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Elli Avram (born Elisabet Avramidou Granlund; July 29, 1990) is a Swedish Greek actress and is now based in Mumbai, India. She is particularly known for her contribution to the Indian film industry with her debut Bollywood movie Mickey Virus. Elli came to prominence after participating in the Indian reality TV show Bigg Boss.
Elli Avram was born on July 29, 1990 in Stockholm, Sweden. She grew up in Tyresö kommun, Stockholm. Her Greek father, Jannis Avramidis, is a musician who is now settled in Sweden; and her Swede mother, Maria Granlund, is notably a famous Swedish actress and has acted in Ingmar Bergman’s Oscar-winning film Fanny and Alexander. Elli attended Frans Schartau High School in Stockholm, from where she graduated in Society-Economics. She took an interest in figure skating, singing and dancing from her initial years. She received training in acting from her mother and aunt who runs a theater in Skåne County, Sweden. Elli felt a connection to India since her childhood. In an interview with the local Stockholm newspaper Mitt i, she said, "Even when I was five, I was fascinated by Indian dance and the colorful clothes." Since her father is a Greek musician, she found some Greek songs are related to Indian melodies. Elli dreamt of being a Bollywood actress since her adolescence. There was a place in Stockholm that used to sell Hindi movies and she would buy Bollywood films from there. Also she used to watch Hindi films on YouTube.
At 17, Elli became a member of Sundbyberg, Stockholm based Pardesi Dance Group and gave dance performances, primarily on Bollywood songs.
Elli has done some acting projects in Sweden, the most noticeable of them is the December 2008 crime drama romance movie, Förbjuden Frukt, where she played the role of Selen - the lead character's teen girlfriend. The movie is set against the backdrop of violent crime, where she falls in love with a boy with a criminal past.
In 2010, Elli participated in Miss Greece beauty contest. She also appeared on the Swedish TV series Gomorron Sverige.
She has acted in an Iranian music video, Hala chi shod, by Emad featuring SB Shaggy.
In September 2012, Elli moved to Mumbai on a tourist visa to pursue an acting career in Bollywood. About the decision of acting in Hindi movies, she expressed in an interview with N Magazine, "(When) I was 14..., I had a TV in my room and watched Devdas, (starring Shahrukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai) which is almost four hours long. I didn't move the entire time. I thought, 'Wow, I want to dance and sing like that. I have to do Bollywood movies.'" She signed up with a modeling agency and soon got a work visa. The agency helped her getting auditions. The first considerable project she managed to get was a TV commercial for Eveready Industries India with the leading Indian actor Akshay Kumar. Elli has also acted in a TV commercial for Ricchezza Silver Jewellery, produced by TryAngles studio.
She eventually got her first major breakthrough by bagging a lead role in Saurabh Varma's comedy thriller film Mickey Virus. Elli recollected, "The photographer who took pictures of me knew a director who was looking for a girl for a lead role. I called him and had come to audition for his movie." Getting a role in a Bollywood film was particularly difficult for her as she didn't speak any Hindi. She disclosed, "Before I auditioned for Mickey Virus, I asked director to send me the script so I could memorize the words, because I didn't know Hindi yet. I was sent four pages of dialogue and there was no one who could tell me how to pronounce certain words. At the audition they liked my acting but the accent wasn't right." She was shortlisted along-with 200 other hopefuls and managed to beat others. Elli have noticed that there is a perception in India that acting is in the blood. If the parents are actors, children are bound to become actors too. Elli revlealed in an interview, "When I told the director that mom worked with Ingmar Bergman, he gave a strong reaction: 'What!? Has she worked with Bergman?' They were incredibly impressed." For her Bollywood launch, Elli has taken formal training in dance form and Hindi pronunciation. In this film she plays the role of Kamayani George, the love interest of the character Mickey Virus, played Manish Paul, who is a popular TV host and is making his debut in film industry. The film, shot in Delhi, released on October 25th, 2013.
The first Swedish actress to act in Bollywood, Elli has been noted for looks very similar to the actress Katrina Kaif.
