Divyaa Unni is an Indian actress and classical dancer who teaches various forms of dance such as
Bharathanatyam
Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of ...
,
Kuchipudi
Kuchipudi () ( Telugu: ) is one of the eight major Indian classical dances. It originates from a village named Kuchipudi in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
Kuchipudi is a dance-drama performance, with its roots in the ancient Hindu Sa ...
and
Mohiniyattom
Mohiniyattam, ( ml, മോഹിനിയാട്ടം), is an Indian classical dance form that developed and remained popular in the state of Kerala. Kathakali is another classical dance form of Kerala. Mohiniyattam dance gets its name fro ...
.
Early life
Divyaa Unni was born to Ponnethmadhatil Unnikrishnan and Kizhkemadhatil Uma Devi at Kochi, Kerala, India. Her mother Uma Devi, is a
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
teacher and is the Head of Sanskrit Department; at
Bhavans Vidya Mandir, Girinagar & was awarded the
National Award for Teachers (India)
'National Award to Teachers'' is the National award to the Teachers, being awarded by the President of India on 5 September (Teacher's Day) every year to give public recognition to meritorious teachers working in primary, middle and secondary schoo ...
,
in the year 2013 by the President of India Shri
Pranab Mukherjee
Dr. Pranab Mukherjee (11 December 193531 August 2020) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 13th president of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee was a senior leader in the India ...
. She has a sister,
Vidhya Unni
Vidhya Unni (born 30 June 1990) is an Indian actress, television presenter and dancer who works prominently in Mollywood film industry
The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions ...
, who has worked as a lead in couple of
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...
movies. Divyaa completed her schooling in
Bhavan's Vidya Mandir, Girinagar
Bhavan's Vidya Mandir, Girinagar (B.V.M. (G)) is a Senior Secondary School (Std. I–XII) affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), New Delhi. It is a part of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, a group of educational institutions a ...
.
She graduated with a bachelor's degree in Communicative English from
St. Teresa's College
St. Teresa's College is an autonomous women's college located at Kochi, Kerala, India, formed under the patronage of the Archdiocese of Verapoly.
History
The college was established on 15 June 1925, as the first Women's College of the erstwh ...
,
Ernakulam
Ernakulam () is the Central Business District of the city of Kochi in Kerala, India and has lent its name to the Ernakulam district. Many major establishments, including the Kerala High Court, the office of the Kochi Municipal Corporation a ...
. Divyaa is related (cousin) to Malayalam actress
Meera Nandan
Meera Nandan is an Indian actress who appears mainly in Malayalam films. She also appeared in a few Tamil and Telugu films.
Early life
Meera Nandan was born as Meera Nandakumar on 26 November 1990 as the daughter of Nandakumar and Maya at P ...
and
Remya Nambeesan
Remya Nambeesan (born 24 March 1986) is an Indian actress, playback singer and dancer, who primarily works in Malayalam cinema. She started her career as an actress through the 2000 film ''Sayahnam''. She has acted in more than 65 films includin ...
.
The actress has two children in her first marriage.
Film career
Divyaa has acted as a lead in over 50 films in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.
As a child, Divyaa got her first break in the film ''
Neeyethra Dhanya
''Neeyethra Dhanya'' is a 1987 Indian Malayalam-language film, directed by Jeassy. The film stars Karthika, Murali, Menaka and Mukesh in the lead roles. The film has musical score by G. Devarajan. The film is based on a novel ''Oru Njayarazh ...
'' (1987) when she was a student in second grade. It was followed by ''
Pookkalam Varavayi
''Pookkalam Varavayi'' () is a 1991 Indian Malayalam-language comedy-drama film directed by Kamal and written by Ranjith from a story by P. R. Nathan. It stars Jayaram, Sunitha, Shamili, Murali, and Geetha. Divya Unni and Kavya Madhavan made ...
'' (1991) directed by
Kamal and ''
O' Faby
''O' Faby'' is a 1993 Indian Malayalam-language film. It was Asia's first full-length live action/animation hybrid feature film. It is directed by Sreekumar Krishnan Nair and stars Nagesh, Thilakan, Roque Tharakan, Manoj K. Jayan and Srivid ...
'' (1993). She also did a TV serial ''Iniyonnu Vishramikkatte'' directed by
Vinayan
T. G. Vinayakumar (born 16 May 1957), professionally credited as Vinayan, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, and lyricist, who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema and occasionally in Tamil cinema.
Early life
Vinayan is from ...
.
Divyaa's first feature film as a lead actress was ''
Kalyana Sowgandhikam'' (1996) with actors like
Dileep
Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan Pillai, better known by his stage name Dileep, is an Indian actor, producer, and businessman who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry. He has acted in more than 150 films and has won several awards, inc ...
and
Kalabhavan Mani
Kunnisseri Veettil Raman Mani (1 January 1971 – 6 March 2016), better known by his stage name Kalabhavan Mani, was an Indian actor and singer. Mani started his career as a mimicry artist with the Kalabhavan comedy troupe. He had starred in ov ...
in the lead roles - one she did when she was fourteen; studying in the tenth grade. Subsequently, she worked with the actors
Mammootty
Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (; born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. He has also appeared in Tamil l ...
,
Mohanlal
Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeare ...
,
Suresh Gopi
Suresh Gopi (born 26 June 1958) is an Indian actor, politician, playback singer and television presenter. He works predominantly in Malayalam cinema and has also appeared in some Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bollywood films. Suresh made his acti ...
