# Abhija Sivakala

Abhija Sivakala is an Indian actress in the Malayalam film industry. She is also a notable theatre artist and a dancer.

## Early life

Abhija was born in Vannapuram, a small town near Thodupuzha, Idukki district, Kerala. Her father, KR Sivadas and mother, KK Rugmini were both Government employees. She has a younger sister, Atmaja Manidas, who is also an artist and actress.
She completed her schooling from SNMHS, Vannapuram. She joined St Joseph's College, Moolamattam in the science stream only to realize that art was her passion. She then enrolled in College of Fine Arts Trivandrum and graduated in Applied Arts.
Abhija started her career as an animator in Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore. She later moved to Bangalore and worked in various IT companies in the field of animation and visual designing.

## Dance

Bangalore opened up a lot of dance avenues for Abhija. She is trained in Kathak by Guru Murali Mohan Kalvakalva of Nadam and Odissi by Guru Sharmila Mukherjee of Sanjali Centre for Odissi Dance. She is also trained in folk and contemporary dance forms.
She has also attended dance workshops by Pandit Birju Maharaj, Saswati Sen; Surupa Sen, Bijayini Satpathy, Pavithra Reddy of Nrityagram; Bhriga Bessel to name a few.

## Theatre

A couple of years of professional life made Abhija realize that acting is her calling. Playing the lead role in Abhinaya Theatre Research Centre's Macbeth kick started her career in theatre. And since then, she has worked with many Indian and international directors like Elias Cohen (Chile), David Berga (Catalonia), Francoise Calvel (France), Alexandra (La Patriotico Interesante, a street theatre production group, Chile) etc.
| Name | Details |
| Macbeth | An independent adaptation of William Shakespeare's Macbeth directed by Jyothish MG of Abhinaya Theatre Research Centre, Thiruvananthapuram. Abhija played the lead role of Lady Macbeth. |
| Saree Rosa | Devised and performed at International Theatre Festival, Kerala by La Patriotico Interesante, a street theatre production group from Chile |
| Automatarium | Directed by David Berga, Catalonia |
| Once Upon a Time | An English clown theatre production directed by Francoise Calvel from France |
| Pacha | A Malayalam theatre production directed by Surjith Gopinath of School of Drama & Fine Arts, Thrissur |
| Invisible Cities | A Malayalam adaptation of Italo Calvino's novel, directed by Firos Khan, National School of Drama |
| Tsunami Express | A multilingual production, in collaboration with Indian and Latin American artists, directed by Elias Cohen from Chile |
| Las Indias | A multilingual, multicultural community dance and music theatre project, directed by Elias Cohen from Chile |
| Karuna | A dance drama directed by veteran film maker Lenin Rajendran. Abhija portrayed the lead character of Vasavadatta in this adaptation of Kumaranasan's Karuna and performed extensively in Kerala |

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2012 | Bachelor Party | Uncredited | |
| 2013 | Last Puff | Shailaja | Short film |
| 2013 | Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi | Paaru | |
| 2013 | Mazhayodoppam Mayunnathu | God | Short film Version |
| 2014 | Seconds | Thampi's wife | |
| 2014 | Njan Steve Lopez | Anjali | |
| 2015 | Love 24x7 | Shweta Pillai | |
| 2015 | Lukka Chuppi | Renuka | |
| 2015 | Ozhivu Divasathe Kali | Maid | |
| 2016 | Mundrothuruth | Servant | |
| 2016 | School Bus | Servant | |
| 2016 | Action Hero Biju | Sindhu | |
| 2017 | Sakhisona | Heera Malini | Bengali Short film |
| 2017 | Udaharanam Sujatha | Thulasi | |
| 2017 | Catharsis | Sreeja | Short film |
| 2018 | Aabhaasam | Maoist | |
| 2018 | Kinar/Keni | ACP Uma Maheshwari | Tamil |
| 2018 | Murippadukal | Shantha | Short film Social awareness film by Department of Animal Husbandry, Govt. of Kerala |
| 2019 | Idam | Soumya | Screened at - PickurFlick Indie Film Festival 2020, India South Film and Arts Academy Festival 2020, Chili International Film Festival 2020, New Delhi Festival Cinematografico de Mérida 2020, Mexico Darbhanga International Film Festival 2020, India New York Indian Film Festival 2019 |
| 2020 | Error | Chinnu | Short film |
| 2021 | Confessions of a Cuckoo | Shobha Vincent | |
| 2021 | Sarcas Circa 2020 | | |
| 2021 | Krishnankutty Pani Thudangi | Tamil servant | |
| 2022 | Pada | CK Leela | |
| 2022 | Heaven | SP Revathi Subramaniam IPS | |
| 2022 | Bharatha Circus | SP Sarah Simon | |
| 2023 | Charles Enterprises | Parvatham | |
| 2023 | Neeraja | Chitra | |
| 2023 | Family | Jaya | |