Girly Anto, credited by her screen name Gopika (born 1 February 1984) is an Indian actress, who has predominantly starred in

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 ...

films.Starting her career as a model, she ventured into acting with the Malayalam film, ''

Pranayamanithooval ''Pranyamanithooval'' ( ml, പ്രണയമണിത്തൂവൽ) is a 2002 Malayalam film directed by Thulasidas starring Vineeth Kumar, Jayasurya and Gopika (in her debut). This movie is a remake of 1999 Tamil movie ''Nee Varuvai Ena''. ...

'' , directed by

Thulasidas Thulasidas is an Indian film and serial director who works in the South Indian film industry, predominantly in Malayalam cinema Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kera ...

, opposite Jayasurya and Vineeth Kumar in 2002. She also acted in the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

and

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

film industries as well.

Early life

Gopika was born Girly Anto into a Syro Malabar Catholic family, to Anto Francis and Tessy Anto of

Ollur Ollur is a major suburban area and an old commercial town in the city of Thrissur of Kerala state, South India. It is about away from Swaraj Round on old National Highway 47 (India) towards Kochi. From ancient time onwards, Ollur was a major b ...

Thrissur, Kerala Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and t ...

. She has a younger sister, Glini. After completing her education to the 12th Standard (Year 12) at

St. Raphael's Convent Girls High School, Ollur St. Raphael's Convent Girls High School is a Kerala Government aided Christian school run by Carmelites, located in Ollur, Thrissur. The school was started in 1942 with 13 classes and now have classes till secondary level. Famous alumnae * Gopi ...

, she studied for a degree in

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

Calicut University The University of Calicut, also known as Calicut University, is a state-run public university headquartered at Tenhipalam in Malappuram district of the state of Kerala, India. Established in 1968, it is the first university to be set up in nor ...

. She also learnt classical dance from an acclaimed teacher, Kamalher, and she was crowned 'Miss College' during her farewell ceremony at the college. The beauty contest 'Miss

Thrissur Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and t ...

' was a turning point in her life. Though she did not win the title, she stood as the runner-up in the contest, which gained her a few

modeling A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

assignments. She claims that she never wanted to be an actress, and her ambition was actually to be an air-hostess.

Career

Her first film was ''

'', in which she starred with

Jayasurya Jayasurya (born August 1978) is an Indian actor, distributor, Sponsor, Model, film producer, playback singer, and impressionist, who works in the Malayalam films. He has appeared in more than 100 films and has won several awards, including a N ...

and

Vineeth Vineeth Radhakrishnan (born 23 August 1969) is an Indian actor, classical dancer, voice artist and choreographer who primarily works in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu language films. He has also starred in a few Kannada and Bollywood films. He h ...

under the direction of Thulasi Das, did not do well, but it got her recognition in the industry. Her second film, ''

4 the People ''4 the People'' is a 2004 Indian Malayalam-language vigilante thriller film directed by Jayaraj and written by Iqbal Kuttippuram from a story by Jayaraj. It stars Arun Cherukavil, Bharath, Arjun Bose, and Padma Kumar in the title roles, along ...

'', was a blockbuster and was dubbed in many Indian languages. It was directed by

Jayaraj Jayarajan Rajasekharan Nair, professionally credited as Jayaraj, is an Indian filmmaker, who predominantly works in Malayalam film industry. He has won many awards, including Crystal Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Golden ...

, and she acted opposite Tamil actor Bharath. The song "Lejjavathiye Ninde Kalla Kadaikkannil" from the film was a big hit in Kerala. Renowned Tamil movie director Cheran signed her up for his film ''

Autograph An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word ''autograph'' comes from Ancient Greek (, ''autós'', "self" and , ''gráphō'', "write"), and can mean more specifically: Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. ''Webster's Third New Inter ...

