Unni Mukundan

Unnikrishnan Mukundan commonly known as Unni Mukundan (born 22 September 1987) is an Indian film actor, who predominantly appears in Malayalam films. He has also acted in a few Tamil and Telugu films.

Unni Mukundan made his acting debut with the Tamil film Seedan (2011), a remake of Nandanam (2002). After playing several small roles, Unni got his breakthrough with his lead role in Vysakh's action comedy Mallu Singh (2012). Later, he went on to do major roles in several Malayalam films including commercially successful films like KL 10 Patthu (2015), Style (2016) and Oru Murai Vanthu Parthaya (2016). He made his Tollywood debut with the 2016 film Janatha Garage.

Unni Mukundan made his debut as a lyricist and singer with the film Achayans. He has also sponsored road safety measures by appearing in the motor vehicle department's advertisements.

Personal life
Unni Mukundan was born on 22 September 1987 as the son of Mukundan Nair and Roji Mukundan. He has an elder sister named Karthika. Even though he is a Malayali by birth, he was brought up in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. In his early days, he used to work with Motif, now known as TTEC.

Debut and initial success (2011–2013)
In 2011, Unni made his film debut in Tamil film Seedan, a remake of the Malayalam film Nandanam. Unni entered the Malayalam film industry through Bombay March 12 alongside Mammootty, directed by Babu Janardhanan. For his performance in Bombay March 12, he was adjudged best newcomer by SIIMA, Asianet Film Awards, Asiavision, Jaihind TV, Amrita TV and Vanitha Film Awards. He played a supporting role in Thalsamayam Oru Penkutty, directed by T. K. Rajeev Kumar.

Unni got his turning point from the Movie Mallu Singh (2012) directed by Vyshakh. The movie became a huge hit and ran over 100 days. He did cameo appearances in movies Theevram and Hitlist. In the same year, he appeared in Ezham Suryan and I love Me directed by B Unnikrishnan. His action sequences where well acclaimed by the audience.

In 2013 he appeared in Ithu Pathiramanal and Orissa, both directed by M Padmakumar. Also he was seen in D Company an anthology of three independently shot action films.

Breakthrough (2014–present)
In 2014, he appeared in The Last Supper directed by Vinil turned out to be a flop. But in the same year, he made a comeback by playing one of the titular role along with Dulquer Salmaan in super hit movie Vikramadithyan directed by Lal Jose. A critic from Ibtimes wrote "Unni Mukundan has made a massive comeback with this Lal Jose directorial. He nailed his character as Vikraman, a young man with well controlled emotions and realistic attitudes".

In 2015, he was seen in supporting role in the Mammootty starrer Fireman directed by Deepu Karunakaran. Same year, he played the lead role in the movie Samrajyam II: Son of Alexander as Jordan, the son of Alexander who was the protagonist in the prequel. He next release was KL 10 Patthu written and directed by debutant Muhsin Parari.

In 2016, he did action thriller movie Style which turned out to be a decent commercial entertainer. He was then seen in critically acclaimed movie Kaattum Mazhayum and fantasy romantic comedy film Oru Murai Vanthu Parthaya. He made his Telugu debut with the film Janatha Garage in an antagonistic role as Raghava, son of Sathyam (Mohanlal). The film was both commercial success and critically acclaimed. It was the highest-grossing Telugu film of the year.

In 2017 film Achayans, he made his debut as a lyricist and singer. He played one of the lead role along with Jayaram and Adil Ibrahim in the movie and it turned out to be a commercial success. In the same year, he was seen in another multi hero movie Avarude Raavukal along with Asif Ali which received mixed reviews. In August of the same year Clint with director Harikumar was released, in which he played the role of Joseph, father of Edmund Thomas Clint, a child prodigy known for having drawn over 25,000 paintings during his short life of seven years. He was seen in two different looks as a 35-year old and a 73-year-old man in the film. For this film he received Ramu Kariat Movie Award for the Best Actor. His last release of 2017 was Mammootty starrer Masterpiece in which he played the villain role and Tharangam in which he played an extended cameo.

In 2018, he did Tamil-Telugu Bilingual film Bhaagamathie along with Anuskha Shetty which turned out to be both commercial success and critically acclaimed. His next releases were two thriller movies Ira and Chanakyathanthram. Both the films received positive reviews and was commercially successful.

His first release of 2019 was Haneef Adeni's Mikhael, in which he portrayed the role of antagonist Marco Jr.

Upcoming Movies
His upcoming releases include historical drama Mamangam along with Mammootty. He will be also seen in Vishnu Mohan's Meppadiyan which is based on true events.

Production house
Unni Mukundan launched his new film production company Unni Mukundan Films (UMF)''  on 17 August 2020.

Filmography

 * All films are in Malayalam, except where noted.