Divya Gopikumar, professionally known as Abhirami (born July 1983) is an Indian actress and reality show judge. She has acted predominantly in Tamil and Malayalam films and few credits in Telugu and Kannada films.[1] Abhirami went on to establish herself as an leading actress in the 2000s across the Malayalam and Tamil language industries.
Abhirami Gopikumar | |
|---|---|
 Abhirami in 2023 | |
| Born | Divya Gopikumar July 1983 (age 41) Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 1995–2004 2014–present |
| Spouse |
Rahul Pavanan (m. 2009) |
| Children | 1 |
Abhirami went on to establish herself as a leading actress in the 2000s across the Malayalam and Tamil language industries after appearing in films such as Sradha (2000), Middle Class Madhavan (2001), Charlie Chaplin (2002), Raktha Kanneeru (2003) and Virumaandi (2004).
Early life and education
editShe was born as Divya Gopikumar[2] in July 1983,[2] to Tamil Parents Gopikumar and Pushpa whom living in Kerala.[2][3] in Kerala. She attended Christ Nagar English High School and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, in Thiruvananthapuram and did predegree training from Mar Ivanios College, before graduating in programs for psychology and communications from the College of Wooster in Ohio.[4]
Her family migrated to the United States in 2004 when she got a job there. Her parents are yoga instructors in Ohio.[5]
Career
editAbhirami made her debut in director Adoor Gopalakrishnan's film Kathapurushan.[6] While in college, Abhirami worked as a TV anchor for the program Top Ten which aired on the Asianet channel,[3] which according to Abhirami was "quite popular" and got her a film offer.[6] She also appeared in the 100-episode Malayalam serial Akshaya Pathram, directed by Sreekumaran Thampi.[6] She changed her screen name to Abhirami, the character name of the heroine of the film Gunaa, being "obsessed with the role and the name".[7]
She had a small role in the Malayalam film Pathram in 1999 and in the series Mercara directed by Jude Attipetty. Later she acted in the films Millennium Stars, Njangal Santhushtaranu, and Sradha before shifting to Tamil cinema. Her first Tamil film was Vaanavil (2001) opposite Arjun, which was a "big hit"[3] and was followed by Middle Class Madhavan and Samudhiram. A notable film in her career was Virumaandi, in which she appeared as a Tamil village girl from Madurai opposite Kamal Haasan.[2] Besides Tamil and Malayalam, she has appeared in Telugu and Kannada films and was a notable Tollywood actress.[8] In 2003, she appeared opposite Upendra in the film Raktha Kanneeru[9] and opposite Shiva Rajkumar in Sri Ram. In 2004, she retired from the film industry and settled in the United States for her studies. She went on to work as the marketing director of an MNC there.[10]
She went on to host Rishimoolam, a talk show on the Tamil television channel Puthuyugam.[4][11]
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 after 17 years. She also became a reality show judge through the show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li'l Champs.[12] She was cast in the supporting role in the action drama film Vettaiyan with Rajinikanth.[13][14]
Personal life
editAbhirami is married to Rahul Pavanan, grandson of writer Pavanan.[4][10][15] The couple have an adopted daughter named Kalki.[16]
