Archana Manohar Galrani, known mononymously and professionally credited as Sanjjana,[2][3] is an Indian actress who made her film debut in the 2005 Telugu film Soggadu. She is known for her role in the Kannada film Ganda Hendathi (2006). She played a supporting role in the 2008 Telugu film Bujjigadu starring Prabhas.[4][5] In 2017, she played Chandri in the Kannada crime drama Dandupalya 2.[6]
After appearing in advertisements and as child artist in roles in the films Soggadu and Panduranga Vittala,[9] she got her first starring role in Ganda Hendathi.[citation needed]
Her first release, however, was the Tamil feature film, Oru Kadhal Seiveer. S R Ashok Kumar of The Hindu noted that Galrani, then credited under her birth name, was "very beautiful but has to work on her acting".[10]
Ganda Hendathi, a Kannada remake of the Hindi film Murder (2004), itself an adaptation of the Hollywood film Unfaithful (2002).[11][12] The film was released in Telugu as Mogudu Pellam O Boy Friend. While Sify wrote, "Sanjjanaa has made a decent debut and she is extremely daring and does justice to her role".[11]
In 2008, she made her official Telugu film debut in Puri Jagannadh's Bujjigadu, in which she played the role of Kangana alongside Prabhas and Trisha Krishnan. Although this was a supporting role, it gained her considerable attention and popularity.[citation needed] In 2010, she was seen in the Telugu film Police Police, which was followed by a cameo role in Huduga Hudugi. Her final release of that year was Mylari with Shivrajkumar, in which she played a journalist and was featured in a special song opposite Shivrajkumar. The film's success gained her offers in Kannada cinema. She won the Bangalore Times Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role Female in 2012 for I Am Sorry Mathe Banni Preethsona.[13][14]
In January 2012, she played one of the lead female roles in Casanova, her maiden Malayalam venture. Reportedly the costliest Malayalam production of all time,[7] and co-starring Mohanlal and Shriya Saran, the film saw Galrani portray a salsa dancer.[15] Director Rosshan Andrrews signed her for the particular role, since she was trained in salsa.[7] Her last release is her second Malayalam film, the Shaji Kailas directed The King & the Commissioner, co-starring Mammooty and Suresh Gopi. Later in 2012 she appeared in films including Narasimha, Ondu Kshanadalli, Sagar, all of which being Kannada projects, and Yamaho Yama.
In 2013 she appeared in Jagan Nirdoshi in Telugu which was made under Padmalaya Films and in Mahanadhi in Kannada, which was her first heroine-centric film. She was then seen in Nenem…Chinna Pillana?[16] She is currently filming for a Telugu film, Saradha, directed by RP Patnaik.[17][18]
Controversy
Galrani was arrested by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Karnataka Police on 8 September 2020 in connection with the investigation into the drug racket involving the Kannada film industry. She is the second actor to be arrested by the CCB after Ragini Dwivedi.[19][20] Her bail application was denied several times by the courts, with the CCB claiming that she has admitted to being part of the drug racket.[21][22][23] She was later granted bail after spending 3 months in prison.[24]
Personal life
Galrani converted to Islam and secretly married a Bangalore-based vascular surgeon Azeez Pasha in intimate function.[25] Together, they have a baby boy.[26] She performed her first Umrah at Mecca in 2023.[1][27] But according to her Social media posts she is not a practicing Muslimah. She often follow and perform other religions' rituals and practices primarily Hinduism. In one of her Instagram post she expressed happiness in the Pranpratishtha ceremony of Ayodhya Ram Temple and added in her same post caption “I hope my dream of a beautiful construction of a tempel in Mathura for Krishna bhagwan also comes true in my life time of existence”[28]
