She hails from a Malayalam speaking background, and has shot to fame and become one of the most-desired heroines in the South Indian film industry. With a beauty known to her own as well as with a pair of expressive eyes and a pleasing smile she found her way into the hearts of many across the country.

That is the Trisha effect! The actress is celebrating her birthday that falls today, May 4.

Though Trisha Krishnan opened her innings in Tamil cinema appearing as Simran’s friend in ‘Jodi’, it was Priyadarshan who was first to offer her a role as heroine in his film ‘Lesa Lesa.’ But as fate would have it this Priyan offing was delayed and Trisha’s first stint playing the lead was with Ameer’s film ‘Mounam Pesiyadhe’ opposite Suriya. Though the film received luke-warm response from the audience, Trisha’s role did not go unnoticed. The film won Trisha her first Filmfare for female debutant.

Then came ‘Samy’ with Vikram which followed ‘Lesa Lesa.’ Trisha’s role as a Brahmin girl in this blockbuster was a hit with the audience. Offers started flooding Trisha and along came chances in Telugu. She opened her innings in Telugu with ‘Varsham’ which became a blockbuster winning Trisha the Filmfare award for the best actress category in Telugu in 2004.

It was a spate of successful films one after the other for the actress in Tamil and Telugu. She was seen with Vijay in ‘Ghilli,’ opposite Siddharth in Mani Rathnam’s multistarrer ‘Ayudha Ezhuthu.’ With the same hero came ‘Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana’ in Telugu which was a blockbuster hit. ‘Abhiyum Naanum’ in Tamil was a hit and fetched Trisha critical acclaim. The heroine has been steadily giving films in Tamil and Telugu balancing the two regions commendably well.

The year 2010 proved a milestone for Trisha who by then had reached and maintained an unbeatable spot in the Tamil and Telugu industry. First came Gautham Menon’s ‘Vinnaithandi Varuvaya’ which saw Trisha in a seasoned and one of her best roles till date as ‘Jessi.’ She acted opposite Simbu in this film and it has been the duo’s best individual performance so far. In the same year she made her debut in Bollywood doing a Priyan film ‘Khatta Meeta’ opposite Akshay Kumar. She followed it in Tamil starring opposite Kamal Haasan in ‘Manmadhan Ambu,’ which had a decent run at the box-office.

Trisha’s next release in Tamil is ‘Mankatha’ opposite Ajith. The film is already creating a lot of hype much ahead of its release. We hope this year brings the actress more recognition and roles where she can leave her mark in the industry.

We wish the actress a happy and healthy birthday and hope we get to see and enjoy more of her films this year too! You too can wish Trisha on her birthday. Who knows she might just get to read your wish!

Listen to Trisha's B'day Special on Raaga.com