Anjali

Anjali was born in Mogalikuduru, a village in East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh as the only daughter to Telugu-speaking parents; she has two brothers. She completed her education up to 10th class in Tamil Nadu, following which her family moved to Chennai, Tamil Nadu and she continued her studies, pursuing a degree in Mathematics. After completing her education, she began modeling in Chennai, which paved the way for her entry into the film industry. 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). Anjali remarked that her parents had aspirations to become actors and that they were "realizing their dreams" through her.

Anjali portrayed a ghost haunting her murderers in Photo, which co-starred two more newcomers, Anand and Bhanu. 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. She made her Tamil film debut later that year in Kattradhu Thamizh, directed by Ram, which released to strong critical acclaim. Anjali won critical praise for her portrayal of Anandhi, the childhood friend and love interest of a young teacher-turned-psychopath (enacted by Jeeva). 

 

 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". 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.