Abhija Sivakala is an Indian actress in the

Malayalam film industry Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, '' Elippathayam ...

. She is also a notable theatre artist and a dancer.

Early life

Abhija was born in Vannapuram, a small town near

Thodupuzha Thodupuzha (തൊടുപുഴ) is a municipal town located in Idukki district, Kerala, India, that covers an area of . It lies on the banks of Thodupuzha river, which merges with the Kaliyar and Kothamangalam rivers at Muvattupuzha to f ...

, Idukki district,

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

. Her father, KR Sivadas and mother, KK Rugmini were both Government employees. She has a younger sister, Atmaja Manidas, who is also an artist and actress. She completed her schooling from SNMHS, Vannapuram. She joined St Joseph's College, Moolamattam in the science stream only to realize that art was her passion. She then enrolled in

College of Fine Arts Trivandrum The College of Fine Arts Kerala is a fine arts college located in Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram). History The college was founded in 1881 by Moolam Thirunal Sir Rama Varma, the Maharaja for the state of Travancore. The college was first known ...

and graduated in Applied Arts. Abhija started her career as an animator in Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore. She later moved to

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

and worked in various IT companies in the field of animation and visual designing.

Dance

Bangalore opened up a lot of dance avenues for Abhija. She is trained in

Kathak Kathak ( hi, कथक; ur, کتھک) is one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance. It is the classical dance from of Uttar Pradesh. The origin of Kathak is traditionally attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern Ind ...

by Guru Murali Mohan Kalvakalva of

Nadam Naadam (Mongolian Naadam Festival) ( mn, Наадам, classical Mongolian: ''Naɣadum'', , ''literally "games"'') is a traditional festival celebrated in Mongolia, Inner Mongolia and Tuva Republic. The festival is also locally termed "eriin gurva ...

and

Odissi Odissi (), also referred to as Orissi in old literature, is a major ancient Indian classical dance that originated in the temples of Odisha – an eastern coastal state of India.Sharmila Mukherjee of Sanjali Centre for Odissi Dance. She is also trained in folk and contemporary dance forms. She has also attended dance workshops by

Pandit Birju Maharaj Pandit Birju Maharaj (born Brijmohan Nath Mishra; 4 February 1938 – 16 January 2022) was an Indian dancer, composer, singer, child molester and exponent of the Lucknow "Kalka-Bindadin" Gharana of Kathak dance in India. He was a descendant of ...

Saswati Sen Saswati Sen is an Indian dancer and choreographer, and an exponent of Kathak, an Indian classical dance form. She was a senior disciple of Pandit Birju Maharaj, and still teaches and performs at his Kalashram Institute in the Jor Bagh distric ...

; Surupa Sen, Bijayini Satpathy,

Pavithra Reddy ''Pavithra'' is a 1994 Indian Tamil-language drama film written, produced and directed by K. Subash under his home banner, Dhanooja Films. The film stars Raadhika, Nassar, Ajith Kumar and Keerthana. It was released on 2 November 1994, Diwali ...

of Nrityagram; Bhriga Bessel to name a few.

Theatre

A couple of years of professional life made Abhija realize that acting is her calling. Playing the lead role in Abhinaya Theatre Research Centre's Macbeth kick started her career in theatre. And since then, she has worked with many Indian and international directors like Elias Cohen (Chile), David Berga (Catalonia), Francoise Calvel (France), Alexandra (La Patriotico Interesante, a street theatre production group, Chile) etc.

Filmography

References

External links

* * https://www.azhimukham.com/actor-abhija-interview-by-lisha/amp/ * https://www.deccanchronicle.com/entertainment/mollywood/270316/the-midukki-girl.html * https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/actor-abhija-on-her-journey-in-theatre-and-cinema/article24410489.ece * https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/theatre/once-upon-a-fairy-tale/article4077554.ece {{DEFAULTSORT:Sivakala, Abhija Indian film actresses Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Idukki district Actresses in Malayalam cinema