Urvashi

Some Lesser Known Facts About Urvashi

• Urvashi, aka Kavitha Manoranjin,i was born in a family of actors as her parents and siblings worked in many Malayalam films.

• Her family moved to Chennai when she was in class nine, and she stopped studying due to her acting commitments.

• She started acting at age 10 in the Malayalam film Kathirmandapam (1979) as the daughter of actress Jayabharathi.

• In 1980, she appeared as Srividya’s dance student in the Malayalam film Dwik Vijayam in a song sequence with sister, Kalpana.

• In 1983, she acted as a child artist in the Tamil film Ninaivukal Maraivathillai, which was not released.

• Her first heroine role was in the Tamil film Thodarum Uravu, shot in 1983 and released in 1986. Her first released Tamil film as heroine was Mundhanai Mudichu (1983) directed by K. Bhagyaraj, which became a box office success.

• Her early Malayalam films include Ethirppukal (1984), which was among her first releases in the language. She acted in the award-winning Malayalam film Kazhakam (1995) without taking any remuneration, winning the Kerala State Best Actress Award.

• She wrote the Malayalam films Utsavamelam and Pidakkozhi Koovunna Noottandu, producing the latter. She won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress in Achuvinte Amma (2005) after returning from a six-year break.

• She won the award again for Ullozhukku (2024), becoming a two-time National Award recipient in the category. She holds the record of six Kerala State Best Actress Awards, including three consecutive wins from 1989 to 1991.

• Her career spans over 702 films in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi, along with television hosting and dubbing. She hosted the Kannada television show Krazy Couple on Zee Kannada.

• She stated in a 2023 interview that the main cause was alcohol addiction. According to Urvashi, Manoj and his family regularly consumed alcohol and initially encouraged her to drink.

• Over time, this turned into a daily habit for her, which led to serious problems in their marriage. Urvashi said that this situation eventually led to their separation and also became the reason why custody of their daughter, Tejalakshmi, was taken from her.

• The couple got married in 2000 and divorced in 2008. After the divorce, Urvashi married businessman Sivaprasad in 2013 and has a son named Ishaan Prajapathi.

• Manoj K Jayan remarried Asha in 2011, and they have a son named Amrit, born in 2012.