Malavika Mohanan

Malavika took time to consider the proposal before passing an audition and accepting terms to star in Pattam Pole (2013), and gradually learned about the process of acting as the shoot progressed. Owing to the original costume designer's illness, Malavika also worked as her own designer for the project.The romantic drama film, which narrated the relationship between a Tamil Brahmin youth and a Christian girl, received mixed reviews and did not perform well at the box office. A critic from Rediff.com noted that Malavika's "peppy girl act is far from being perfect but shows promise", while the Times of India's reviewers suggested that she did a "decent job".During the period, she continued having an interest in fashion, setting up an Indian ethnic fusion clothing brand called "The Scarlet Window".Her second film, Nirnayakam (2015), Malavika portrayed as a ballet dancer, won good reviews but also met with a tepid response commercially.Another film during the period, Naale opposite Fahadh Faasil, saw her portray a tribal girl but was later dropped midway through production.In 2016, Malavika worked on her first Kannada film, Naanu Mattu Varalakshmi (2016) opposite a debutant actor, Prithvi.Despite having a low-key release at the box office, the film won good reviews with Malavika's portrayal of the titular role of Varalakshmi being praised by critics.She then featured in the role of a police officer in the crime thriller The Great Father (2017), where she starred alongside an ensemble cast including Mammootty, Arya and Sneha.The film opened to positive reviews and performed well at the box office.In mid-2018, she signed on to appear in a role in Karthik Subbaraj's Petta (2019), which would feature her alongside an ensemble cast including Rajinikanth, Vijay Sethupathi and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. For the film, which marked her first project in the Tamil language, Malavika hired a Tamil-speaking tutor to help her practice her lines.Her next movie will be Hero in Telugu opposite Vijay Devarakonda. The movie will be directedby Anand Annamalai, co-writer of films like Kuttrame Thandanai and Kaaka Muttai.