Amala was born into a Syro-Malabar Catholic family.She started her acting career in 2009 by playing the role of Beena in the Malayalam film Neelathamara.She has worked in different languages such as Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada.She replaced her on-screen name Amala Paul to Anakha on the suggestion given by director Samy, because another actress, Amala (Amala Akkineni), had already made her name popular.In 2010, she again changed her on-screen name Anakha to real name Amala Paul as she felt that the replacement had brought her bad luck.She rose to fame for the portrayal of a controversial character Sundari in the Tamil erotic thriller Sindhu Samaveli (2010).In 2013, she won several awards for her performance in the Malayalam film Oru Indian Pranayakatha such as Vanitha Film Awards for Most Popular Actress, Asianet Award for Best Actress, SIIMA Award for Best Actress Malayalam, and Amrita Film Awards for Best Actor (Female).On 28 December 2021, she took to social media to announce that she had received the prestigious Golden Visa offered by the UAE; this long-term residence visa is automatically renewed from five to ten years, and it is given to people who have achieved big in their respective fields.