Divya Gopikumar, professionally known as Abhirami (born July 1983) is an Indian actress and reality show judge. She has acted predominantly in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

films and few credits in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

and

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

films. Abhirami went on to establish herself as an leading actress in the 2000s across the

and

language industries. Abhirami went on to establish herself as a leading actress in the 2000s across the

and

language industries after appearing in films such as ''

Sradha ''Sradha'' ( en, Focus) is a 2000 Indian Malayalam language action film directed by I. V. Sasi and written by T. Damodaran and Dr. Rajendrababu. The film stars Mohanlal, Arun Pandian, Abhirami, Sangeetha, Shobhana and Indraja. It features ...

'' (2000), ''

Middle Class Madhavan ''Middle Class Madhavan'' is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by T. P. Gajendran. The film stars Prabhu and Abhirami, while Vadivelu, Vivek, Manivannan and others in supporting roles. The film explores th ...

'' (2001), '' Charlie Chaplin'' (2002), ''

Raktha Kanneeru ''Raktha Kanneeru'' () is a 2003 Indian Kannada-language film directed by Sadhu Kokila, starring Upendra and Ramya Krishna. The film was produced by Munirathna and was later dubbed in Telugu. The screenplay and dialogues of the film were writ ...

'' (2003) and ''

Virumaandi ''Virumaandi'' is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written, co-edited, produced, and directed by Kamal Haasan, who also performed in the title role. The film revolves around the interview of two prison inmates, firstly, Kothala The ...

'' (2004). After a 10 year hiatus, she returned back to the film industry in 2014 and acted in multiple films as a supporting actress until 2021 when she got a role as one of lead actresses in the film ''

Maara ''Maara'' is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language adventure romantic drama film directed by Dhilip Kumar in his directorial debut, and produced by Prateek Chakravorty and Shruti Nallappa of Pramod Films. An adaptation of the 2015 Malayalam blockbus ...

'' after 17 years. She also became a reality show judge through the show '' Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li'l Champs (season 3)''.

Early life and education

She was born as Divya Gopikumar in July 1983, to Tamil Parents Gopikumar and Pushpa whom living in Kerala. in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South C ...

. She attended Christ Nagar English High School and

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is an Indian educational trust. It was founded on 7 November 1938 by Dr K.M Munshi, with the support of Mahatma Gandhi. The trust programmes through its 119 centres in India, 7 centres abroad and 367 constituent insti ...

, in Thiruvananthapuram and did predegree training from

Mar Ivanios College Mar Ivanios College is an autonomous educational institution situated in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. The college was ranked as 29th best college in the country by Ministry of Education's National Institutional Ranking Framework in 201 ...

, before graduating in programs for psychology and communications from the

College of Wooster The College of Wooster is a private liberal arts college in Wooster, Ohio. Founded in 1866 by the Presbyterian Church as the University of Wooster, it has been officially non-sectarian since 1969 when ownership ties with the Presbyterian Chur ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

. Her family migrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

in 2004 when she got a job there. Her parents are

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-conscio ...

instructors in

Career

Abhirami made her debut in director

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), Gop ...

's film ''

Kathapurushan ''Kathapurushan'' ( en, The Man of the Story) is a 1995 Indo-Japanese Malayalam-language period drama film written and directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan. It was produced by Gopalakrishnan himself and co-produced by NHK. The film stars Vishwanat ...

''. While in college, Abhirami worked as a TV anchor for the program ''Top Ten'' which aired on the Asianet channel, which according to Abhirami was "quite popular" and got her a film offer. She also appeared in the 100-episode Malayalam serial ''Akshaya Pathram'', directed by

Sreekumaran Thampi Sreekumaran Thampi (born 16 March 1940) is an Indian lyricist, music director, director, producer, and screenwriter in Malayalam cinema. He also writes poetry and is a recipient of the Vallathol Award. In 2017, he was awarded the J. C. Danie ...

. She changed her screen name to Abhirami, the character name of the heroine of the film ''

Gunaa ''Gunaa'' is a 1991 Indian Tamil-language psychological romantic drama film directed by Santhana Bharathi and co-written by Sab John. The film stars Kamal Haasan, Rekha and newcomer Roshini. The film revolves around a newly released psychiatr ...

'', being "obsessed with the role and the name". She had a small role in the Malayalam film ''

Pathram ''Pathram'' () is a 1999 Indian Malayalam-language political thriller film written by Renji Panicker and directed by Joshi, starring Suresh Gopi, Manju Warrier, Murali, N. F. Varghese, Biju Menon, Abhirami. Plot Nandagopal, an associate ...

'' in 1999 and in the series ''

Mercara Madikeri is a hill station town in Madikeri taluk and headquarters of Kodagu district in Karnataka, India. Etymology Madikeri was known as ''Muddu Raja Keri'', which meant Mudduraja's town, was named after the prominent Haleri king Mudduraj ...

'' directed by

Jude Attipetty Jude Attipetty is an Indian director of Malayalam cinema and television. He is the head of programs at Mazhavil Manorama and is the director of award-winning tele-series such as ''Sararanthal'' and ''Mikhayelinte Santhathikal''. He has also re ...

. Later she acted in the films ''

Millennium Stars ''Millennium Stars'' is a 2000 Indian Malayalam-language drama film directed by Jayaraj, starring Jayaram and Suresh Gopi in lead roles, and also features Biju Menon and Abhirami. The soundtrack of the film was composed by Vidyasagar. The mov ...

'', ''

Njangal Santhushtaranu ''Njangal Santhushtaranu'' () is a 1999 Indian Malayalam-language domestic drama film directed by Rajasenan and starring Jayaram and Abhirami in lead roles. Plot Sanjeevan (Jayaram) is a police commissioner who lives with his widowed father and ...

