Mahalakshmi – Malayalam Film and Television Actress of ‘Sivakami’ fame

Mahalakshmi is a film actress who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema and TV serials. She started her career as a child artist in Dileep starrers and later moved to heroine roles. She also worked in Tamil cinema. She is quite successful as a television actress and has appeared in popular shows like Kunjali Marakkar, Swamiye Saranamayyappa, Veera Marthanda Varma, Sivakami, Moonu Pennungal etc before she took hiatus from acting. She has been a part of few reality shows, game shows and music videos too.

Mahalakshmi started her career as a child artist in Thilakkam

Mahalakshmi was born into a family with artistic background. Both her parents are music directors, and her mother serves as music teacher too. Mahalakshmi completed her schooling from Carmel Girls’ Higher Secondary School. She took formal training in Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi while in school. She was drawn towards dance forms after watching her uncle Anil Kumar, and he was her first guru. She learnt Kuchipudi and Mohiniyattam from Anil Kumar and his wife Jisha.

In 2003 she appeared as a child artist in two Dileep starrer films – Thilakkam (2003) and Pattanathil Sundaran (2003). In 2011 she made a special appearance as an Oppana player in yet another Dileep starrer Vellaripravinte Changathi in 2011. In between she appeared in a few TV serials like Kunjali Marakkar, Swamiye Saranamayyappa, Ulladakkam, Ramayanam, Autograph, Sreekrishnan, Veera Marthanda Varma etc.

She completed MA in English literature from Mar Ivanios College, Thiruvananthapuram. She was doing serials then. She also continued her formal learning in dance forms those days and even participated in school and college competitions, winning state level prizes multiple times.

Ardhanaari in 2012 was her first lead role on big screen

After doing supporting roles on television, she got her first lead in Malayalam cinema through Ardhanaari in 2012. She played a transgender in the film, which received negative reviews and it went unnoticed. Sivakami on Surya TV was her first lead role on small screen, followed by Moonu Pennungal, during the period 2015-2017. She got more appreciation on small screen than big screen.

Her roles in Memories and Ezham Suryan got noticed

She played lead role opposite Unni Mukundan in Ezham Suryan (2012). Her role as Vimala Menon in Memories (2013) also got noticed. She marked her Tamil debut through Kathai Thiraikathai Vasanam Iyakkam in 2014. The movie received rave reviews from critics. However it was her single movie in Tamil cinema. In 2015 she played female lead in Suraj Venjaramoodu starrer Female Unnikrishnan, which was her last big screen appearance. After that she fully switched to small screen and played her first lead role through Sivakami in 2015. After working in a couple of TV soaps, she got married to Nirmal Krishna in 2019, and took a break from acting.

Mahalakshmi – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. She was chosen as the Kalathilakam at the Kerala University Youth Festival (Kalolsavam) in 2016, while she was a student at Mar Ivanios College.

2. In 2017 Kerala Kalolsavam held at Kollam, there were controversies when Mahalakshmi got first prize in both Kathaprasangam and Kuchipudi. She was last year student in Mar Ivanios College then.

3. She has performed as a classical dancer on stage in India and abroad. She has gone a foreign trip for a performance with Soorya Krishnamurthy.

4. She was doing Plus-1, while she was casted opposite Unni Mukundan in Ezham Suryan.

5. All the three movies in which she played a child artist role, were Dileep starrers.