Monisha Unni (24 January 1970 – 5 December 1992) was an Indian actress, known for her works 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 ...

Tamil cinema Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywood' ...

. Monisha was 16 when she became the youngest actress ever to receive the

National Film Award for Best Actress The National Film Award for Best Actress (officially known as the Rajat Kamal Award for the Best Actress) is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India since 1968 to an actress for the best performance in a leading role wit ...

for ''

Nakhakshathangal ''Nakhakshathangal'' () is a 1986 Indian Malayalam-language film directed by Hariharan, written by M. T. Vasudevan Nair and starring Monisha, Vineeth and Saleema. Monisha, won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her role, making her th ...

'' (1986), her debut feature film. Along with Sharada,

Shobhana Shobana Chandrakumar Pillai (born 21 March 1970) is an Indian actress and Bharatanatyam dancer. She acts predominantly in Malayalam films along with Telugu and Tamil films with few Hindi, Kannada and English films. She has won two National Fil ...

Meera Jasmine Jasmine Mary Joseph, known professionally as Meera Jasmine, is an Indian actress who appears primarily in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada language films. Meera Jasmine won the National Film Award for Best Actress in 2004 for her role in ' ...

, Surabhi Lakshmi and

Shobha Mahalakshmi Menon, best known by her stagename Shobha (23 September 1962 – 1 May 1980), was an Indian actress best known for her work in Malayalam and Tamil films. At the age of 17, she won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her rol ...

, Monisha Unni is one of six Malayalam actresses who have won the National Film Award for Best Actress. In her short career, Monisha collaborated with directors such as

M. T. Vasudevan Nair Madath Thekkepaattu Vasudevan Nair (born 1933 July 15 ), popularly known as MT, is an Indian author, screenplay writer and film director. He is a prolific and versatile writer in modern Malayalam literature, and is one of the masters of post-I ...

, Hariharan,

Priyadarshan Priyadarshan (born 30 January 1957) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer who works predominantly in Malayalam and Hindi films, while also having done six films in Tamil and two films in Telugu. He has done about 31 films in Hi ...

Ajayan Ajayan is an Indian surname, and may refer to *Ajayan (director) Ajayan, also known as Thoppil Ajayan, (8 April 1950 – 13 December 2018) was a Malayalam cinema, Malayalam film director who is of note for his only feature film Perumthachan (fi ...

, Kamal and

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 ...

Early life

Monisha Unni was born in

Panniyankara Panniyankara has its origin in the 18th century situated in Calicut district in Kerala, India. The main features are police station, Government Homeo Dispensary, Sathram Bus Stop and Southern Railway. Government Homeo Dispensary was previou ...

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...

in 1971 to Narayanan Unni and

Sreedevi Unni Sreedevi Unni is an Indian Mohiniyattam, Mohiniyattam dancer and actress best known for her work in the Malayalam cinema and TV serials. She is the mother of Monisha Unni. Filmography TV serials Albums * Ammakkayi * Thilodakam TV Show ...

. She completed her schooling at St. Charles High School, Bangalore and

Bishop Cotton Girls School Bishop Cotton Girls' School, or BCGS, is a private all-girls' school for boarders and day scholars in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. The school offers academic scholarships, which aid students from lower income backgrounds to afford tuition and ...

, Bangalore. She completed her graduation in psychology at

Mount Carmel College, Bangalore Mount Carmel College (MCC) is an autonomous college located in Bangalore, India, affiliated to Bengaluru City University. It is one of the first women’s colleges established in 1944 in Trichur as 'Carmel College' under the Madras University a ...

.Weblokam Profile of Monisha
. Weblokam.com. Retrieved on 2012-11-20. She had an elder brother, Sajith Unni.

Death

Monisha Unni was working on the Malayalam film '' Cheppadividya'' when she died in a car accident. On 5 December 1992, a car carrying Monisha and her mother Sreedevi Unni met with an accident near

Cherthala Cherthala, , (formerly Shertalai, Shertallai or Shertallay) is a Municipal town and a Taluk located at National highway 66 in the district of Alappuzha, in the state of Kerala, India. Cherthala is the satellite town and industrial hub of Ala ...

Alappuzha Alappuzha or Alleppey () is the administrative headquarters of Alappuzha district in States and territories of India, state of Kerala, India. The Kerala Backwaters, Backwaters of Alappuzha are one of the most popular tourist attractions in Indi ...

. While her mother escaped with fractures and bruises, Monisha succumbed to her injuries.

Career

Malayalam novelist

, who is also a screenwriter and film director, was a family friend of Monisha. M. T. was responsible for Monisha's entry into films. She made her debut in ''

'' (1986), which was written by M. T. and directed by Hariharan. The film portrayed a love triangle involving three teenagers. Monisha's portrayal of Gowri, the film's female protagonist, won her the

in 1987.

Filmography

References

External links

Monisha at MSI
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Unni, Monisha Indian film actresses People from Kozhikode district Actresses in Malayalam cinema 1971 births 1992 deaths Actresses from Kerala Best Actress National Film Award winners Road incident deaths in India 20th-century Indian actresses Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema Mount Carmel College, Bangalore alumni