Kalamandalam Radhika

Kalamandalam Radhika is an actress who works predominantly in Malayalam film industry. Besides being an actress she is also a classical dancer, choreographer, and an ambassador of Mohiniyattam. Apart from the field of acting and dancing, she is also a research scholar, writer, teacher, and a philanthropist. She has received Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi Award which is an award for Mohiniyattam and became the first ever non-resident Keralite to win that. Radhika was born in Bangalore to a well-known Chartered Accountant, KK Nair Bio coming soon... >> Read More... . She started dancing when she was just three years old and with time she became passionate about it. Henceforth she decided to continue practicing dancing. She learned two dance forms Kathakali and Mridhangamvaitharis under Muttae Sri NarayanaPanicker and Guru Ponniahpillai. She also completed her studies simultaneously. In the late 1960s, she went to Cheruthuruthy and stayed for four years at the Kalamandalam.

Under the guidance of Chinnamu Amma, Kalamandalam Padmanabhan Nair as well as Kalamandalam Sathyabhama and with continuous practice she changed into a complete dancer and performer. Taking tuitions and learning from Kalamandalam Kalyani KuttyAmma and being trained by Kalamandalam Padmanabha Ashan boost her confidence and turned her into an excellent dancer. Radhika has done over 2000 stage shows in India as well as abroad. She has performed both at national and international levels. She has performed for delegates of WHO, SAARC, several diplomats, for various Soviet representatives and various others. She is the acclaimed member of the international dance council of UNESCO. She even started her research in one of the dance forms Mohiniyattam and did extensive research in it, studied and created new sets of jewelry, costumes of the dancers of this dance form.

She even reorganized the steps of Mohiniyattam of the 1940s. She introduced various biblical themes through her dance in India after turning into a choreographer and conducted different workshops all over the world. She was criticized by people for introducing biblical themes but proved them wrong with her hard work and dedication. Besides choreographing she also started writing various articles for a dance and music magazine Shrutilaya. She wrote about Mohiniyattam in a seminar about dance education in schools. The films she has worked in the year 2011 and 2012 are Kadhayile Rajakumari, Manmagramam and Gramam in Tamil as well as Malayalam