Monal (actress)

Monal Naval (26 January 1981 – 30 April 2002) was an Indian film actress who appeared in Tamil language films. She was the younger sister of actress Simran and appeared in notable productions including Badri alongside Vijay. She committed suicide in 2002.

Early life

Monal was born to Ashok Naval and Saradha. She did her schooling in Delhi and college in Bombay and studied for the Bachelor of Commerce degree in Mithibai College. She had two sisters, Simran and Jyothi.

Career

She did some modelling, fashion shows and beauty contests and subsequently received film offers. Monal's sister Simran was a leading actress in Indian films during the period, while another sister Jyoti made her debut in 2003.^[1] She made her debut in 2001 and was reported by the media for throwing tantrums on the sets of her first film.^[2] She was signed to make her debut in Badri alongside Vijay but Paarvai Ondre Podhume with Kunal released first.^[3]

She appeared in a few more films, with most turning out to be moderate successes at the box office. At the time of the death she was working on Dadagiri, a Telugu film which featured her opposite Suman and the film remained uncompleted.^[4] On the day of her death, she had attended the launch of her new film Paiye Janmam, literally translating into "Ghost Life".^[5]

Death

She committed suicide by hanging on 30 April 2002 aged just 21 in her room in Chennai.^[6][7] Her sister Simran in May 2002 accused choreographer, Prasanna Sujit, as a possible reason for her suicide claiming that Prasanna had broke off his relationship with her just days earlier.^[8][9]

Filmography

References