan | Vijay Sethupathi, T Rajhendherr | K V Anand | HipHop Tamizha, 29 December 2016, retrieved 21 September 2021
  40. ^ "Behindwoods Gold Medals 2017 - Tamil Film Awards for best movies, actors and technicians of 2016". Behindwoods. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  41. ^ Kumar, Sathish. "Madonna Sebastian bagged "Beauty of the year" award in She India". Instagram. pp. 1–2.
edit