Mallika Sukumaran
Born	Mohamallika Pillai (1954-11-04) 4 November 1954 (age 69) Haripad, State of Travancore–Cochin, India
Occupations	Actress businesswoman dubbing artist
Years active	1974–present
Spouse	Jagathy Sreekumar ​ ​ (m. 1974; div. 1976)​ Sukumaran ​ ​ (m. 1978; died 1997)​
Children	Indrajith Sukumaran Prithviraj Sukumaran
Relatives	Poornima Indrajith (daughter-in-law) Prarthana Indrajith (granddaughter)

Mohamallika Pillai (born 4 November 1954^[1]), better known as Mallika Sukumaran is an Indian actress and businesswoman, known for her works in Malayalam cinema. She debuted in 1974 with the Malayalam film Utharayanam by G. Aravindan. Since then, she has appeared in over 60 films. She won the Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actress for her role in the 1974 film Swapnadanam.

Mallika's first appearance in television was in a tele-serial by K. K. Rajeev called Peythozhiyathe. She won the Second Best Actress Award in the Kaveri Film Critics Television Awards (2004) for her role in the serial American Dreams. She is well known for her comedic roles as well as her character roles. She made her debut in Tamil cinema with the 2008 film Vaazhthugal. Mallika has also acted in some advertisements and participated in some talk shows and game shows. She runs a restaurant in Doha. Now she is acting in a Malayalam serial Surabhiyum Suhasiniyum.

Early life and family

She was born as Mohamallika Pillai to Kainikkara Madhavan Pillai and Shobha as youngest among four children.^[2] Her father was a Gandhian and political activist, and was the younger brother of Kainikkara Padmanabha Pillai and Kainikkara Kumara Pillai. She has an elder brother, M. Velayudhan Pillai and two elder sisters, Premachandrika and Ragalathika. She had her primary education from Government Higher Secondary School for Girls, Cotton Hill. She pursued a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Government College for Women, Thiruvananthapuram.^[3]

Film career

Mallika made her acting debut in 1974 with the Malayalam film Utharayanam directed by G. Aravindan and written by Thikkodiyan. She played the role of Radha. In the same year, she won the Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actress for her role of Rosy Cherian in Swapnadanam. Later on, she was known for her antagonistic and comedic roles.^[4][5] In 1975, she acted in the film Boy Friend and later in Pichathikutappan (1979), directed by P. Venu. When she married the Malayalam actor Sukumaran, she left her acting career. She sang the song "Ormayundo" in P. P. Govindan's 1977 film Saritha, along with P. Jayachandran.^[1]

After a break, she returned to acting with the television serial Peythozhiyathe directed by K. K. Rajeev. Her future daughter-in-law Poornima Indrajith was also part of the cast, it was during its sets that her son Indrajith Sukumaran and Poornima met.^[6] Valayam, Snehadooram, Sthree Oru Santhwanam, Harichandhanam, American Dreams, Indhumukhi Chandhramathi and Porutham are some of her popular tele-serials. She also got a film-TV critics award for her role in the serial American Dreams.^[7]

Her first movie in her comeback is the Rajasenan movie Meghasandesham. Suresh Gopi was the hero of this movie. Her role in Ranjith's Ammakkilikkoodu was widely appreciated. Recently she has judged the popular reality show Amma Ammmayiyamma, telecasting on Kairali TV. She has acted in some advertisements also.

Her debut Tamil film was Vaazhthugal directed by Sebastian Seeman.^[8] In 2016, she won the lifetime achievement award, Chalachithra Prathibha Award, by the Kerala Film Critics Association Award.^[9]

Personal life

After romancing for 10 years, she married then struggling actor Jagathy Sreekumar in 1976, she eloped with him to Madras without the consent of her family. However, they got legally separated in 1979.^{[citation needed]} On 17 October 1978, she married Malayalam actor Sukumaran. After marriage, she retired from acting.^[10] Her sons Prithviraj Sukumaran and Indrajith Sukumaran are leading actors in Malayalam cinema.^[11] Actress and television anchor Poornima Indrajith is her daughter in law.

In 2012, she opened a beauty and skin clinic at Doha, along with her friend. She holds a residence permit in Doha.^[12] In 2013, she launched Spice Boat, a multicuisine restaurant at West Bay, Doha. She is the CEO and the Executive Chairperson of the restaurant. By 2016, the restaurant opened six more outlets around Doha.^[13] She has a villa in Doha.^[3] In hometown, she has a house at Thiruvananthapuram where she grew up. Her sons are settled in Kochi.^[14]

Filmography

Films

1960s

1970s

1980s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Albums as an actress

• 2020 : Ammakkorummma as Herself
• 2022 : Thanal Thedi as Amma^{[citation needed]}

As assistant director

• Madanolsavam
• Kanyakumari
• 2 Sreekumaran Thampi's movies

As production controller

• Irakal
• Padayani

Playback singing

• Saritha (1977) - Ormayundo
• My Great Grandfather (2019) - Grandpa

As dubbing artist

• Adavukal Pahinettu (1978) for Seema
• Avalude Ravukal (1978) for Seema
• Vanisri's other language dubbing movies
• Hema Choudhary's other language dubbing movies
• Kalpana other language dubbing movies
• Tamaar Padaar (2014) as Vanitha ; Pouran's mother (Voice only)
• 12th Man (2022) as Zakariah's mother (Voice only)
• Kaduva (2022) for Seema
• Alone (2023) as Neighbourhood aunty of Kalidas

Television

• All the programs are television serials, unless otherwise mentioned.