Bold and Beautiful Lena – Malayalam actress known for middle-aged mother and wife roles

Lena is a film and television actress, associated with Malayalam entertainment industry. In her mid-ages, she is best known for playing wife and mother roles, and is quite busy now. She currently plays mother to almost all lead actors of Mollywood, though she is in her early 40s. She has been a part of several critically acclaimed films, apart from commercial movies, and has received Kerala state award for best second actress for Kanyaka Talkies and Left right left in 2013. Her memorable roles in Traffic, Athe Mazha Athe Veyil, Ennu Ninte Moideen etc have won her multiple awards at various award functions. She is known for her bold attitude and strong statements, and she often changes her looks, hair style etc. She dons both positive and negative roles with ease.

Her father worked in SBI while her mother owned a business firm. She has one younger sister Thasha. She spent her younger days in Assam and Meghalaya, and was a tomboy then. Later she settled in Thrissur during her mid-school days. Lena marked her film debut in 1998, playing Jayaram’s younger sister in Sneham. From there on she played numerous supporting roles. As a teenager she appeared in Karunam, Kochu Kochu Santhoshangal, Oru Cheru Punchiri and Varna Kazhchakal before moving to strong supporting roles for both television and movies. Initially she was fully associated with television before accepting mother and wife roles for movies. Traffic in 2011 gave her major break in movies. Her supporting role of Roopa in Ee Adutha Kaalathu was well appreciated by critics.

Lena – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. Lena was earlier married to Abhilash, her childhood friend whom she knows since the age of 11. They got married in 2004 and decided not to have kids. They are now separated. Many people believe that they had a live-in together relationship.

2. Her father wanted to give her name ‘Leena’, which resembles her mother’s name Teena. He sent her name through a letter written as ‘Lena’, and everyone pronounced the same. Nobody noticed the spelling mistake. But a few years she came to know that the word ‘Lena’ in fact has a meaning. It’s the name of a Greek goddess (Goddess of light).

3. Lena loves to travel alone, and she has travelled to many places including Himalayas. Most recently she went bald headed. She cut her hair at Palani, and later went for a Himalayan expedition.

4. She has been a brilliant student in academics. She holds state level rank at SSLC as well as graduation.

5. She learnt music and Bharatnatyam during her school days.

6. She holds a post-graduation in clinical psychology and has worked in Mumbai for a while before she completely switched to acting.

7. In 2008, she received Kerala State TV Award for Best Actress for the serial, Aranazhika Neram and also Atlas Film Critics TV Award for Best Second Actress for Chilluvillakku.

8. She played the wife of Siddique and Anoop Menon in several movies.