Shamna Kasim

Shamna Kasim is a well known Indian film actress and model. She is popularly known by her stage name ‘Poorna.' She was born in Kannur to a Muslim-Malayalee couple Kasim and Ramla. She has done her schooling from St. Teresas Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School in Kannur after shifting from Ursuline Senior Secondary School. She shifted her school to concentrate more on her dancing skills.

Since childhood, she started learning different forms of classical dance. The different classical dance forms she knows are Kathak, Bharata natyam, Mohiniyattam. She represented her school in various competitions. In school, she also secured Kalathilakam of Kannur for four years. She completed her Bachelor of Arts from correspondence.

She won third place in a reality show named Super Dancer on Amrita TV. Super Dancer bought Poorna into the limelight. Though dance was her love, she got into acting in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu films. She was seen portraying the role of a ghost in a series of films. In fact, she was labeled as ‘the ghost queen of Telugu films’. She got critical acclaim for her movies Avunu and Avunu 2.

People said that these films belong to Poorna. These hits made filmmakers, cast her in horror films. She even rejected many similar scripts. Her ghost role in a horror film Raju Garu Gadhi in 2015 turned out to be a sleeper hit at the box office. After a four year break from Malayalam films, Poorna made her comeback with the remake of Chattakaari.

She played the character of Julie. She accepted this role, even after a lot of actors rejected it as it was a challenging role. According to Shamna, the role is not at all glamourous or not about exposing or filled with intimate scenes. It is about love and family relationships and emphasizes the character’s emotions.

Another version of this Bio...

Shamna Kasim was born 24th May 1989 into a Muslim family in Kannur, Kerala, India. She did her graduation in English literature. She is a trained classical dancer and gained recognition after taking part in the dance competition Super Dancer aired on Amrita TV. She has performed as a dancer in all types of stage shows.

Personal Life: Shamna Kasim is the youngest member of her family which includes her four elder siblings named Sheriffa, Arifa, Shanavas and Shaina, her father Kassim and mother Ramla Beevi. Currently, she resides in Kochi, Kerala. She did her schooling from Ursuline Senior Secondary School, Kannur and was also a part of St. Teresas, Kannur. She joined St. Teresas so that she could be a better dancer and improve her skills. Not only dance, but she was also involved in other activities like roller skating or dance competitions. She also won a gold medal in National Roller skating championship (2003).

Career: Her debut film was a Malayalam film named as 'Manju Poloru Penkutty' but in a small role only. After that, she appeared in various commercial films like ‘ Seema Tapakai Seema Tapakai is entertaining show hosted by none >> Read More... ’, ‘Avunu’, and ‘Rajadhi Raja’ which were very successful. She is best known for her movies ‘ Mili Click to look into! >> Read More... ’ (2005), ‘Aaru Sundarimaarude Katha’ (2013) and ‘Chattakkari’ (2012). Her role as a ghost in ‘Raju Garu Gadhi’ (2015) became a hit at the box office. It was like a dream came true in one night.

Awards: Shamna won critical acclaim for her roles in Avunu (2012) and the sequel also for Avunu 2 (2014).

Upcoming Projects: Her upcoming projects are Savarakkaththi (Tamil), Sarvamangalam (Telegu), Arjunan Kadhali (Tamil) and Padam Pesum (Tamil) which are currently being shot.