Filmography
editAs actress
edit| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Role | Language | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Kathapurushan | Child Artist | Malayalam | ||
| 1999 | Pathram | Shilpa Mary Cherian | |||
| Njangal Santhushtaranu | Geethu Sanjeevan | ||||
| 2000 | Sradha | Swapna | |||
| Millennium Stars | Radha | ||||
| Melevaryathe Malakhakkuttikal | Devika Variyar (Devu) | ||||
| 2001 | Megasandesam | Kavitha | |||
| Vaanavil | Priya | Tamil | |||
| Middle Class Madhavan | Abhirami | ||||
| Dosth | Anamika | ||||
| Samudhiram | Lakshmi | ||||
| Charlie Chaplin | Mythili Ramakrishnan | ||||
| 2002 | Thank You Subba Rao | Susi | Telugu | ||
| Karmegham | Maheswari | Tamil | |||
| Samasthanam | Aisha | ||||
| 2003 | Laali Haadu | Sangeetha | Kannada | ||
| Sri Ram | Vasundhara | ||||
| Charminar | Keerthi | Telugu | |||
| Raktha Kanneeru | Chandra | Kannada | |||
| 2004 | Cheppave Chirugali | Radha | Telugu | ||
| Virumaandi | Annalakshmi | Tamil | |||
| 2014 | Apothecary | Dr. Nalini Nambiar | Malayalam | [17] | |
| 2015 | 36 Vayadhinile | Susan | Tamil | Special appearance | [18] |
| 2016 | Ithu Thaanda Police | Arundhati Varma | Malayalam | ||
| Ore Mukham | Prof.Latha | ||||
| 2017 | Chowka | Indira Sharma | Kannada | ||
| 2018 | Amar Akbar Anthony | Amar's mother | Telugu | Special appearance | |
| Ottakoru Kaamukan | Meera | Malayalam | |||
| 2019 | Dasharatha | Krutika | Kannada | ||
| Aniyan Kunjum Thannalayathu | Bincy | Malayalam | |||
| 2020 | Marjara Oru Kallu Vacha Nuna | Chithira | |||
| 2021 | Maara | Selvi | Tamil | Amazon Prime film | |
| Sulthan | Annalakshmi | Cameo Appearance | |||
| Kotigobba 3 | IAS Durga | Kannada | |||
| 2022 | Nitham Oru Vaanam | Dr.Krishnaveni | Tamil | ||
| 2023 | Baba Black Sheep | Eshwari | |||
| Are You Ok Baby? | Vidhya | [19] | |||
| Garudan | Sreedevi | Malayalam | [20] | ||
| 2024 | Maharaja | Kokila Srilakshmi Selvam | Tamil | [21] | |
| Saripodhaa Sanivaaram | Chayadevi | Telugu | |||
| Bhale Unnade | Gouri | [22] | |||
| Vettaiyan | Swetha Dhakshinamoorthy | Tamil | |||
| Eleven † | TBA | Tamil Telugu |
[23] | ||
| Once Upon a Time in Madras † | TBA | Tamil | [24] | ||
| 2025 | Thug Life † | TBA | Announced | [25] |
As a dubbing artist
edit| Year | Title | For whom | Language | Director | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Vishwaroopam | Pooja Kumar | Tamil | Kamal Haasan | [26] |
| 2015 | Uttama Villain | Ramesh Aravind | |||
| 2018 | Vishwaroopam 2 | Kamal Haasan |
Television
edit- Top Ten, anchor of musical program (Asianet)
- Piyatha, telefilm (Asianet)
- Akshaya Pathram, (Asianet)
- Annie, telefilm (Kairali TV)
- Rishimoolam, host (Puthuyugam)
- Made For Each Other, host (Mazhavil Manorama)
- Kanakanmani, (Surya TV) as Radhika (Cameo)
- Flowers Oru Kodi (Flowers TV) as Participant
- Red Carpet (Amrita TV) as Mentor
- Oru Kodai Murder Mystery, as Ananthalakshmi (Annie) Varadarajan[27][28]
- Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li'l Champs (season 3), (Zee Tamil), Judge
- Shyamambaram (Zee Keralam)
- Goli Soda Rising (Disney+ Hotstar) as Thendral
- Super star, (Amrita TV), Judge
- Mahanadigai, (Zee Tamil), Judge
References
edit- ^ "Actress Abhirami and her husband adopt a baby girl; introduce their Kalki on Mother's Day!". The Times of India. 14 May 2023. ISSN 0971-8257.