'', which was another big hit in 2004. She also acted in ''

Kana Kandaen ''Kana Kandaen'' () is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language thriller film directed by K. V. Anand in his directorial debut, and produced by P. L. Thenappan. The film stars Srikanth, Prithviraj, Gopika, and Vivek. The music was composed by Vidyasagar ...

'' (2005). Among her other work, she has acted in

film ''Kanasina Loka'' and the

remake of '' Azhagi'', '' Leta Manasulu'', which crashed at the box office. She starred in the Malayalam movie ''

Keerthi Chakra The Kirti Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the field of battle. It may be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel, including posthumous awards. It is the ''p ...

'' opposite

Jiiva Amar Choudary (born 4 January 1984), known professionally as Jiiva, is an Indian actor and film producer who works mainly in Tamil cinema and a few Hindi films. He is the youngest son of film producer R. B. Choudary. He began his career as a ch ...

. Directed by

Major Ravi Major A. K. Raveendran SM (born 13 June 1958) is a retired officer of the Indian Army and former National Security Guard commando. He was awarded the President's gallantry medal in 1991 and 1992 for his contributions in fighting terrorism in P ...

, the movie tells the story of a soldier against the backdrop of the

Kargil war The Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC). In India, the conflict is also referr ...

. Apart from ''

'', she did another movie with

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 ...

: ''

Pachakuthira ''Pachakuthira'' () is a 2006 Indian Malayalam-language comedy drama film directed by Kamal and written by T. A. Shahid from a story by Dileep, starring Dileep in dual role and Gopika and Salim Kumar in supporting role. The film was considere ...

''. Her previous film with Dileep, ''

Chanthupottu ''Chanthupottu'' is a 2005 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy-drama film directed by Lal Jose, written by Benny P. Nayarambalam, and produced by Lal. The film was based on a play of the same name, which in turn, was based on the life o ...

'', was a big hit. ''

Veruthe Oru Bharya ''Veruthe Oru Bharya'' () is a 2008 Indian Malayalam-language drama film written by K. Gireesh Kumar and directed by Akku Akbar. The film stars Jayaram, Gopika and Nivetha Thomas in the lead roles. The film was a commercial success at the box o ...

'' was a phenomenal hit, and it gained her the Asianet Best Actress award of 2008. Sreeja has been providing her voice since the first movie.

Devi Devī (; Sanskrit: देवी) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism. The conce ...

has voiced in the last three films and Vimmy Mariam George in

Smart City A smart city is a technologically modern urban area that uses different types of electronic methods and sensors to collect specific data. Information gained from that data is used to manage assets, resources and services efficiently; in return ...

Personal life

On 17 July 2008, Gopika married Ajilesh Chacko, a

doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

working in Northern Ireland. They have a daughter and a son. The family then moved to Brisbane, Australia and has settled there.

Awards

* 2004 – Asianet Best Supporting Actress Award – ''

Vesham ''Vesham'' is a 2004 Malayalam-language film directed by V. M. Vinu, produced by Swargachithra Appachan in which Mammootty in lead role. Innocent and Gopika played other important roles. Plot The movie narrates the story of Appu (Mammootty), a ...

'' * 2006 – Asianet Best Star Pair Award – ''

'' (shared with

) * 2009 – Asianet Best Actress Award – ''

'' * 2008 – Vanitha Film Awards for Best Actress – ''

'' * 2008 - Nominated - Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Malayalam – ''

'' * 2009 - Nominated - Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Malayalam – ''

Swantham Lekhakan ''Swantham Lekhakan'', also known as ''Swa. Le.'', is a 2009 Malayalam film directed and co-produced by debuting filmmaker P. Sukumar and scripted by Kalavoor Ravikumar. Dileep and Gopika play the lead roles while Nedumudi Venu, Innocent and S ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{authority control 1984 births Living people Indian film actresses Actresses from Thrissur 21st-century Indian actresses St. Raphael's Convent Girls High School alumni Actresses in Malayalam cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Kannada cinema Indian emigrants to Australia