Malavika Mohanan is an Indian actress who predominantly works in the South Indian film industry, especially in Malayalam and Tamil films. She is the daughter of cinematographer
K.U. Mohanan.
She studied at Wilson College, Mumbai, and has a bachelor's degree in Mass Media. While preparing for higher studies, she accompanied her father during a fairness cream shoot, which starred the Malayalam actor
Mammootty. He enquired about Mohanan's interest in acting and went on to offer her a role in the Malayalam film
Pattam Pole (2013) opposite his son
Dulquer Salmaan. She played the role of Riya in this film.
She went on to act in the film
Nirnnayakam (2015) as Saral, which earned her great reviews. In 2016, she debuted in Kannada films with
Naanu Mattu Varalakshmi (2016) alongside
G.K.V. Prithvi. She played the role of the protagonist Varalakshmi which gained her good reviews from the critics.
In 2017, she debuted in Hindi films with the film
Beyond the Clouds (2017) as Tara. The film was screened at multiple international film festivals before its release. She also appeared in the Malayalam film
The Great Father (2017) as Meera the same year.
She debuted in the Tamil industry with the film
Petta (2019), where she played the role of Poongodi Malik. She hired a Tamil-speaking tutor to help her with her dialogues in this film. And in 2020, Mohanan appeared in the web series
Masaba Masaba (2020) on Netflix.
In 2021, she appeared in the Tamil film
Master (2021) as Charulatha alongside
Joseph Vijay. And in 2022, Mohanan was cast in the film
Maaran (2022) as Thara opposite
Dhanush and appeared in the music video
Badshah & Payal Dev: Tauba (2022) sung by
Payal Dev and
Badshah. She also appeared in
Christy (2023), where she played the lead role.
In 2019, she was featured on the cover of the SMARTlife magazine. And the same year, she won the Acting Sensation of the Year at the Asiavision Awards.