Divyaa Unni

Divyaa Unni
Divyaa Unni
	Unni in a Bharathanatyam pose - 2010
Born	Kochi, Kerala, India
Nationality	India
Occupation(s)	Actress, Indian classical dance performer and teacher
Years active	1987-present
Height	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Spouse	Arun Kumar (m. 2018);

Divyaa Unni is an Indian classical dancer who teaches various forms of dance such as Bharathanatyam, Kuchipudi and Mohiniyattom. She is also an actress who has appeared in over 50 films predominantly in Malayalam.

Early Life

Divyaa Unni was born to Ponnethmadhatil Unnikrishnan and Kizhkemadhatil Uma Devi at Kochi, Kerala, India. Her mother Uma Devi, is a Sanskrit teacher and is the Head of Sanskrit Department; at Bhavans Vidya Mandir, Girinagar & was awarded the National Award for Teachers (India),^[1]^[2] in the year 2013 by the President of India Shri Pranab Mukherjee. She has a sister, Vidhya Unni, who has worked as a lead in couple of Malayalam movies. Divyaa completed her schooling in Bhavan's Vidya Mandir, Girinagar.

She graduated with a bachelor's degree in Communicative English from St. Teresa's College, Ernakulam. Divyaa is related (cousin) to Malayalam actress Meera Nandan and Remya Nambeesan.

Film career

Divyaa has acted as a lead in over 50 films in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada and has appeared in films like Pranayavarnangal and Bharathan's last movie Churam.

As a child, Divyaa got her first break in the film Nee Ethra Dhanya when she was a student in second grade. It was followed by Pookalam Varavayi directed by Kamal and Oh Faby by Srikuttan. She also did a TV serial Iniyonnu Vishramikkatte directed by Vinayan.

Divyaa's first feature film as a lead actress was Kalyana Sowgandhigam with actors like Dileep and Kalabhavan Mani in the lead roles - one she did when she was fourteen; studying in the tenth grade. Subsequently, she worked with the actors Mohanlal, Mammootty, Suresh Gopi and Jayaram and directors Bharathan; I V Sasi; Sibi Malayil and Lohithadas.

Dance career

Divyaa started her Bharatanatyam dance training at the age of three,^[3] thereafter she was trained in Kuchipudi, and Mohiniyattam. Subsequently, Divyaa Unni was crowned, in 1990 and 1991, ''Kalathilakom'' in Kerala School Kalolsavam statewide competitions. On India's premier Television Channel Doordarshan, she has presented a variety of Indian dance art-forms to such as Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Mohiniyattam, and Indian folk dance. She continues to perform at various Indian dance festivals^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7] in India^[8] and international stages throughout North America, Europe and Persian Gulf countries.

She has received many awards including the Aravindaksha Memorial Award – the Abhinaya Tilaka Puraskaram for the best state dance performance.