'', and ''

'' before shifting to

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 ...

. Her first Tamil film was ''

Vaanavil ''Vaanavil'' () is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language drama film produced by Guru Films and directed by Manoj Kumar. The film stars Arjun, Abhirami and Prakash Raj in lead roles. The film released to mixed reviews, but performed well at the box of ...

'' (2001) opposite Arjun, which was a "big hit" and was followed by ''

'' and ''

Samudhiram ''Samuthiram'' () is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language drama film written by Erode Soundar and directed by K. S. Ravikumar. The film stars an ensemble cast of Sarath Kumar, Murali, Manoj Bharathiraja, Kaveri, Abhirami, Sindhu Menon and Monal. The ...

''. A notable film in her career was ''

'', in which she appeared as a Tamil village girl from

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

opposite

Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali f ...

. Besides Tamil and Malayalam, she has appeared in Telugu and Kannada films and was a notable

Tollywood Tollywood may refer to: * Tollywood (Bengali cinema), the Bengali-language film industry based in West Bengal. ** Tollygunge Tollygunge (Bengali: টালিগঞ্জ; nicknamed 'Mini Mumbai' or 'Mini Bombay') is a locality of South Kolkat ...

actress. In 2003, she appeared opposite

Upendra Upendra (Devanagari: उपेन्द्र) is an Indian masculine given name. The meaning of the Sanskrit word ' is "younger brother of Indra" and refers to either Krishna or Vishnu, who as a son of Aditi (or in the Vamana avatar) was born sub ...

in the film ''

'' and opposite

Shiva Rajkumar Nagaraju Shiva Puttaswamy (born 12 July 1962) known by his screen name Shiva Rajkumar, is an Indian actor, producer and television presenter, predominantly works in Kannada cinema.

in ''Sri Ram''. In 2004, she retired from the film industry and settled in the

for her studies. She went on to work as the marketing director of an MNC there. In 2013, Abhirami was the voice of

Pooja Kumar Pooja Kumar is an American actress of Indian descent who works in Tamil, Hindi, and English-language Indian films. After winning Miss India USA in 1995, she pursued a career as an actress and producer. She has appeared in a number of American f ...

in both parts of Kamal Haasan's ''

Vishwaroopam ''Vishwaroopam'' (titled ''Vishwaroop'' in Hindi; ) is a 2013 Indian action spy film directed and produced by Kamal Haasan, who also enacts the lead role, and is written by Kamal Hassan, Chakri Toleti and Atul Tiwari. The film has Rahul Bo ...

'' and she went on to host ''Rishimoolam'', a talk show on the Tamil television channel Puthuyugam.

Personal life

Abhirami is married to Rahul Pavanan, grandson of writer Pavanan. The couple have an adopted daughter named ''Kalki''.

Filmography

As actress

As a dubbing artist

Television

* ''Top Ten'', anchor of musical program ( Asianet) * ''Piyatha'',

telefilm A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

( Asianet) * ''Akshaya Pathram'', ( Asianet) * ''Annie'', telefilm (

Kairali TV Kairali TV is an Indian Malayalam-language general entertainment television channel owned by Kairali TV Network (Malayalam Communications Limited). It is headquartered at Thiruvananthapuram. It was launched on 17 August 2000. The channel is b ...

) * ''Rishimoolam'', host ( Puthuyugam) * ''Made For Each Other'', host (

Mazhavil Manorama Mazhavil Manorama is an Indian Free-to-air Malayalam general entertainment television channel operated and owned by Malayala Manorama Television (MMTV), the publisher of the widely circulated ''Malayalam Manorama'' daily, and the Malayalam wo ...

) * '' Kanakanmani'', ( Surya TV) as Radhika (Cameo) * ''Flowers Oru Kodi'' (

Flowers TV A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism ...

) as Participant * ''Red Carpet'' (

Amrita TV Amrita TV is an Indian Malayalam Language general Entertainment television channel owned by Mata Amritanandamayi Math. It was launched in 2005. Theme song The theme song, "Lokasamastha," was composed by Rahulraj for Mata Amritanandamayi's 5 ...

) as Mentor * '' Oru Kodai Murder Mystery'', as Ananthalakshmi (Annie) Varadarajan * '' Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li'l Champs (season 3)'', (

Zee Tamil Zee Tamil is an Indian Tamil language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. The channel started broadcasting on 2008 and is available internationally. The channel broadcasts from Guindy, Chennai, ...

), Judge * ''Shyamambaram'' (

Zee Keralam Zee Keralam is an Indian Malayalam language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. The channel was launched on 26 November 2018 and it is ZEE's fifth channel in the southern region. The channel is h ...

) * '' Goli Soda Rising'' (

Disney+ Hotstar Disney+ Hotstar (also known as Hotstar) is an Indian brand of subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Novi Digital Entertainment of Disney Star and operated by Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, both ...

) as Thendral * ''Super star'', (Amrita TV), Judge * ''

Mahanadigai ''Mahanadigai'' is a 2024 Indian Tamil-language reality show which premiered on 5 October 2024 on Zee Tamil, and is also available on the digital platform ZEE5. The first episode was aired on Saturday to Sunday at 20:30 ( IST). It airs every Sun ...

'', (

), Judge

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abhirami 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses Indian film actresses Indian television actresses Indian women television presenters Indian television presenters Living people Actresses from Thiruvananthapuram Actresses in Malayalam cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Kannada cinema Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan schools alumni 1983 births College of Wooster alumni Indian voice actresses Actresses in Malayalam television