- ^ a b c d "A chat with Abhirami". The Hindu. 14 May 2003. Archived from the original on 24 January 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
- ^ a b c "Welcome to". Sify. Archived from the original on 2 October 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
- ^ a b c "Abhirami makes a bold reentry into tinseltown". The Times of India. 10 February 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
- ^ "അഭിരാമി തിരിച്ചുവരാന്കാരണം കമലഹാസനാണ്". Mangalam.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
- ^ a b c "Abhirami on acting in Kamal Haasan's Sandhiyar". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
- ^ "Welcome To". Sify. Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
- ^ "Abhirami gets a new Telugu film". Music India Online. 31 May 2008. Archived from the original on 28 June 2008.
- ^ "Telugu cinema Review - Rakta Kanneeru - Upendra, Abhirami, Ramya Krishna". Idlebrain.com. 27 February 2004. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
- ^ a b "Mangalam Varika 10-Mar-2014". mangalam.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Jeyanthan, R. C. (8 December 2013). "அறிவும் அழகுதான்". The Hindu (in Tamil). Retrieved 3 December 2015.
- ^ "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li'l Champs returns for third season on Zee Tamil". medianews4u.com. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
- ^ "വെച്ച കുറി തെറ്റിയോ? വേട്ടയ്യന്റെ നഷ്ടം നികത്താൻ മറ്റൊരു സിനിമ, രജനികാന്തിന് നിബന്ധനയുമായി ലൈക്ക?". Reporter. 19 October 2024.
- ^ "2.0, ദര്ബാര്, ലാല് സലാം ദേ ഇപ്പോള് വേട്ടൈയനും... ലൈക്കയുടെ നഷ്ടം നികത്താന് അഞ്ചാമത്തെ സിനിമയും കമ്മിറ്റ് ചെയ്ത് രജിനികാന്ത്". DoolNews. 20 October 2024. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
- ^ "വിവാഹം ആരെയും അറിയിക്കാതെ..." Mangalam.com. 10 March 2014. Archived from the original on 31 May 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
- ^ "Actress Abhirami and her husband adopt a baby girl; introduce their Kalki on Mother's Day!". The Times of India. 14 May 2023.
- ^ C Palicha, Paresh. "Review: Apothecary could have been better". Rediff.com. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
- ^ "Abhirami is back, plays Jyothika's friend". Sify. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
- ^ "Ilaiyaraaja completes work on Lakshmy Ramakrishnan's next". The Times of India. 4 January 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 5 January 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
- ^ "'Garudan' teaser: Suresh Gopi bashes up goons with a motorbike helmet". The Hindu. 26 June 2023. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
- ^ "Vijay Sethupathi's 50th film titled 'Maharaja'". The Times of India. 12 July 2023. Archived from the original on 13 May 2024. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
- ^ Sistu, Suhas (11 September 2024). "Abhirami makes a strong comeback with 'Bhale Unnade'". The Hans India.
- ^ Features, C. E. (19 June 2024). "Eleven teaser: Naveen Chandran plays a baffled cop probing a series of clueless murders". Cinema Express. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
- ^ "Bharath's Once Upon A Time In Madras gets a release date". Cinema Express. 29 August 2024. Archived from the original on 29 August 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "'Thug Life' is the title of Kamal Haasan-Mani Ratnam's 'KH234'; Trisha, Dulquer Salmaan, Jayam Ravi join cast". The Hindu. 6 November 2023. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
- ^ Galatta Tamil | கலாட்டா தமிழ் (11 September 2024). எல்லா Heroine Voice-கும் இவங்களை தான் Dub பண்ண சொல்லுவேன் | Kamal about Abirami | Virumandi. Retrieved 24 September 2024 – via YouTube.
- ^ "I don't want to settle for a bland akka or anni character: Abhirami". The New Indian Express. 20 April 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
- ^ "சினிமாவில் பெண்களுக்கு மட்டும் ஏன் இந்த பாகுபாடு நடிகை அபிராமி கேள்வி". ETV Bharat News (in Tamil). 19 April 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2023.