Shamna Kasim

Shamna Kasim, also known by her stage name Poorna is an Indian actress, dancer, and model, who appears in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada films.

Early life
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, Bharatanatyam, Mohiniyattam. She represented her school in various competitions. She completed her Bachelor of Arts from correspondence. She got into media when she was competing at the Super Dancer show Amrita TV. She resides in Kochi, Kerala.

2004–2011: Early struggle
She made her acting debut in the 2004 Malayalam film Manju Poloru Penkutty and went on to play minor supporting roles in a couple of unsuccessful films. She played her first major role in her debut Telugu film Sri Mahalakshmi (2007), while playing the lead female character in her first Tamil film, Muniyandi Vilangial Moonramandu (2008).

Her biggest hit came with Josh (2009), a Kannada movie that completed 100 days in the theatres. She has starred in several Tamil films including Kodaikanal (2008), Kandhakottai (2009), Drohi (2010),  Aadu Puli (2011), Vellore Maavattam (2011) and Vithagan  (2011).

2012–2016: Experimental roles and Television
She is best known for her Malayalam movies Chattakkari (2012), Aaru Sundarimaarude Katha (2013) and Mili (2015).

Kasim appeared in a series of films where she portrayed a ghost, with The Hindu labelling her as "the ghost queen of South films". She essayed the lead role in Avunu (2012) and the sequel Avunu 2 (2015) that were successful at the box office. In this brief period of time, she turned down several similar scripts, before acting as a ghost again in Raju Gari Gadhi (2015), which became a hit at the box office.

She extended her appearance from silver screen to numerous Television projects in Telugu and Malayalam, particularly as a Judge in dance reality shows that bought her closer to the audiences. In 2016, she was cast in Telegu comedy Jayammu Nischayammu Raa.

2017–present
Shamna shaved her head completely bald for her role in the Kodiveeran (2017), but the movie met with average reviews. She was critically acclaimed for her role in Mysskin's Savarakathi (2018). She then starred in multiple commercially successful movies appearing in pivotal and supporting roles like Adanga Maru (2018) and Kaappaan (2019). She also played an important supporting role in the ZEE5 film Lock Up (2020) and was a part of the political biopic Thalaivi (2021).

She has also done a lot of Malayalam like Madhura Raja (2019), Maarconi Mathaai (2019) and Telugu films Akhanda (2021), Drushyam 2 (2021), Dasara (2023) as well. In 2024, she appeared in Tamil horror thriller, Devil.

Personal life
On 12 June 2022, Shamna married businessman Shanid Asif Ali in a close-knot wedding ceremony at Dubai. The couple have a son, Hamdan Asif Ali.

In June 2020, police arrested members of a gang on a complaint lodged by Shamna's mother that they blackmailed her daughter. Police revealed that the gang locked film actresses in hotel rooms and forced them to accompany as escorts for transporting black money.