Ivana (actress)

Aleena Shaji, known by her stage name Ivana, is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Tamil cinema, in addition to few Malayalam and Telugu films. Starting her career as a child artist in several Malayalam films, she made her lead debut role in Naachiyaar (2018) and get well known for her role as Nikitha in Love Today (2022) among audiences.

Career
Aleena began her career as a child actress in the Malayalam film industry through supporting role in Masters (2012), before working on Rani Padmini (2015), three years later. Aleena then portrayed a pivotal role in Anuraga Karikkin Vellam (2016) as the daughter of the lead character. Director Bala had spotted a news article about Anuraga Karikkun Vellam online and subsequently chose to cast Aleena in his Tamil film, Naachiyaar (2018), which also had Jyothika and G. V. Prakash Kumar in pivotal roles. Bala requested that she should use a stage name which would be easier to pronounce for Tamil audiences, and with the assistance of her cousin, she finalised the name Ivana. In order to prepare for her role, she undertook Tamil classes, while her co-actors assisted and gave her tips when filming certain scenes. Portraying Arasi, a young, innocent girl, Ivana received praise for her performance. Sify.com noted "with and a pretty fresh face and large expressive eyes, Ivana makes a wholly believable Arasi". Likewise, critics from The Indian Express noted that Ivana makes "an impressive debut", while India Today's reviewer stated that Ivana gives a "splendid performance" and her "expressions are pleasing and pretty convincing".