Bhama
Born	Rekhitha R. Kurup Kottayam, Kerala, India
Other names	Bhama Kurup
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2007–2019
Spouse	Arun Jagadish ​ (m. 2020)​
Children	1
Parent(s)	Rajendran Kurup Shylaja

Rekhitha R. Kurup, better known by her stage name Bhamaa, is an Indian former actress who predominantly appeared in Malayalam and Kannada-language films. She made her cinematic debut in 2007 with the Malayalam film Nivedyam, directed by A. K. Lohithadas and had acted in over 42 films.

Personal life

Bhama is the youngest daughter of Rajendra Kurup & Shylaja. She has two elder sisters, Reshmitha R Kurup and Renjitha R Kurup.

Bhama did her schooling at St. Mary's Higher Secondary School, Manarcad, and at Infant Jesus Bethany Covent Girl's Higher Secondary School, Manarcad. She pursued bachelors in Sociology by correspondence course.^[1]

Bhama is married to Arun Jagadish, a businessman from Chennithala, whose family is settled in Kochi, Kerala.^[2] The couple got married in January 2020. They have a daughter.^{[citation needed]}

Career

Before her entry into the film industry, she was the host of a show on Surya TV titled Thaali. She has also acted in a Christian devotional album. Director Lohithadas, selected her as the lead heroine, in Nivedyam, her first movie. Her second film was Hareendran Oru Nishkalankan directed by Vinayan, in which she was cast opposite Manikuttan. She paired with Vineeth Sreenivasan in Cycle directed by Johny Antony.

Bhama said that until 2011, she was getting the same kind of roles in Malayalam. She started taking up Kannada film offers, after which she started getting fresh and interesting characters in Malayalam.^[3] She acted in Sohanlal's Kadhaveedu, where she played the heroine in M. T. Vasudevan Nair's segment and her character was that of a modern girl, a media person, who is smart and energetic. She had a small but significant role in Vinod Vijayan's segment of D Company, Day of Judgement, featuring Fahadh Faasil where she played a psycho and wore no make-up.^[4]

In 2014, she had five Malayalam releases. She played a Christian housewife in Rakesh Gopan's 100 Degree Celsius and was seen as a 15-year-old mother in Vinod Mankara's Ottamandaram.^[5] In her only non-Malayalam release of the year, the Tamil-English biographical film Ramanujan based on the mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan, she played the role of Janakiammal, Ramanujan's wife.^[6][7]

Playback singing

Bhama has occasionally worked as a playback singer as well. She had reportedly sung the song "Kannil Kannil", composed by Rahul Raj for a film titled Bike;^[8] however the film was cancelled and the song remains unreleased. She lent her voice for the devotional album Maaya Madhavam (2009),^[9] and has sung the title song for the upcoming children's film Meow Meow Karimppoocha.^[10] She did voice over for the short film ; Pacha directed by Sarayu. She has sung a song in the movie 100 Degree Celsius along with other heroines Ananya, Meghana Raj and Shwetha Menon.^[11][12]

Awards

• 2007 – Asianet Film Award for Best Star Pair Award, Nivedyam (shared with Vinu Mohan)^[13]
• 2007 – Sathyan Memorial Film Award for Best Newcomer – Nivedyam^[14]
• 2007 – Film Critics Award for Best Newcomer – Nivedyam^[15]
• 2007 – Ala Award for Best Actress – Nivedyam^[16]
• 2007 – Vanitha Nippon Award for Best Newcomer – Nivedyam^[17]
• 2009 – Mathrubhumi-Amritha Award for Best Screen Pair – Ivar Vivahitharayal (shared with Jayasurya)^[18]

Filmography

Television

• Greet n gift (Cabinet)
• Thaali (Surya TV)
• Kerala Samajam (Asianet) - 2019
• Comedy Stars (Asianet)
• Star Magic (Flowers)
• Top Singer (Flowers)