Kavya Madhavan (born 19 September 1984) is a former Indian actress, who appeared predominantly in Malayalam films. She made her debut in 1991 as a child artist in '' Pookkalam Varavayi''. Her debut role as a lead actress was in

Lal Jose Lal Jose is an Indian director, actor, producer and distributor who works in the Malayalam film industry. He started his career as an Assistant director in the Malayalam cinema. His directorial debut was with the 1998 film ''Oru Maravathoor ...

's '' Chandranudikkunna Dikhil'' in 1999, when she was in the ninth grade. Its success established her status as a leading actress in the industry during the 2000s. She has acted in over 75 movies. She has won the

Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress The Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress is an honour presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards of India since 1969 to an actress for the best performance within the Malayalam film industry. Until 1997, the awards were managed direct ...

twice, for her performances in ''

Perumazhakkalam ''Perumazhakkalam'' (English: The season of heavy rains) is a 2004 Indian Malayalam-language romantic drama film directed by Kamal and written by T. A. Razzaq. It stars Meera Jasmine, Kavya Madhavan, Dileep, Vineeth and Biju Menon. Notable asso ...

'' (2004) and '' Gaddama'' (2010).

Early life

Kavya was born on 19 September 1984 in Kerala.

Acting career

Kavya first appeared as a child actor in Kamal's film '' Pookkalam Varavayi'' (1991) at the age of six. Subsequently, she was offered parts in other projects such as ''Pavam IA Ivachan'' (1994), ''Parassala Pachan Payyannur Paramu'' (1994) by P. Venu and '' Azhakiya Ravanan'' (1996), directed by Kamal. She was offered the female lead in '' Chandranudikkunna Dikhil'', also starring

Dileep Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan Pillai, better known by his stage name Dileep, is an Indian actor, producer, and businessman who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry. He has acted in more than 150 films and has won several awards, inc ...

, in 1999. After the success of ''Chandranudikkunna Dikhil'', Kavya and Dileep became a popular pairing in Malayalam cinema, and they worked together in 21 movies. Some of their movies are ''

Thenkasipattanam ''Thenkasipattanam'' () is a 2000 Indian Malayalam-language action comedy film written and directed by Rafi Mecartin, produced by Lal, and starring Suresh Gopi, Lal and Dileep as male leads and Samyuktha Varma, Geethu Mohandas and Kavya Madh ...

'' (2000),'' Darling Darling'' (2000), ''Dhosth'' (2001), '' Meesa Madhavan'' (2002) which was one of biggest grosser of the year and was directed by

, '' Mizhi Randilum'' (2003) in which she played a double role, ''

Sadanandante Samayam ''Sadanandante Samayam'' is a 2003 Malayalam satirical film directed by Akbar-Jose and starring Dileep and Kavya Madhavan. Synopsis The movie is about Sadanandan who is an Ordinary school teacher and people says a good teacher. But some probl ...

'' (2003), ''

Thilakkam ''Thilakkam'' () is a 2003 Indian Malayalam-language comedy-drama film directed by Jayaraj and written by Rafi Mecartin. Dileep, Kavya Madhavan and Thiagarajan play the lead roles. The rest of the cast include Nedumudi Venu, K. P. A. C. Lalitha, ...

'' (2003) directed by

Jayaraj Jayarajan Rajasekharan Nair, professionally credited as Jayaraj, is an Indian filmmaker, who predominantly works in Malayalam film industry. He has won many awards, including Crystal Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Golden ...

, ''

Runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concre ...

'' (2004) directed by Joshiy, ''

Kochi Rajavu ''Kochi Rajavu'' (''translated as King of Kochi'') is a 2005 Indian Malayalam language action-comedy film directed by Johny Antony and written by the Udayakrishna-Siby K. Thomas duo. It stars Dileep in the lead role with Kavya Madhavan, Ra ...

'' (2005), '' Lion'' (2006) again directed by Joshiy, '' Chakkara Muthu'' (2006), '' Inspector Garud'' (2007), ''

Paappi Appacha ''Paappi Appacha'' is a 2010 Indian Malayalam-language action comedy film written and directed by Eldho mathai, starring Dileep and Innocent. The film released in April 2010 in Kerala on more than 70 screens. The film also marked the directoria ...

'' (2010), ''

Vellaripravinte Changathi ''Vellaripravinte Changathi'' (''The Dove's Friend'') is a 2011 Malayalam film directed by Akku Akbar, starring Dileep and Kavya Madhavan in the lead roles. The film is loosely based on the famous Sulekha murder case. Plot Vellaripravinte Changa ...

'' (2011) and '' Pinneyum'' (2016). Most of their movies were in the romantic comedy genre. She also acted in films with Mammootty and

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically app ...

, and in movies with several stars, such as ''

Ee Pattanathil Bhootham ''Ee Pattanathil Bhootham'' () is a 2009 Indian Malayalam-language fantasy comedy film directed by Johny Antony, Johnny Antony. It stars Mammootty with Kavya Madhavan, Innocent (actor), Innocent, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Salim Kumar, Rajan P. Dev, ...

