In 2017, Ramayana—one of the most ambitious films in Indian cinema—was announced. Ranbir Kapoor and Yash were cast as Lord Ram and Ravana, while speculation swirled around who would play Sita, with names like Alia Bhatt and Deepika Padukone in the mix.
The makers wanted an actress who embodied grace, simplicity, and a controversy-free image. In August 2023, they found their Sita in South star Sai Pallavi.
Sai Pallavi’s look from the film Ramayana: Part-1.
Just a few years ago, Sai Pallavi was a junior artist, appearing in small roles with barely any dialogues. Before entering films, she was a medical student and a contestant on a South Indian dance reality show, where she reached the finals but fell short of winning. Years later, she made history when her song ‘Rowdy Baby’ crossed 1 billion views on YouTube.
In this three-part Success Story, discover the inspiring journey of Sai Pallavi—from a junior artist and medical student to one of India’s most celebrated actresses.
Chapter- 1
Journey from Junior Artist to Dance Reality Show
9 May 1992
Sai Pallavi was born in the family of an Excise Officer in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Her family hails from Kotagiri in Tamil Nadu. Her early education was from Avila Convent School. She was also an excellent badminton player.
Childhood pictures of Sai Pallavi.
Got beaten at home for writing a love letter
During her school days, Sai Pallavi was known for her mischievous nature and popularity among classmates. Her striking looks often attracted attention, and she once revealed that a boy slipped a love letter into her school bag when she was in Class 7. Later that day, her father discovered the letter while checking her bag, leading to a scolding. Sai shared the incident on Netflix’s ‘My Village’.
From Schoolgirl to Junior Artist
Despite having no connections to the film industry, Sai Pallavi developed a passion for dance and acting while growing up. She taught herself dance by watching television shows and got her first taste of cinema with the 2005 film ‘Kasturi Maan.’ Initially hired as a background dancer, she later landed a small role as a child artist.
A few years later, she worked as a junior artist in ‘Dhaam Dhoom’ (2008) with the help of family acquaintances. Still a school student at the time, Sai appeared in the film alongside Kangana Ranaut, who was making her Tamil cinema debut. In one scene, Sai Pallavi can even be spotted standing in the background behind Kangana.
Just a few years ago, Sai Pallavi was a junior artist, appearing in small roles with barely any dialogues. Before entering films, she was a medical student and a contestant on a South Indian dance reality show, where she reached the finals but fell short of winning. Years later, she made history when her song Rowdy Baby crossed 1 billion views on YouTube.
After appearing in a few small film roles, Sai Pallavi shifted her focus to academics but remained active in cultural programs and local dance competitions. In 2008, she participated in the Tamil dance reality show Ungalil Yaar Adutha Prabhu Deva, hoping to reach the finals and earn a chance to meet her idol, Prabhu Deva.
However, she was eliminated just before the finale—on her birthday. Though heartbroken, Sai held back her tears. Sensing her disappointment, her mother comforted her with a lesson she would never forget: “Whatever happens in life, happens for the good.”
Years later, fate came full circle. In 2018, Sai starred in Maari 2, whose chartbuster song Rowdy Baby was choreographed by Prabhu Deva and Jani Master. Remarkably, the song was filmed in the same studio where the reality show had once been shot. Rowdy Baby went on to become a historic success, becoming the first South Indian song to cross 1 billion views on YouTube.
Rowdy Baby is the first South Indian song to receive more than 1 billion views on YouTube.
After being eliminated from the first dance show, Sai participated in Dhee Ultimate Dance Show (D4) in 2009 and was a finalist. In one episode of the show, after being scolded, Sai Pallavi became emotional while standing on stage. So that the camera wouldn’t capture her crying, she turned around and kept crying with her back turned for a long time.
A glimpse of the performance in the dance reality show.
In an interview with Fries and Potato, Sai had said, ‘When a master scolded me, I turned back and started crying. The show’s anchor Ramya was softly telling me that you have to turn around. But I said, no, I don’t want people to see me crying. I didn’t want to look like a sad girl.’
Chapter- 2
Film offers and recognition in South cinema
Despite not winning the show, video clips of her excellent high-energy dance performances often went viral on Facebook. In one episode, Samantha arrived as a guest and praised Sai profusely.
Samantha became a guest on the dance show, praising Sai.
Due to her excellent camera appearance, she got work in some TV ads and the short film ‘Kachi Pizhai’. After the show, Sai Pallavi’s mother decided to send her to Georgia for medical studies. Sai didn’t want to go, but her mother said that her cousins were also studying abroad, they would get good boys for marriage, and if Sai didn’t go, she would fall behind her cousins. Listening to her mother, Sai decided to go to Georgia.
Many films were offered but she rejected every role
South filmmaker Sekhar Kammula offered Sai the film Happy Days after watching a clip of her dance reality show. However, Sai rejected the film for her studies.
A few days later, she was offered the lead role in the film Madras (2014), but Sai rejected this offer too for academics.
Sai Pallavi had said in an interview with Fries and Potato, ‘Before going to Georgia, my sibling gave me a letter. Later when I read it, it said, return with good marks. The reference to marks in the letter was not about exam results, but about a boy. I used to go to college with oil in my hair. Boys wouldn’t even look at me. All the boys would look at the beautiful girls of Georgia. I didn’t get any attention at all.’