,
Jayaram
Jayaram Subramaniam, (born 10 December 1965) known mononymously as Jayaram, is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Malayalam,Tamil films, along with a few Telugu films. He is also a chenda percussionist, mimicry artist, and occasiona ...
and
Dileep
Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan Pillai, better known by his stage name Dileep, is an Indian actor, producer, and businessman who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry. He has acted in more than 150 films and has won several awards, inc ...
and directors
Bharathan
Bharathan (14 November 1946 – 30 July 1998) was an Indian film maker, artist, and art director. Bharathan is noted for being the founder of a new school of film making in Malayalam cinema, along with Padmarajan and K. G. George, in th ...
;
I V Sasi
Irruppam Veedu Sasidaran (28 March 1947 – 24 October 2017), better known as I. V. Sasi, was an Indian film director who made over 110 films predominantly in Malayalam, in addition to Tamil and Hindi languages. In 2015, he was awarded the J. C. ...
;
Sibi Malayil
Sibi ( Sindhi: سيوي ur, ) is a city situated in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. The city is the headquarters of the district and tehsil of the same name.
Etymology
The origin of the town's name is attributed to Rani Sewi, a Hindu la ...
and
Lohithadas
Ambazhathil Karunakaran Lohithadas (10 May 1955 – 28 June 2009) was an Indian screenwriter, playwright, film maker, and producer who worked in the Malayalam film industry. In a career spanning over two decades, his films have won a National ...
.
Dance career
Divyaa started her
Bharatanatyam
Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of S ...
dance training at the age of three, thereafter she was trained in
Kuchipudi
Kuchipudi () ( Telugu: ) is one of the eight major Indian classical dances. It originates from a village named Kuchipudi in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
Kuchipudi is a dance-drama performance, with its roots in the ancient Hindu Sa ...
, and
Mohiniyattam
Mohiniyattam, ( ml, മോഹിനിയാട്ടം), is an Indian classical dance form that developed and remained popular in the state of Kerala. Kathakali is another classical dance form of Kerala. Mohiniyattam dance gets its name fr ...
. Subsequently, Divyaa Unni was crowned, in 1990 and 1991,
''Kalathilakom'' in
Kerala School Kalolsavam
Kerala School Kalolsavam is an annual event conducted by the Government of Kerala, featuring several art competitions for high school and higher secondary school students of Kerala. The festival was started in 1956, and till 2022, it was call ...
statewide competitions. On India's premier Television Channel
Doordarshan
Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest bro ...
, she has presented a variety of Indian dance art-forms to such as
Bharatanatyam
Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of S ...
,
Kuchipudi
Kuchipudi () ( Telugu: ) is one of the eight major Indian classical dances. It originates from a village named Kuchipudi in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
Kuchipudi is a dance-drama performance, with its roots in the ancient Hindu Sa ...
,
Mohiniyattam
Mohiniyattam, ( ml, മോഹിനിയാട്ടം), is an Indian classical dance form that developed and remained popular in the state of Kerala. Kathakali is another classical dance form of Kerala. Mohiniyattam dance gets its name fr ...
, and
Indian folk dance
Indian folk dances, which typically consist of a few simple steps, are performed throughout the world to celebrate a new season, childbirth, weddings, festivals, and other social occasions. In some Indian folk dances, men and women perform separ ...
. She continues to perform at various Indian dance festivals in India
and international stages throughout North America, Europe and Persian Gulf countries.
She has received many awards including the Aravindaksha Memorial Award – the ''Abhinaya Tilaka Puraskaram'' for the best state dance performance.
In the pursuit of promoting Indian culture in the West, Divyaa is developing the artistic talents of young children in the United States, where she currently resides. With this goal, she is currently the Director of ''Sreepadam School of Arts'' in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, United States.
Filmography
Television
; Serials
*
Neeyum Njanum
''Neeyum Njanum'' () is a 2019 Indian Malayalam-language romance film written and directed by A. K. Sajan. It stars Sharaf U Dheen, Anu Sithara and Siju Wilson. The film was produced by Siyad Koker under the banner of Kokers Films, in associat ...
(Zee Keralam)
* Iniyonnu Vishramikkate (DD Malayalam)
* Shankupushpam (Asianet)
* Kunjikkoonan (DD Malayalam)
* Manassu (DD Malayalam)
; Telefilm
* Pranayam (Surya TV)
;TV shows as Host
* American Jalakam (Asianet)
* America Today (Kairali TV)
* Pravaham
* Poomottukal (DD Malayalam)
;TV shows as Judge
*Comedy Stars Season 3 (Asianet)
*Top singer season 2 (Flowers TV)
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unni, Divya
Living people
20th-century American dancers
20th-century Indian actresses
20th-century Indian dancers
20th-century Indian educators
20th-century Indian women artists
20th-century women educators
21st-century Indian actresses
Actresses from Kochi
Actresses in Kannada cinema
Actresses in Malayalam cinema
Actresses in Malayalam television
Actresses in Tamil cinema
Actresses in Telugu cinema
Bharatanatyam exponents
Child actresses in Malayalam cinema
Dancers from Kerala
Educators from Kerala
Indian dance teachers
Indian film actresses
Indian television actresses
Kuchipudi exponents
Teachers of Indian classical dance
Women artists from Kerala
Women educators from Kerala
St. Teresa's College alumni
1981 births