Showing all artists born at Perinthalmanna

Maheshwari Amma (born February 25, 1947), better known by her stage name K. P. A. C. Lalitha, is an Indian film and stage actress who works primarily in Malayalam cinema and few Tamil films. She was married to the Bharathan, a Malayalam filmmaker.
K. P. A. C. Lalitha was born as eldest among five children as Maheshwari Amma on February 25, 1947 in Aranmula, Trivandrum, Kerala to Kadaykatharayil Veettil K. Ananthan Nair and Bhargavi Amma. She has four siblings Indira, Babu, Rajan and Shyamala. Her father was a photographer who was from Kayamkulam and mother was a housewife who was from Aranmula. She spent most of her childhood at Ramapuram near Kayamkulam, Alappuzha. Her family migrated to Changanassery, Kotttayam for her to join dance class.She learned to dance when she was still a child under the Chellappan Pilla and then with Kalamandalam Gangadharan. She started acting in plays when she was 10 years old.

Her first appearance on stage was in the play Geethayude Bali. She later joined K.P.A.C. (Kerala People's Arts Club), which was a prominent leftist drama troupe in Kerala. She was given the screen-name Lalitha and later when she started acting in movies, the tag K.P.A.C. was added to her screen-name to differentiate it from another actress known as Lalitha.
Her first movie was the film adaptation ofKoottukudumbam directed by K. S. Sethumadhavan. In 1978 she married Bharathan, a noted Malayalam film director.

She took a break from film acting for sometime, doing only a few films. The second era of her career started with Kattathe Kilikkoodu (1983) directed by her husband. During this time, she did many critically acclaimed roles including those in Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam (1986), Ponn Muttyidunna Tharavu (1988), Mukunthetta Sumitra Vilikkunnu (1988), Vadakku Nooki Yanthram (1989), Dasharatham (1989), Venkalam (1993), Godfather (1991), Amaram (1991), Vietnam Colony (1993), Pavithram (1993), Manichitrathazhu (1994), Sphadikam (1995), and Aniyathi Pravu (1997). She won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Amaram (1991), a film directed by her husband Bharathan.

In 1998, when Bharathan died, she took a break for a few months only to come back with a brilliant performance in Sathyan Anthikkad directed Veendum Chila Veetukaryangal (1999). K.P.A.C. Lalitha's notable roles in recent years were in Shantham (2000), Life Is Beautiful (2000) and Valkannadi (2002). She won her second National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Shantham (2000), directed by Jayaraj. She still appears in films.

K.P.A.C. Lalitha has acted in over 500 films in Malayalam cinema. Apart from Malayalam, She has also acted in some Tamil films including Kadhalukku Mariyadhai (1997), Alaipayuthey (2000) and Kireedam (2007). Particularly, her performance in Tamil film Kadhalukku Mariyadhai as Shalini's mother won her critical acclaim.