In October 2013, colleges in Chandigarh reportedly banned the students from possessing or displaying posters of Elli in the campus and dormitories as the college authorities considered her images inappropriate.
Elli Avram was born on July 29, 1990 in Stockholm, Sweden. She grew up in Tyresö kommun, Stockholm. Her Greek father, Jannis Avramidis, is a musician who is now settled in Sweden; and her Swede mother, Maria Granlund, is notably a famous Swedish actress and has acted in Ingmar Bergman’s Oscar-winning film Fanny and Alexander. Elli attended Frans Schartau High School in Stockholm, from where she graduated in Society-Economics. She took an interest in figure skating, singing and dancing from her initial years. She received training in acting from her mother and aunt who runs a theater in Skåne County, Sweden. Elli felt a connection to India since her childhood. In an interview with the local Stockholm newspaper Mitt i, she said, "Even when I was five, I was fascinated by Indian dance and the colorful clothes." Since her father is a Greek musician, she found some Greek songs are related to Indian melodies. Elli dreamt of being a Bollywood actress since her adolescence. There was a place in Stockholm that used to sell Hindi movies and she would buy Bollywood films from there. Also she used to watch Hindi films on YouTube.
At 17, Elli became a member of Sundbyberg, Stockholm based Pardesi Dance Group and gave dance performances, primarily on Bollywood songs.
Elli has done some acting projects in Sweden, the most noticeable of them is the December 2008 crime drama romance movie, Förbjuden Frukt, where she played the role of Selen - the lead character's teen girlfriend. The movie is set against the backdrop of violent crime, where she falls in love with a boy with a criminal past.
In 2010, Elli participated in Miss Greece beauty contest. She also appeared on the Swedish TV series Gomorron Sverige.
She has acted in an Iranian music video, Hala chi shod, by Emad featuring SB Shaggy.
In September 2012, Elli moved to Mumbai on a tourist visa to pursue an acting career in Bollywood. About the decision of acting in Hindi movies, she expressed in an interview with N Magazine, "(When) I was 14..., I had a TV in my room and watched Devdas, (starring Shahrukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai) which is almost four hours long. I didn't move the entire time. I thought, 'Wow, I want to dance and sing like that. I have to do Bollywood movies.'" She signed up with a modeling agency and soon got a work visa. The agency helped her getting auditions. The first considerable project she managed to get was a TV commercial for Eveready Industries India with the leading Indian actor Akshay Kumar. Elli has also acted in a TV commercial for Ricchezza Silver Jewellery, produced by TryAngles studio.
She eventually got her first major breakthrough by bagging a lead role in Saurabh Varma's comedy thriller film Mickey Virus. Elli recollected, "The photographer who took pictures of me knew a director who was looking for a girl for a lead role. I called him and had come to audition for his movie." Getting a role in a Bollywood film was particularly difficult for her as she didn't speak any Hindi. She disclosed, "Before I auditioned for Mickey Virus, I asked director to send me the script so I could memorize the words, because I didn't know Hindi yet. I was sent four pages of dialogue and there was no one who could tell me how to pronounce certain words. At the audition they liked my acting but the accent wasn't right." She was shortlisted along-with 200 other hopefuls and managed to beat others. Elli have noticed that there is a perception in India that acting is in the blood. If the parents are actors, children are bound to become actors too. Elli revlealed in an interview, "When I told the director that mom worked with Ingmar Bergman, he gave a strong reaction: 'What!? Has she worked with Bergman?' They were incredibly impressed." For her Bollywood launch, Elli has taken formal training in dance form and Hindi pronunciation. In this film she plays the role of Kamayani George, the love interest of the character Mickey Virus, played Manish Paul, who is a popular TV host and is making his debut in film industry. The film, shot in Delhi, released on October 25th, 2013.
The first Swedish actress to act in Bollywood, Elli has been noted for looks very similar to the actress Katrina Kaif.
In October 2013, colleges in Chandigarh reportedly banned the students from possessing or displaying posters of Elli in the campus and dormitories as the college authorities considered her images inappropriate.