'', '' Christian Brothers'' and ''

China Town A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Aust ...

''. She got critical acclaim for her performance of the role of Ganga in ''

'' for which she won 2004

and for the role of Ashwati in '' Gaddama'' where she played a housemaid working in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. The movie was based on a feature by K. U. Iqbal, published in '' Bhashaposhini''. The movie was directed by her mentor Kamal, and she got her second

for 2011. She won the 2011 Kerala Film Critics Awards for Best Actress, Amrita-FEFKA Film Awards for Best Actress, Best Actress-Malayalam cinema in 59th Filmfare Awards South and Best Actress in Thikkurissy Foundation Awards. She was part of big grossers like ''Christian Brothers'' and ''China Town'' in 2011 and was selected as Top Star (Female) 2011 in Malayalam. She was cast in

Adoor Gopalakrishnan Adoor Gopalakrishnan (born 3 July 1941) is an Indian film director, script writer, and producer and is regarded as one of the most notable and renowned filmmakers in India. With the release of his first feature film '' Swayamvaram'' (1972), Go ...

's ''

Naalu Pennungal ''Naalu Pennungal'' (''Four Women'') is a 2007 Malayalam film produced and directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan based on four short stories written by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai. The film stars Padmapriya, Geethu Mohandas, Manju Pillai, and Nandi ...

'' in which she played a supporting role. Though she had many offers from

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 ''Kollywo ...

, she was very reluctant to act due to her busy schedule in Malayalam. Her first was ''

Kasi KASI (1430 AM, "News Talk 1430") is a radio station licensed to serve Ames, Iowa. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and licensed to iHM Licenses, LLC. It airs a News/Talk radio format. The station was assigned the KASI call letters b ...

'' (2001) which was the remake of

Vinayan T. G. Vinayakumar (born 16 May 1957), professionally credited as Vinayan, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, and lyricist, who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema and occasionally in Tamil cinema. Early life Vinayan is from ...

s ''

Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njaanum ''Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njaanum'' () is a 1999 Indian Malayalam-language drama film directed by Vinayan based on a screenplay by J. Pallassery. The film features Kalabhavan Mani, Kaveri, Praveena and Sai Kumar in the lead roles. The film ...

''. She went on to act in '' En Mana Vaanil'' and '' Sadhu Miranda'' and enjoyed moderate success. She wrote lyrics for the song "En Khalbillulloru Pennaanu" for the film '' One Way Ticket'' (2008) and for ''Akashavani'' (2016). She sang her first movie song for the Malayalam film '' Matinee'' (2012). She has appeared in many advertisements, TV shows, short films and stage shows. She also sang songs for the movies ''Hadiya'' (2017) and '' Daivame Kaithozham K. Kumar Akanam'' (2018). From acting as a child to acting as an actress, Sreeja has provided voice to her in many films. Devi,

Praveena Praveena is an Indian Television actress and a dubbing artist who predominantly appears in Malayalam films, she has also appeared in Tamil and Telugu films. She started her acting career through 1992 film ''Gowri''. She has received several ...

, Bhagyalakshmi and Vimmy Mariam George and Nithuna Nevil Dinesh have also lent their voices in some films.

Personal life

Kavya married Nishal Chandra on 9 February 2009, after which she moved to

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

. However, she returned home in June the same year and filed for divorce on 24 July 2009. Both Kavya and Nishal appeared before the court on 25 May 2011 and expressed their willingness for a mutual divorce. The divorce was granted on 30 May 2011. She married actor

on 25 November 2016 at Vedanta Hotel,

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

. The couple have a daughter, Mahalakshmi born on 19 October 2018. Kavya owns a textile shop named Laksyah. In April 2013,

Mathrubhumi Books ''Mathrubhumi'' is a Malayalam newspaper that is published from Kerala, India. It was founded by K. P. Kesava Menon, an active volunteer in the Indian freedom struggle against the British. The word "Mathrubhumi" translates to 'mother land'. I ...

published a collection of memoirs written by Kavya, titled ''Kathayil Alpam Kavyam'' which gives a glimpse into her childhood memories and the experiences of her school days and in the film industry. The book was released by writers

Subhash Chandran Subhash Chandran (born 1972) born in Kerala, India, is a Malayalam novelist, short story writer and journalist best known for the 2010 novel '' Manushyanu Oru Aamukham''. His stories "Vadhakramam", "Sanmargam", "Parudeesa Nashtam" and "Gotham" ...

and Deedi Damodaran at a function held in K. P. Kesava Menon Hall in

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 l ...

on 11 April."Kavya Madhavan's Memoirs Released"
. ''The New Indian Express''

Filmography

Short films

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{authority control Kerala State Film Award winners Living people Indian film actresses Actresses in Malayalam cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses from Kerala 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses People from Kasaragod district Filmfare Awards South winners Indian women playback singers 21st-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian women singers Singers from Kerala Film musicians from Kerala 20th-century Indian women singers 20th-century Indian singers 1984 births Women musicians from Kerala