In the pursuit of promoting Indian culture in the West, Divyaa is developing the artistic talents of young children in the United States, where she currently resides. With this goal, she is currently the Director of Sreepadam School of Arts in Houston, Texas, United States.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Director	Language	Notes
2019	Aakasha Ganga 2	Maya/Daisy	Vinayan	Malayalam	Photo archive
2013	Musafir	Herself	Pramod Pappan	Malayalam	Guest appearance
2010	Upadeshiyude Makan	Irin	Joshy Mathew	Malayalam
2008	Magic Lamp	Viji	Haridas	Malayalam
2006	Illalu Priyuralu	Divya		Telugu
2001	Baanallu Neene Bhuviyallu Neene	Lalitha/Anita	S.Narayan	Kannada
2001	Vedham	Anitha Sanjay	Arjun Sarja	Tamil
2001	Aandan Adimai	Gayathri	Manivannan	Tamil
2000	Palayathu Amman	Savithri	Rama	Tamil
	Sabhash	Shanthi	K.Subash	Tamil
	Kannan Varuvaan	Parvathi	Sundar C	Tamil
	Nakshathragal Parayathirunnathu	Shivaranjini	C.S.Sudheesh	Malayalam
	Mark Antony	Nimmi	T.S. Suresh Babu	Malayalam
1999	Niram	Herself	Kamal	Malayalam	Guest appearance
	Aakasha Ganga	Maya/Daisy	Vinayan	Malayalam
	Aayiram Meni	Mallika	I. V. Sasi	Malayalam
	Usthad	Padmaja/Pappa	Sibi Malayil	Malayalam
	Friends	Uma	Siddique	Malayalam
1998	Sooryaputhran	Maya	Thulasidas	Malayalam
	The Truth	Nimmi	Shaji Kailas	Malayalam
	Ayushman Bhava	Sumangala	Suresh Vinu	Malayalam
	Oru Maravathoor Kanavu	Annie	Lal Jose	Malayalam
	Pranayavarnangal	Maya	Sibi Malayil	Malayalam
1997	Varnapakittu	Nancy	I. V. Sasi	Malayalam
	Churam	Maya	Bharathan	Malayalam
	Katha Nayagan	Gopika	Rajasenan	Malayalam
	Karunyam	Indu	Lohithadas	Malayalam
	Nee Varuvolam	Revathi	Sibi Malayil	Malayalam
	Shibiram	Minikutty	T.S. Suresh Babu	Malayalam
1996	Kalyana Sowgandhikam	Athira	Vinayan	Malayalam	Debut as Lead actress
1993	Sowbhagyam	Indhu's Sister	Sandhya Mohan	Malayalam	Child artist
1993	O' Faby	Child artist	K.Sreekuttan	Malayalam
1991	Pookkalam Varavayi	School girl	Kamal	Malayalam
1987	Neeyethra Dhanya	Young Shyamala	Jesey	Malayalam

Television

Serials

Iniyonnu Vishramikkate (DD Malayalam)
Shankupushpam (Asianet)

TV shows as Host

American Jalakam (Asianet)
America Today (Kairali TV)

References

^ "National award for Sanskrit teacher Ms. Umadevi K. Ms. Umadevi K. Sanskrit teacher bagged the national Award for Best Teacher 2013 instituted by MHRD, New Delhi. She was invited to attend the award ceremony at New Delhi on Teachers Day". www.bhavans.info/news/show_other_news.asp?nid=774&kid=32. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
^ "List of teachers who were awarded National Award on Teachers Day 2014 | Curriculum Magazine". www.curriculum-magazine.com. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
^ "Reinventing the Panchakanya Women Through Bharatanatyam". Brown Girl Magazine. 6 January 2017. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
^ M, Athira (9 November 2017). "Artistic endeavours" – via www.thehindu.com.
^ "A lifelong passion for dance". 9 November 2017.
^ "Divya Unni back on stage with mesmerizing dance steps - Video".
^ Nampoothiri, Hareesh N. (16 November 2017). "Review: Young dancers take the stage at Soorya's 'Parampara' festival" – via www.thehindu.com.
^ "Review - The flavors of a festival - Padma Jayaraj". www.narthaki.com.

External links

[:0-1] "National award for Sanskrit teacher Ms. Umadevi K. Ms. Umadevi K. Sanskrit teacher bagged the national Award for Best Teacher 2013 instituted by MHRD, New Delhi. She was invited to attend the award ceremony at New Delhi on Teachers Day". www.bhavans.info/news/show_other_news.asp?nid=774&kid=32. Retrieved 1 April 2017.

[2] "List of teachers who were awarded National Award on Teachers Day 2014 | Curriculum Magazine". www.curriculum-magazine.com. Retrieved 27 May 2017.

[3] "Reinventing the Panchakanya Women Through Bharatanatyam". Brown Girl Magazine. 6 January 2017. Retrieved 27 May 2017.

[4] M, Athira (9 November 2017). "Artistic endeavours" – via www.thehindu.com.

[5] "A lifelong passion for dance". 9 November 2017.

[6] "Divya Unni back on stage with mesmerizing dance steps - Video".

[7] Nampoothiri, Hareesh N. (16 November 2017). "Review: Young dancers take the stage at Soorya's 'Parampara' festival" – via www.thehindu.com.

[8] "Review - The flavors of a festival - Padma Jayaraj". www.narthaki.com.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]