Abhirami (actress, born 1983)


Divya Gopikumar, professionally known as Abhirami is an Indian film and voice actress. She has acted predominantly in Tamil and Malayalam films and few credits in Telugu and Kannada films. Abhirami went on to establish herself as an leading actress in the 2000s across the Malayalam and Tamil language industries.
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, Middle Class Madhavan, Charlie Chaplin, Raktha Kanneeru and Virumaandi.

Early life and education

She was born as Divya Gopikumar on 26 July 1980, to Gopikumar and Pushpa who were Tamil living in Kerala. She attended Christ Nagar English High School and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, in Thiruvananthapuram and did predegree training from Mar Ivanios College, Trivandrum before graduating in programs for psychology and communications from the College of Wooster in Ohio.
Her family migrated to the United States in 2004 when she got a job there. Her parents are yoga instructors in Ohio.

Career

Abhirami made her debut in director Adoor Gopalakrishnan's film Kathapurushan. 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. 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".
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 opposite Arjun, which was a "big hit" and was followed by Middle Class Madhavan, as well as Dost, Samudhiram and Samasthanam with R. Sarathkumar. A notable film in her career was Virumaandi, in which she appeared as a Tamil village girl from Madurai opposite Kamal Haasan. Besides Tamil and Malayalam, she has appeared in Telugu and Kannada films and was a notable Tollywood actress. In 2003, she appeared opposite Upendra in the film Raktha Kanneeru 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.
She went on to host Rishimoolam, a talk show on the Tamil television channel Puthuyugam.
After a 10-year hiatus, she returned 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. She was cast in the supporting role in the action drama film Vettaiyan with Rajinikanth. Shen then appeared in the black comedy Jolly O Gymkhana as well as hyperlink thriller, Once Upon A Time in Madras. She is back on screen with the Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan in director Mani Ratnam, Thug Life.

Personal life

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

Filmography

As actress

YearTitleRoleLanguageNotes
1995KathapurushanMalayalamChild artist
1999PathramShilpa Mary CherianMalayalam
1999Njangal SanthushtaranuGeethu SanjeevanMalayalam
2000Millennium StarsRadhaMalayalam
2000SradhaSwapnaMalayalam
2000Melevaryathe MalakhakkuttikalDevika Variyar Malayalam
2000VaanavilPriyaTamil
2001MegasandesamKavithaMalayalam
2001Middle Class MadhavanAbhiramiTamil
2001DosthAnamikaTamil
2001SamudhiramLakshmiTamil
2001Thank You Subba RaoSusiTelugu
2002Charlie ChaplinMythili RamakrishnanTamil
2002KarmeghamMaheswariTamil
2002SamasthanamAishwaryaTamil
2003Laali HaaduSangeethaKannada
2003Sri RamVasundharaKannada
2003CharminarKeerthiTelugu
2003Raktha KanneeruChandraKannada
2004Cheppave ChirugaliRadhaTelugu
2004VirumaandiAnnalakshmiTamil
2014ApothecaryDr. Nalini NambiarMalayalam
201536 VayadhinileSusan DavidTamilSpecial appearance
2016Ithu Thaanda PoliceArundhati VarmaMalayalam
2016Ore MukhamProf.LathaMalayalam
2017ChowkaIndira SharmaKannada
2018Amar Akbar AnthonyAmar's motherTeluguSpecial appearance
2018Ottakoru KaamukanMeeraMalayalam
2019DasharathaKrutikaKannada
2019Aniyan Kunjum ThannalayathuBincyMalayalam
2020Marjara Oru Kallu Vacha NunaChithiraMalayalam
2021MaaraSelviTamilAmazon Prime film
2021SulthanAnnalakshmiTamilCameo appearance
2021Kotigobba 3IAS DurgaKannada
2022Nitham Oru VaanamDr.KrishnaveniTamil
2023Baba Black SheepEshwariTamil
2023Are You Ok Baby?VidhyaTamil
2023GarudanSreedevi MadhavMalayalam
2024MaharajaKokila Srilakshmi SelvamTamilSIIMA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
2024Saripodhaa SanivaaramChayadeviTelugu
2024Bhale UnnadeGouriTelugu
2024VettaiyanShwetha DhakshinamoorthyTamil
2024Jolly O GymkhanaChellammaTamil
2024Once Upon A Time in MadrasSavitriTamil
2025AghathiyaaVaidheeshwariTamilCameo appearance
2025ElevenShanthiTamil
Telugu		Bilingual film
2025Thug LifeJeevaTamil
2025BombCollector KrishnaammalTamil
2025RamboRambo's motherTamil
202512A Railway ColonyTelugu-
2025Indian Penal LawVasanthiTamil

As a dubbing artist

Television

  • Top Ten, anchor of musical program
  • Piyatha, telefilm
  • Akshaya Pathram,
  • Annie, telefilm
  • Rishimoolam, host
  • Made For Each Other, host
  • Kanakanmani, as Radhika
  • Flowers Oru Kodi as Participant
  • Red Carpet as Mentor
  • Oru Kodai Murder Mystery, as Ananthalakshmi Varadarajan
  • Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li'l Champs ,, Judge
  • Shyamambaram
  • Goli Soda Rising as Thendral
  • Super star,, Judge
  • Mahanadigai,, Judge