Urmila Unni is a classical dancer and actress who appears in Malayalam movies, having acted in several Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi movies.
Born into royalty as the daughter of K. C. Anujanraja and Manorama, she was born Swathi Thiunal Urmila Raja. Urmila is an accomplished dancer. She completed her education from the Infant Jesus Convent in Thrissur, and her higher education from Sree Keralavarma College, again in Thrissur. She studied the Veena for 7 years, under the renowned Thrissur Venkidachala Bhagavathar. She also learnt the classical dance arts from renowned teachers, Bharatha Natyam from Thrissur Natana Nikethanam and Mohiniattam from the famous Thrissur Janardhan Master. She has performed in over 500 shows, both in India, and abroad. Her love for dance and her desire to spread its knowledge has led to her beginning a dance institution named Mudra at Thrissur, that she has successfully run for over 10 years now. Her desire to educate the masses also led her to serve as a Malayalam teacher for 5 years at the Surakshita School in Thrissur.
Her acting career has spanned over 25 years and features movies including her debut Marattam which won several awards in 5 International Film Festivals, apart from movies including Sargam, Kathapurushan, and
Irattakuttikalude Achan
; from Panchaloham, to Susanna, from Mazha, Aparichathan, to Pauran parayam, and Bharathchandran I.P.S, etc.
She has also has acted in several serials on the silver screen including the highly popular Velankani Mathavu, Kathayariathey, Devi Mahathmyam,
Amrutha Varshini
, Neeti Vacha Madhuvidhu, Melotty Kozhinyunna Ilakal, Darussalam, Njangal Santhushtarannu.
She has also showed an interest in collecting antique, rare materials especially ornaments and is also well known for her designs that she makes of ornaments, garments and idols etc. Her love for literature has also led her to publish a book on poetry called ”Panchalika” in 1994, and a book called ”Cinimayude Katha Cinimaktha” in 1995 which provided a description on the technical aspects of Cinema, and is now used as a reference text book at the M.G University.