Sai had come to India to spend her holidays during the final year of medical studies. At this time, she was receiving film offers through Facebook. One day, a person named Alphonse messaged her with an offer to work in a film. Sai thought someone was joking, so she ignored the message.
A few days later, a call came to Sai’s house. The caller said he was Alphonse. He makes films and wanted to cast Sai in his movie. Sai thought it was a scammer’s call. His mother was standing nearby. As soon as Sai’s mother took the phone from his hand, Sai whispered – ‘Mom, this is a scammer, don’t pay attention to what he says.’ The caller heard his words and told the mother, ‘I am a filmmaker, you can check about me on Google. If you want, I am also ready to send my photo.’
The caller was indeed the well-known South Indian filmmaker Alphonse. After the misunderstanding was cleared, Sai spoke with him. He told that 6 years ago, after watching a clip of Sai’s dance reality show, he had contacted him, but at that time Sai had refused citing his studies.
When Sai showed interest in the offer this time, Alphonse’s team specially came to Coimbatore to audition Sai. The screen test was successful and this is how Sai got his first film ‘Premam’.
This was Sai’s first film, yet she laid down 3 specific conditions.
First condition- I will only shoot the film during my college holidays.
Second condition- I won’t wear revealing clothes, only comfortable clothes that feel natural should be given to me.
Third condition- I won’t wear makeup.
At that time, Sai Pallavi was around 22 years old and had several pimples on her face. Any girl would want to hide these in a film, but Sai decided not to wear makeup. Sai shot the entire film during the holidays and then went to Georgia to take her exams.
The film Premam was released on May 28, 2015. Sai was just 23 years old then.
Sai Pallavi came to India from Georgia to watch the first day first show of the film ‘Premam’. As soon as the film ended in the theater, the entire theater echoed with applause. It received a lot of love from critics and audiences. For this film, newcomer Sai Pallavi received not 1-2 but a total of 6 awards. Her no-makeup work was also much talked about.
Chapter- 3
Success, records and the tag of top actress
After the first film Premam, Sai Pallavi started receiving offers for many films, but her mother said she had to complete her studies. For the next year, Sai stayed in Georgia. There were many other students from the South there who had seen Premam. In such a situation, when Sai would go to college wearing regular clothes, people would question her attire.
After returning to India, in 2016 Sai did the Malayalam film ‘Kali’ with Dulquer Salmaan. This film was also a hit and Sai Pallavi received a nomination for Best Actress.
After achieving stardom in Malayalam films, Sai did the Telugu film ‘Fidaa’ in 2017, which became a blockbuster. Sai Pallavi’s performance in this film has been included in the 100 Greatest Performances of the Decade.
Sai Pallavi also received her first Best Actress award for the Telugu film Fidaa.
Later, she established herself among the top actresses of the South by doing excellent films like ‘Middle Class Abbayi’, ‘Maari 2’, ‘Athiran’, ‘Love Story’.
Sai Pallavi shoots several films back-to-back, for which she often has to work night shifts. To avoid feeling sleepy while working late at night, Sai always keeps a drawing book and crayons with her. She makes drawings during her free time on set to stay awake.
Rejected many films due to kissing scenes or lack of depth
- In the year 2018, Sai Pallavi signed a film with Vijay Deverakonda under debutant director Bharat Kamma. The first poster of this film was released on May 9, 2018, on Vijay’s birthday. However, when Sai found out that she would have to do a kissing scene with Vijay in the film, she rejected the film.
- In 2019, Sai got the film ‘Sarileru Neekevvaru’ with Mahesh Babu. However, due to lack of depth in the character, she left the film. Later, Rashmika joined the film in her place.
- Sai was offered ‘Kannum Kannum Kollaiyadithaal’ (2020) with Dulquer Salmaan, but Sai refused to do it. Similarly, due to having too many films, Sai also rejected Dhanush’s Asuran in 2019. She believed that doing many films prevented her from giving 100% to a film.
- In 2021, she was offered a film with Vijay and Ajith Kumar, but she left the film as she didn’t like the character’s story.
- Sai was being offered the role of Chiranjeevi’s younger sister in the film ‘Bhola Shankar’ (2023), but she declined the offer as the film was a remake. Later, Keerthy Suresh played that role.
Aamir had said – Sai Pallavi is India’s best actress
Sai Pallavi made her Bollywood debut in 2026 with Aamir Khan Production’s film ‘Ek Din’. In the film, Aamir’s son Junaid was cast opposite Sai. At a promotional event for the film, Aamir Khan had said – If I put my hand on my heart today and say, for me Sai is the best actress in this country.
Sai Pallavi plays Sita in Ramayana
Sai Pallavi is playing the role of Mata Sita in the film Ramayana being made under the direction of Nitesh Tiwari. In the film, Ranbir Kapoor is Lord Ram, KGF star Yash is Ravana, and Sunny Deol is in the role of Hanuman. This mythological film is India’s biggest film, which has been made with a budget of 2,000-4,000 crores. This is India’s biggest budget film. The film will be released this year on November 6 on the occasion of Diwali.
See Sai Pallavi’s look from Ramayana-
