Excerpts from an interview with Divya

Divya was only 14, and had just attained womanhood in the physiological sense of the term, when she faced the movie camera for the first time. But who would say that she was not a full-blown woman when she acted in Vinayan's Kalyanasaugandhikam? The girl with a trace of the Sridevi features in the eyes, lip-corners and the long, graceful legs and arms, is a bit truant too. Talk to her to be convinced of that witty mind behind those large eyes.

First cast as the heroine of Dileep, the rising star of those years, she was welcomed by movie-watchers across Kerala for her stellar performance, in her first film Kalyanasaugandhikam itself.

Divya's rise was meteoric, and it really was cause for a lot of jealousy in the Malayalam tinsel world. Just note who came after her for the next project? None other than I V Sasi for his mega project Varnappakittu. And who was her hero? Star of the stars, Mohan Lal. That was a real start.

The tender girl was handling the characters with surprising ease and maturity. For example, her enchanting performance as a sari-clad village wife and lover, with a sea of pain in the soul. All the super stars demanded her as their heroine and that gave her a record of being cast against all the super stars in the shortest duration: just three years. Opposite Suresh Gopi in Pranayavarnangal, with Mamootty in Oru Maravathoor Kanavu, as Mukesh's heroine in Friends, in the role of Jayaram's beloved in Karunyam and opposite Manoj K Jayan in Bharatan's Churam! What more can a newcomer into the world of dream-merchants hope for in life?

And think of the versatility the young actress has. Opposite Lal in Varnappakittu she was a grief-stricken lover, wife and widow. In Pranayavarnangal she gave a stunning performance as a modern girl in tight jeans and colourful tops. In Churam she surprised even Bharatan, that great director who never is satisfied with a serious scene without ten re-takes, with her role as a poor village wife in the typical Kerala dress of mundu (dhoti) and blouse.

But success has not gone into Divya Unni's head. She is proud that she did things well. "She is practical," says her mother. "She is groomed that way. She is a mature person in this tender age itself," says Unnikrishnan her father. "She will never leave her first passion, dancing, which has brought her so many acclaims," adds the mother. "I will dance and look for a job. Films are not everything in life. You can't remain there for long. And I know, God will always be with me," says the star herself.

And God never stops blessing her. Divya has two grand projects on hand just now: Vinayan's Madampi and Suresh Babu's as-yet-untitled film opposite Mamootty.