Unni Mukundan

Unnikrishnan Mukundan Nair, is better known as Unni Mukundan in the film fraternity.

Mukundan grew up in the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat and did his schooling at Pragati Higher Secondary School there. He attended Prajyoti Niketan College in Thrissur, from where he completed his graduation in English Literature and Journalism.

Before becoming an actor, Mukundan had joined the BPO industry. He gave up on his well-paying job in the field to fulfil his dream of becoming an actor.

Mukundan debuted in the film industry with Seedan (2011), a romantic fantasy drama in which he played the lead role. His next film was 1993 Bombay March 12 (2011), where he shared the screen with renowned actor Mammootty. The film's storyline revolved around the bomb blasts that shook Mumbai (then Bombay) in 1993.

His debut performance won him several awards, including the Best Debutant Actor Award at the South Indian International Movie Awards 2011 (SIIMA), the Best Newcomer of the Year Award at the Jaihind TV Film Awards 2011, and the Best New Face of the Year Award at the Asianet Film Awards 2012.

His next appearance was in the satirical comedy-drama film Thatsamayam Oru Penkutty (2012), directed by T.K. Rajeev Kumar.

Mukundan later impressed the audience with his performance in the action comedy Mallu Singh (2012). The character played by Mukundan was loved by the audience, and the film ran at the theatres for more than 100 days.

After making cameo appearances in movies like Theevram (2012) and The Hitlist (2012), Mukundan appeared in the lead role in I Love Me (2012). He went on to act in films like Orissa (2013) and Ithu Pathiramanal (2013), both of which were directed by M. Padmakumar. He was also a part of the action-thriller anthology D Company (2013) and the adventure-thriller movie, The Last Supper (2014).

Mukundan's next big screen venture was Vikramadithyan (2014), a comedy-drama film that opened to positive reviews and ran for more than 100 days in theatres.

His journey as an actor continued with films like KL 10 Patthu (2015), Samrajyam II: Son of Alexander (2015), Fireman (2015), Style (2016), and Oru Murai Vanthu Paarthaya (2016).

He made his debut in the Telugu film industry in 2016 with the action-drama film Janatha Garage (2016), which was written and directed by Koratala Siva. The film grossed over Rs. 41 crores on the first day of its release, making it the biggest opener among Telugu films in 2016. It went on to earn Rs. 100 crores worldwide.

In 2017, Mukundan played one of the lead roles in the comedy crime thriller Achayans (2017). Mukundan made his debut as a singer and lyricist with this movie.

In the same year, Clint (2017), a biographical film based on Edmund Thomas Clint, a child prodigy who made more than 25,000 paintings in his short life of just seven years, was released. The film was directed by Harikumar, and Mukundan played the role of Joseph, the child prodigy's father.

Mukundan's other releases in 2017 included Avarude Raavukal (2017) and Masterpiece (2017). The latter was an action mystery thriller film directed by Ajai Vasudev in which Mukundan appeared in the negative role of ACP John Thekkan IPS. It became the first Malayalam movie to be dubbed in Russian.

In 2018, Mukundan played a pivotal role in Bhaagamathie (2018), a Tamil-Telugu bilingual film starring Anushka Shetty. The film grossed more than Rs. 51 crores in its worldwide collection in the first week. He followed it up with films like Ira (2018), Chanakyatanthram (2018), Mikhael (2019), Mamangam: History of the Brave (2019), Bhramam (2021), Meppadiyan (2022), 12th Man (2022), and Shefeekkinte Santhosham (2022).

He also played the lead role in Malikappuram (2022), an action-adventure drama film. The film was made on a budget of about Rs. 3.5 crores and went on to earn more than Rs. 50 crores.

Mukundan launched his film production company called Unni Mukundan Films in 2020. His company has produced films like Meppadiyan (2022) and Shefeekkinte Santhosham (2022).

Mukundan was presented with the Pravasi Express Award for the Youth Icon category in 2013. He also bagged the Anand TV Award for Youth Icon in 2017.