Baby Monica alias Monekha Shiva – Leading child artist of south Indian cinema

Baby Monica (Monekha Shiva) is a popular child artist who works in Tamil and Malayalam films. In 2021, she shot to fame playing Ameya Gabriel in Mammootty starrer Malayalam horror mystery film, The Priest. It is her debut Malayalam film. She also owns more than half a dozen of Tamil films to her credit. She played Vijay’s daughter in Tamil blockbuster Theri, and also appeared in Vijay’s Bhairava. Her role as Karthi’s daughter in Kaithi and a girl with speaking difficulties in Ratsasan. She is currently doing projects in Tamil and Telugu.

She was first seen in Tamil TV show, ‘Kuttees Kuttees’

Baby Monica hails from Chennai. Monica Shiva is her real name. Her father Shiva is a graphic designer. Her family comprises of parents, younger sister and grandfather. Her father named her Monekha.

She first appeared in Sun TV’s TV show, ‘Kuttees Kuttees’ and got noticed. It gave her first break to films. Vedalam marked her debut on celluloid. Shanka Chakram, Kattapaave Kaanom, Theri, Bhairava, Ratsasan, Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal and Kaithi are her other works in Tamil as a child artist. She joined Malayalam films at the age of 11, and her debut flick, The Priest earned her praises. She played the central character in the film. ‘Santhosham’ is her upcoming Malayalam flick.

Baby Monica – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. Spelling of her name Monekha was chosen based on numerology. She believes, this name owns credit for her success.

2. She loves making stories and narrating to friends. Most of them include supernatural characters. She also loves playing pranks at home to scare her sister, many times enacting as ‘Bloody Mary’ in front of mirror, lighting candle.

3. Her appearance in Ratsasan earned her the memorable role in Kaithi, and her performance in Kaithi earned her the debut Malayalam film.

4. While the shooting of The Priest was going on, Dulquer Salman’s Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal got released, where she played a brief role. Thus she got opportunity to work with both father-son duo.

5. She earned first prize for her fancy dance competition, where she dressed up as a Kathakali artist.

6. Tennis player, Traveller, Scientist, Actor, Director and Photographer – Among her future dreams.

7. Actor Vijay calls her ‘Darling Baby’.

8. When the shooting of Ajith’s Vedalam came to an end, she wanted to take a pic with him. As the actor was in shooting getup, director asked her to come the next day and she started crying. Seeing it, Ajith’s assistant told the actor, who later removed the getup and took a photo with her. She keeps this photo as a memory in her album.