Early life[edit]
Menon hails from Valanchery in Malappuram district in Kerala, but was born at Chandigarh to Malayali parents Naranankutty and Sarada Menon and currently lives in Mumbai. Her father served in the Indian Air Force while her mother remained a housewife. She studied in Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 1, East Hill, Kozhikode.[3]
Career[edit]
Films[edit]
She started her career as an actress in the Malayalam film Anaswaram (1991), directed by Jomon, playing the female lead opposite Mammootty, after which she focused on modeling.[3] She competed in the Miss India contest in 1994 and finished third runner up behind Sushmita Sen, Aishwarya Rai and Fransesca Hart.[3] She became the first Gladrags female super model in 1994 (Kelly Dorjee was the male super model) and then, Miss Asia Pacific semi-finalist in 1994 in Manila Cebu Island, Philippines.[3][4] She is 5 feet, 6.5 inches tall. She subsequently made her debut in Bollywood and appeared in over 30 films; some of her Bollywood films include Asoka (2001), Maqbool (2003) andCorporate (2006).
Menon returned to Malayalam in 2006 with Thantra and then went on to do famous Malayalam films such as Keerthi Chakra (2006) and the award-winning Paradesi. Her performance as Sarojini, a middle-class woman who fights against extreme odds, in Madhya Venal earned her a special mention by jury chairman Bahman Ghobadi, a famousIranian director at the International Film Festival of Kerala. In 2010, she won the Kerala State Government's Best Actress for her portrayal of Cheeru, a village woman in the filmPaleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha directed by Ranjith. She won the Mathrubhumi-Amrita TV Special Jury Award and the Asianet Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for the same film. In 2011, Shweta Menon starred in the remake of Rathinirvedam, essaying the titular character, originally played by Jayabharathi.
In 2010, Shweta approached a local court and the Women's Commission in Kerala after the distributor of her movie tied up with Musli Power, a sex stimulant drug, to jointly promote the movie. "Met with Women's Commission regarding the Kayam ad and they offered me full backing. Thank you all and I hope justice will be done," she tweeted.[5]While media profusely supported her with wide coverage, many saw it as a bold attempt by an actor against what she perceived as gross injustice to her.
Television[edit]
Besides working in films, she has anchored several TV, stage and film awards shows. Menon rose to popularity after presenting the musical programme, Star Wars on Kairali TVin 2008.[6] She won the Asian Television Award for Best Anchor for the same program. In Hindi, she hosted the group band based show, Razzmatazz on Zee TV with actorArshad Warsi.[7] The next television show she did was Dancing Queen in 2008 on Colors. In 2010, she anchored the Malayalam reality show, Honeymoon Travels on Surya TV. The show became an instant hit for Shwetha's accented Malayalam and her attempts to read from the original script without a formal learning in the language. Recently, she appeared as a contestant with her father in game show, Deal or No Deal on Surya TV. She was the anchor of the family-based reality show Veruthe Alla Bharya on Mazhavil Manorama.[8] She has participated in popular game show Ningalkkum Aakaam Kodeeshwaran on Asianet. She has acted in many advertisements.
Personal life[edit]
On 18 June 2011, she married Sreevalsan Menon, a native of Thrissur, who works in Mumbai. The ceremony took place at the Neythalappurath Sastha Ayappa temple,Valanchery, Kerala.[9] She had her first child, a daughter, Sabaina Menon on September 27, 2012, at 5.27 pm at Nanavati Hospital in Mumbai. The delivery was recorded on camera as part of the film Kalimannu.
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