Saranya Ponvannan (born Sheela Christina[1]) is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam and a few Kannada language films.

Saranya made her Tamil debut in Mani Ratnam's production Nayakan, as the female lead opposite Kamal Haasan in 1987.

[5] Her major breakthrough was 2005 Tamil film Thavamai Thavamirundhu after which she established herself as a prominent and leading actress in South India.

She starred in the sequel of 2014 Tamil film Velaiyilla Pattathari, reprising the role of Bhuvana, in a cameo appearance.

[11] In 2018, she was first seen in comedy-family drama Mannar Vagaiyara as Vemal's mother; her comedy timing was well received, however Itly was released and opened to negative reviews.

She took on the role of Vishalavva, mother to Kiccha Sudeepa's character in Kannada movie The Villain directed by Prem in 2018.

Her first Telugu release of the year was Gang Leader where she played the lead role Varalakshmi alongside Nani, Lakshmi, Kartikeya Gummakonda, Priyanka Arul Mohan among others.