While ageing male actors continue to play heroes opposite much younger women in the film industry, actresses rarely receive comparable roles as they grow older. Instead of being cast as a leading lady, many are pushed into mother or character parts. In this context, an actress who once starred opposite Mammootty and Mohanlal is now playing an elderly woman on screen, even as her former co-stars continue to headline films as romantic leads.

Even today, a quick visit to YouTube brings up the song Vaachalam En Mounavum. In that sequence, Mohanlal dances and sings alongside a young Radhikaa Sarathkumar. At the time, Radhikaa was youthful, moving effortlessly in contemporary outfits, playing the character Devi. That same year, she was Mammootty’s heroine in Makan Ente Makan, directed by JC Daniel Award winner Sashikumar. Now, Radhikaa’s new film and striking transformation are drawing attention across social media.

Radhikaa, long associated with mother roles, is taking on a completely different character for the first time in Thaai Kizhavi. The look, teaser, and release date have already been unveiled. Her character is named Pavunuthayi, and the appearance has been created using prosthetics. She portrays a woman whom the entire village watches with a sense of fear. The teaser suggests a blend of comedy, drama, and suspense, with the central mystery unfolding when villagers gather, believing she has died.

A Tamil speaker, Radhikaa was born to actor MR Radha and Geetha. Her father hailed from a Telugu family settled in Chennai, while her mother Geetha was of Sri Lankan Tamil origin. Radhikaa studied in both India and Sri Lanka and briefly enrolled in a course in London, which she later left unfinished. Her younger sister Nirosha is also an actress, while Raju and Mohan are her brothers. Radha Ravi and MRR Vasu are her half-brothers.

Radhikaa entered the film industry in 1978 after meeting director Bharathiraja, making her debut in Kizhakke Pogum Rail. She went on to work extensively across Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam cinema. After two earlier marriages ended, she married actor Sarathkumar. She has a daughter, Rayane, from her second marriage to a foreign national. In February 2001, Radhikaa and Sarathkumar tied the knot after having acted together in films such as Namma Annachi and Sooryavamsam.

The couple later had a son, Rahul. Radhikaa’s daughter Rayane is married to cricketer Abhimanyu Mithun, and they have a son and a daughter. Now a grandmother to two young children in real life, Radhikaa is set to portray an elderly woman on screen, and audiences are keen to see how she brings this challenging role to life.