Mallika Sukumaran

Mohamallika Pillai (born 4 November 1954), better known as Mallika Sukumaran is an Indian actress and businesswoman, known for her works in Malayalam cinema. She debuted in 1974 with the Malayalam film Utharayanam by G. Aravindan. Since then, she has appeared in over 60 films. She won the Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actress for her role in the 1974 film Swapnadanam. Mallika's first appearance in television was in a tele-serial by K. K. Rajeev called Peythozhiyathe. She won the Second Best Actress Award in the Kaveri Film Critics Television Awards (2004) for her role in the serial American Dreams. She is well known for her comedic roles as well as her character roles. She made her debut in Tamil cinema with the 2008 film Vaazhthugal. Mallika has also acted in some advertisements and participated in some talk shows and game shows. She runs a restaurant in Doha. Now she is acting in a Malayalam serial Surabhiyum Suhasiniyum. Early life and family She was born as Mohamallika Pillai to Kainikkara Madhavan Pillai and Shobha as youngest among four children. Her father was a Gandhian and political activist, and was the younger brother of Kainikkara Padmanabha Pillai and Kainikkara Kumara Pillai. She has an elder brother, M. Velayudhan Pillai and two elder sisters, Premachandrika and Ragalathika. She had her primary education from Government Higher Secondary School for Girls, Cotton Hill. She pursued a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Government College for Women, Thiruvananthapuram. Film career Mallika made her acting debut in 1974 with the Malayalam film Utharayanam directed by G. Aravindan and written by Thikkodiyan. She played the role of Radha. In the same year, she won the Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actress for her role of Rosy Cherian in Swapnadanam. Later on, she was known for her antagonistic and comedic roles. In 1975, she acted in the film Boy Friend and later in Pichathikutappan (1979), directed by P. Venu. When she married the Malayalam actor Sukumaran, she left her acting career. She sang the song "Ormayundo" in P. P. Govindan's 1977 film Saritha, along with P. Jayachandran.