By Hemant SharmaSouth Indian movies are no longer confined within the five states of South India but have become popular all over India and even on the global stage. The bigger Hindi film industry or Bollywood is receiving serious competition from South Indian cinema with the latter churning out more blockbusters in the recent years. South Indian cinema is not complete without its charming and talented actresses. They have impressed the audience with their exceptional performances and gorgeous looks, and standing at par with Bollywood beauties in terms of popularity and fan following. There are many young actresses in the South Indian film industry who have already made a mark in the glamour world and set to dominate the silver screen in the years to come. Let’s have a look at the top 10 youngest South Indian actresses for 2025.
1. Krithi Shetty
Krithi Shetty, born on 21st September 2003, is aged 21 years. She mainly appears in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu movies. Shetty is the sole actress in India to have two debut 100 crore grossing movies. She entered the movie industry at the age of 17, and already has a Filmfare Award South and SIIMA Award in her kitty.
Krithi Shetty played a minor role in the Hindi film Super 30 before debuting in a lead role in the 2021 Tamil romantic drama, Uppena. Uppena grossed over 100 crore at the box office. Her other commercially successful films include Shyam Singha Roy, Bangarraju and Ajaynte Rande Moshanam.
2. Answara Rajan
Answara Rajan, born on 8th September 2002, is aged 22 years. She primarily works in Malayalam cinema and first entered the film industry as a child artist in the year 2017. Rajan has already received a Filmfare Award South and a SIIMA Award in her career of just around 8 years.
Answara Rajan landed her first lead role in the 2019 Malayalam comedy drama, Thanneer Mathan Dinangal. Her breakthrough performance came in the 2022 Malayalam comedy movie, Super Sharanya, in which she played the title role.
3. Gouri G Kishan
Gouri G Kishan, born on 17th August 1999, is aged 25 years. She primarily works in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam movies. She debuted on the silver screen with the 2018 Tamil romantic drama, 96, in which she played the younger version of the lead character, Trisha.
Gouri debuted in a lead role in the 2019 Malayalam movie, Margamkali. In the year 2020, she appeared in the lead role of Jannu in the Telugu remake of 96, named Jannu. Her other movies include Master, Mari Selvaraj and Sridevi Shobhan Babu.
4. Samyuktha Hegde
Samyuktha Hegde, born on 17th July 1998, is aged 26 years. She primarily appears in Kannada and Tamil movies. Hegde won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress-Kannada for her very first movie. She has also participated in reality shows like Bigg Boss Kannada, MTV Roadies and MTV Splitsvilla.
Samyuktha Hegde debuted in the year 2016 with the commercially successful Kannada comedy, Kirik Party, in which she played the parallel female lead. She made her Tamil debut in the year 2019 with the movie, Comali.
5. Ashika Ranganath
Ashika Ranganath, born on 5th August 1996, is aged 28 years. She is mainly a Kannada actress but has also appeared in some Tamil and Telugu films. The actress was placed fourth in Bangalore Times Most Desirable Women for the year 2020. She has a SIIMA Award to her credit.
Ashika Ranganath debuted with the 2016 Kannada movie, Gully Boy. Thereafter, she has starred in a number of commercially successful movies, such as Garuda, Mass Leader, Rambo 2 and more.
6. Rashmika Mandanna
Rashmika Mandanna, born on 5th April 1996, is aged 28 years. She works in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi movies, and has been dubbed as the National Crush by the media. Mandanna has received a Filmfare Award South and four SIIMA Awards. She featured in Forbes India’s list of 30 under 30 in the year 2024.
Rashmika Mandanna made her debut with the 2016 Kannada comedy, Kirik Party. Her breakthrough movie is the 2018 Telugu romantic comedy, Geetha Govindam. Some of her other commercially successful movies are Animal, Pushpa: The Rise and Pushpa 2: The Rule.
7. Anupama Parmeswaran
Anupama Parmeswaran, born on 18th February 1996, is aged 28 years. She mainly appears in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. She made her debut in the year 2015 with the Malayalam romantic drama, Premam, which was successful at the box office. The actress debuted in Tamil cinema with the political action drama, Kodi.
Other successful movies of Anupama Parmeswaran are Thalli, Kurup, Rowdy Boys, Pogathey, Shatamanam Bhavati, Tej I Love You, Karthikeya 2 and more.
8. Nivetha Thomas
Nivetha Thomas, born on 2nd November 1995, is aged 29 years. She primarily works in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu cinema. The actress debuted in the year 2008 as a child artist with the Malayalam movie, Veruthe Oru Bharya , which won her the Kerala State Film Award for Best Child Artist.
Nivetha Thomas debuted in a lead role with the 2016 Telugu movie, Gentleman, which won her the SIIMA Award for Best Female Debut- Telugu. Some of her other commercially successful movies include Jilla, Chaappa Kurishu, Vakeel Saab, Jai Lava Kusa and Ninnu Kori.
9. Keerthy Suresh
Keerthy Suresh, born on 17th October 1992, is aged 32 years. She mainly appears in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil and Hindi movies. She has received several awards, including a National Film Award, two Filmfare Awards South and five SIIMA Awards.
Keerthy Suresh made her debut with the 2013 Malayalam movie, Geethanjaali. Her other notable movies include Rajinimurugan, Nenu Local, Sarkar and Mahanati.
10. Sai Pallavi
Sai Pallavi, born on 9th May 1992, is aged 32 years. She primarily works in Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil cinema. She has numerous awards to her credit, including six Filmfare Awards South and two SIIMA Awards.
Sai Pallavi debuted in the year 2015 with the hit Malayalam movie, Premam. Her other commercially successful movies include Love Story, Gargi, Kali and Amaran.
Conclusion
South Indian cinema has a history of finest actresses who have dazzled the silver screen. The current generation of young actresses are taking the South Indian film industry to even greater heights, both in terms of popularity and revenues.