Mayoori – South Indian film actress who played spirit in Malayalam thriller – ‘Aakasha Ganga’

Mayoori (1983-2005) was a film actress associated with Malayalam cinema who appeared in a few movies since late 1990s. She also appeared in a very few Tamil and Kannada films in her brief career. Mayoori is best remembered for playing the spirit in 1999 Malayalam horror thriller, ‘Aakasha Ganga’. She played parallel lead in this movie, which earned her recognition. She played noted supporting roles in Prem Pujari, Summer Palace, Chandamama etc before she moved to Tamil cinema. She committed suicide in 2005, and she was only 22 years old then. Tamil movie, Kana Kandein in 2005 was her last release.

Mayoori was born in Kolkata. She got her first break to films through Tamil movie, Kumbakonam Gopalu in 1998. It was followed by her Malayalam debut same year, Summer in Bethlahem, where she played one among the 5 cousins of Jayaram. Her third release, Aakasha Ganga gave her a major breakthrough in the industry, after which she earned several roles in Malayalam cinema. After working in Arayannangalude Veedu in 2000, she completely shifted to Tamil and Kannada films.

She played supporting roles in Tamil films like Whistle, Aai, Manmadhan, 7G Rainbow Colony,  Pudhukottaiyilirundhu Saravanan etc, and a couple of Kannada films. She was found hanging at her residence at Chennai in 2005. She has been taking medicines for stomach pain for the last few days before her death. Later a suicide note was found in the name of her brother that no one else is responsible for her death and she is taking this ultimate step because she lost faith in her life. A sequel of ‘Aakasha Ganga’ was made 20 years after the release of its first part, and footage of the actress has been included in this movie.

Mayoori – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. She is credited as Shalini in Tamil film industry.

2. She acted in around 17 films belonging to three different languages, mostly in supporting roles.

3. Less-known fact is that she has appeared in a couple of TV shows – Kadamattathu Kathanar in Malayalam and Salanam in Tamil.