Shriya Saran is an Indian film actress. She began her career acting in music videos, while also attending an acting studio to follow her dream to act.

After her debut in 2001 with Ishtam, she gained Telugu cinema’s attention in 2002 by playing the role of Bhanu in Santhosham, her first major hit. Following the film, she appeared in several Telugu films with prominent actors, whilst, also making in-roads in Bollywood as well as the Tamil film industry. In 2007, Saran became a national figure after her performance alongside Rajinikanth in Sivaji: The Boss, after which she has signed several Hindi, Tamil and also a Hollywood film. In 2006, she is said to be the first actress to pair up with father and son-in-law, Rajinikanth in the film Sivaji: The Boss (2007) and Dhanush in the film Thiruvilayadal Arambam (2007) respectively.

Saran performs predominantly in leading heroine roles in high-budget and major studio films, ranging from romantic comedies and drama to science fiction and action thrillers. Following commercial successes with Santhosham (2002), Tagore (2003), Sivaji: The Boss (2007) is the highest grosser in the indian film history.

Shriya Saran was born in Dehradun as the second child to Pushpendra Saran and Neeraja Saran. She was brought up in Ranipur, a few miles from Haridwar. Her father Pushpendra Saran was a worker at Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited and her mother is a school teacher. She has an elder brother Abhiroop. Saran completed her schooling from Delhi Public School, Haridwar and later studied at Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi and received a B. A. degree.