Anuya Y Bhagwat

Anuya Y Bhagwat debuted in the Hindi children's film Mahek, directed by Kranti Kanade.^[1][2] The film premiered at the London Film Festival and was critically acclaimed, gaining nominations in various categories including Best Picture at the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival.^[3] Anuya"s breakthrough came in her next film, Siva Manasula Sakthi (2009), a romantic comedy film directed by Rajesh, which featured her in a title role alongside Jiiva. Before the film's release, she narrowly escaped from a terror attack while she was staying at a hotel in Mumbai.^[4]

Anuya next worked on a film titled Madurai Sambavam (2009) directed by Youreka, which was made on a small budget and set against the backdrop of Madurai. A reviewer from Sify wrote, "Anuya, in a deglamorised role as the fiendish cop who falls for the rowdy is fantastic. She brings so much emotion and reality to her performance and is an actress of substance".^[5] This helped her fetch a role in the film Nagaram opposite Sundar C, and further smaller roles in Vijay Antony's Naan (2012) and a promotional song in Nanjupuram (2011).^[6] After making a cameo appearance in S. Shankar's Nanban, she said that she will not be doing any such roles in future.^[6] Anuya then briefly worked in Bengali films and made a debut in a film titled Gora, based on a novel of the same name by Rabindranath Tagore.^[7] She later featured in the Doordarshan TV series, Ek Tha Rusty (2014), playing Maharani.^[8]

Later in 2017, Anuya participated in the first season of Bigg Boss Tamil, but was the first contestant to be evicted. She later claimed that her inability to speak Tamil fluently meant that other contestants were less accepting of her presence in the show.^[9][10]