Divyaa Unni is an Indian former actress and classical dancer of Indian origin who teaches various forms of dance such as Bharathanatyam,

Kuchipudi ''Kuchipudi'' ( ) is one of the eight major Indian classical dances. It originates from a village named Kuchipudi in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Kuchipudi is a dance-drama performance, with its roots in the ancient Hindu Sanskrit ...

and Mohiniyattom. As an actress, she mainly appeared in

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

language films, in addition to few

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

and

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

language films too.

Early life

Her mother Uma Devi, is a

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

teacher and is the Head of Sanskrit Department; at Bhavans Vidya Mandir, Girinagar and was awarded the

National Award for Teachers (India) 'National Award to Teachers'' is the National award to the Teachers, being awarded by the President of India on 5 September (Teacher's Day) every year to give public recognition to meritorious teachers working in primary, middle and secondary sch ...

, in the year 2013 by the President of India Shri

Pranab Mukherjee Pranab Kumar Mukherjee ( ; born, 11 December 1935 – 31 August 2020) was an Indian statesman who served as the president of India from 2012 until 2017. He was the first person from West Bengal to hold the post of President of India. In a pol ...

. She has a sister, Vidhya Unni, who has worked as a lead in couple of

movies. Divyaa completed her schooling in Bhavan's Vidya Mandir, Girinagar. The actress has two children in her first marriage.

Dance career

Divyaa started her

Bharatanatyam ''Bharatanatyam'' is a Indian classical dance form that came from Tamil Nadu, India. It is a classical dance form recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas of Hinduism and Jainism.< ...

dance training at the age of three, thereafter she was trained in

, and

Mohiniyattam ''Mohiniyattam'' is an Indian classical dance form originating from the state of Kerala. The dance gets its name from Mohini – the female enchantress avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu, who helps the devas prevail over the asuras using h ...

. Subsequently, Divyaa Unni was crowned, in 1990 and 1991, "Kalathilakom" in Kerala School Kalolsavam statewide competitions. On India's premier Television Channel

Doordarshan Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned enterprise, state-owned public broadcasting, public television broadcaster. Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and B ...

, she has presented a variety of Indian dance art-forms to such as

, and

Indian folk dance Indian folk dances, which typically consist of a few simple steps, are performed throughout the world to celebrate a new season, childbirth, weddings, festivals, and other social occasions. In some Indian folk dances, men and women perform separ ...

. She continues to perform at various Indian dance festivals in India and international stages throughout North America, Europe and Persian Gulf countries.

Filmography

Television

; Serials * Neeyum Njanum (Zee Keralam) * Iniyonnu Vishramikkate (DD Malayalam) * Shankupushpam (Asianet) * Kunjikkoonan (DD Malayalam) * Manassu (Surya TV) ; Telefilm * Pranayam (Surya TV) ;TV shows as Host * American Jalakam (Asianet) * Asianet Film Awards (Asianet) * America Today (Kairali TV) * Pravaham * Poomottukal (DD Malayalam) ;TV shows as Judge *Comedy Stars Season 3 (Asianet) *Top singer season 2 (Flowers TV) * Oru Chiri Iru chiri Bumper Chiri (Mazhavil Manorama) *Star Magic (Flowers TV)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Unni, Divya Living people 20th-century American dancers 20th-century Indian actresses 20th-century Indian dancers 20th-century Indian educators 20th-century Indian women educators 20th-century Indian women artists 21st-century Indian actresses Actresses from Kochi Actresses in Kannada cinema Actresses in Malayalam cinema Actresses in Malayalam television Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema Bharatanatyam exponents Child actresses in Malayalam cinema Dancers from Kerala Educators from Kerala Indian dance teachers Indian film actresses Indian television actresses Kuchipudi exponents Teachers of Indian classical dance Women artists from Kerala Women educators from Kerala St. Teresa's College alumni Year of birth missing (living people)