Biography

Miss Kumari has won two Madras State Award for Best Actress for her performances in Aniyathi (1955) and Aana Valarthiya Vanampadi (1961).

Her fame reached a fever pitch in 1954 with the release of Neelakuyil, where she starred alongside Sathyan. Neelakuyil was a huge success at the box office and wins the President's Silver Medal and marks the first time this honor had been bestowed on a South Indian film. It is now regarded a landmark film in Malayalam film history.

Miss Kumari has, in her career spanning 18 years done, 34 films.

Miss Kumari was totally cut off from the world of cinema during her last days. She lived in isolation, indifferent of what was happening around her. Some Kochi-based film journalists who had met her knew what was happening. She seemed to be tormented, in a state of mental agony and fear.

In 1963, Miss Kumari married Hormis Thaliath, an engineer at F.A.C.T Kochi. She immediately retired from the industry to focus on family life. The couple had three children: Johnny, Thomas, and Babu. Johnny is in the finance business, Thomas is a Computer Engineer in California and Babu is a Professor in the Centre of German Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi.