The Vasanthabalan-directed tragedy drama focussed on the lives of young employees who work in retail department stores. She next played Kani, a fiery, independent sales girl in a textile showroom in Angadi Theru (2010) that released two years after her last venture. The latter, which featured her as the female lead opposite Sundar C., was panned by critics and she was criticized for accepting that role, with reviewers noting that she had nothing to do in the film, "except roll her eyes". She appeared in two films in 2008 Honganasu, her first Kannada project and Aayudham Seivom in Tamil. Her performance earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debutante as well as the Vijay Award for Best Debut Actress for that year, and she grew in popularity, leading her to several more offers, albeit the film proved commercially unsuccessful. A Behindwoods critic wrote that she was "a delight to watch and spellbinds the viewer with her beautiful fresh look and her performance", while Pavithra Srinivasan of Rediff described her as "a breath of fresh air" and "the perfect foil to Jeeva's plethora of emotions". Anjali won critical praise for her portrayal of Anandhi, the childhood friend and love interest of a young teacher-turned-psychopath (enacted by Jeeva). She made her Tamil film debut later that year in Kattradhu Thamizh, directed by Ram, which released to strong critical acclaim. She played the female lead in another Telugu venture, the romance film Premalekha Raasa (2007), directed by lyricist Kulasekhar, opposite a debutant again both films garnered negative response, and performed poorly at the box office, failing to propel her career in Telugu cinema. Anjali remarked that her parents had aspirations to become actors and that they were "realizing their dreams" through her.Īnjali portrayed a ghost haunting her murderers in Photo, which co-starred two more newcomers, Anand and Bhanu. During one of her modeling assignments, she was spotted by director Siva Nageswara Rao, who offered her a starring role in his Telugu thriller film Photo (2006). After completing her education, she began acting in short films, which paved the way for her entry into the film industry. She completed her education up to 10th class in Andhra Pradesh, following which her family moved to Chennai, Tamil Nadu and she continued her studies, pursuing a degree in Mathematics. The Indian Express Tamil.Anjali was born in Razole, East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh as the only daughter to her Telugu-speaking parents She studied up to 10th class in Razole she has two brothers.
Then came the musical romance Dishyum with Jeeva. Īfter the success of the film Kaadhal,in 2004, she took up a Malayalam film titled Alice in Wonderland which she played as the sister of actor Jayaram. She was initially considered to play the heroine in the film, but finally the role was later handed to Sandhya, after the director felt Saranya looked too young.
The team then picked Saranya Nag was in Class IX, when cinematographer Vijay Milton referred her on to Balaji Sakthivel. The role was offered to many known actresses, including Ileana D'Cruz and then Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, but the latter's father was reluctant to let her become an actress at the time. Sandhya was studying when she starred in the Tamil love story Kaadhal.
The couple had a daughter in September 2016. The ceremony was held at Guruvayur Temple. She married a Chennai-based IT worker, Arjun, on 6 December 2015. She attended Vidyodaya Girls Higher Secondary School, Chennai until completing Class 9. Her father Ajith is an employee of IOB and her mother Maya is a beautician.