Popular South Indian actress and Bharatanatyam dancer Divya Unni's father Unnikrishnan passed away due to heart attack on Thursday morning. He was 71. Unnikrishnan was a trustee of the Ponneth Temple and is survived by wife Umadevi and daughters Divya and Vidya Unni. Divya Unni recently honored her father on the occasion of Father's Day in June and shared photos with him, while also penning a heartfelt note. She wrote, "If one's Father is happy, all deities are pleased. Father's Day wishes to the biggest blessing of my life. My rock of strength pillar of support and shade of shelter. Happy Father's Day dear Achan. Wishing all the awesome fathers a very happy #fathersday2021." 

Divya Unni got married to Arun Kumar, a US-based engineer, in 2018 and was blessed with a baby girl on January 14, 2020. The actress also has two children from her first marriage to Sudhir Sekharan Menon. A trained Bharatanatyam dancer, the popular actress is running a dance school in the United States and often shares photos with her family on social media. The actress garnered a big fan following in Malayalam cinema in the 1990s and 2000s and starred opposite superstars like Mohanlal, Mammootty and Jayaram. She is currently settled in the U.S. and has been seen in only a few roles after the early 2000s. Divya debuted in Malayalam cinema as a child actress before landing the lead role in the 1996 film Kalyana Sowgandhikam. Some other notable roles include Mohanlal's Usthad, Mukesh's Aakasha Ganga under Vinayan's direction, Dileep's Nee Varuvolam directed by Sibi Malayil and Jayaram's Karunyam made by Lohithadas. 

Outside of her extensive work in Malayalam cinema, Divya Unni has also made appearances in Tamil films like Arjun's Vedham, Sathyaraj's Aandan Adimai under Manivannan's direction, Palayathu Amman directed by Rama Narayanan, Kannan Varuvaan under Sundar. C's direction and starring Karthik.