Keerthi Pandian (born 18 February 1992) is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Tamil films. After a brief career as a dancer and theatre actress, she made her film acting debut in 2019 with Thumbaa. She then garnered critical acclaim for her performance in the survival thriller film Anbirkiniyal directed by Gokul. She is the daughter of actor and politician Arun Pandian and the cousin of actress Ramya Pandian.
Early life
Keerthi Pandian was born on 18 February 1992 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu to actor and politician Arun Pandian, and his wife Vijaya Pandian.[1] She has two elder sisters named Kavitha Pandian and Kirana Pandian,[2] and a cousin Ramya Pandian, who is also an actress.[3] Keerthi did her schooling at Chettinad Vidyashram in Chennai where she also graduated from.[1]
Career
After graduating, Pandian began her career as a dancer in ballet and salsa, then shifted to theatre acting in 2015. She was also the head director of operations in A&P Groups, a film distribution company owned by her father and worked for films such as Savaale Samaali (2015) while simultaneously running her own distribution company in Singapore.[4][5][6] Pandian initially did not receive many film offers by directors at the start of her appearance in the industry due to discrimination towards her skin color and her being underweight.[7][8][9] She even declined others because she felt she did not have meaty roles in them; during auditions, she always introduced herself simply by her first name to avoid the appearance of nepotism as Arun Pandian's daughter.[10][11][12]
Pandian was approached by director Harish Ram offering her a lead role in the film Thumbaa (2019); she accepted, making her debut film as an actress in Tamil cinema.[13][14][15] Pandian later acted in Anbirkiniyal (2021), a remake of the Malayalam film Helen (2019), as the main character alongside her father.[16][17] She also acted in the comedy miniseries Postman which was released on ZEE5.[18] Pandian also won the Super daughter award by Femina which was awarded to her by her father in 2019 after her debut film appearance in Thumbaa.[19][20] In 2023, she appeared in Kannagi,[21] and the following year in Blue Star,[22] and the much-delayed Konjam Pesinaal Yenna.[23]
Personal life
Pandian's niece Driya portrayed the younger version of her character in Anbirkiniyal.[24] In early 2020 during the first COVID-19 lockdown in India period, Pandian developed an interest in farming and helping crops grow for better produce in the future in her gated property.[25][26] She also knows fire eating.[27]
On 13 September 2023, Pandian married actor Ashok Selvan in a Tamil wedding ceremony in Tirunelveli.[28][29] They co-starred in Blue Star.[30]
