She completed a Masters in Business Administration from Madras University with a first rank, and a master's degree in Performing Arts from the Rabindra Bharati University with a first rank and gold medal. She completed a Ph.D in Mohiniyattam from Bharathidasan University, Tamil Nadu, 2013. She has been a lecturer in the Department of Post-graduate Studies and at the Research Department of Kerala Kalamandalam University, Kerala. She was also Head of the Department of International Students at Kerala Kalamandalam University.
Career
Methil Devika is an educator, scholar and proponent of the Indian Classical Dance form of Mohiniyattam. Her performances at dance concerts in the USA, Europe, Australia, Esplanade theatre Singapore, and for major festivals like the Kerala Fine Arts Society and the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar youth festival, have been praised for how she has redefined Mohiniyattam by exploring universal human emotions. Devika has given lecture-demonstrations and paper-presentations in various schools and institutes in India and at universities abroad propagating Mohiniyattam and Malayalam literature, music, and poetry through her art. She has curated festivals such as the five day 2017 Chilanka Dance Festival in Thiruvananthapuram. She also appeared in a 2015 theatre adaptation of the playNaaga with her husband, Mukesh, and his sister, Sandhya Rajendan, directed by Suveeran. Later in 2017 she made her film debut in Humans of Someone directed by Sumesh Lal. In 2018, Devika appeared in and provided the narration for the short film documentarySarpatatwam, based on her interpretation of the work of an 11th century poet. She set the lyrics to music, choreographed and performed the dance, also serving as co-director and co-producer.
Personal life
Devika married Rajeev Nair in 2002 and settled in Bangalore where they had a son, Devang. Divorcing soon after Devang's birth, Devika relocated to Palakkad, and opened "Sripada Natya Kalari", a dance school in Palakkad. She married popular Malayalam actor Mukesh on 24 October 2013. It was also his second marriage.
Awards
She won the State honour Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy Award for Mohiniyattam for 2010 and the National Award Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Award instituted by the Kendra Sangeetha Nataka Academy for 2007. She also won the Devadasi National Award from the Government of Orissa in 2010. She received the Nirod Baran Award from West Bengal for her proficiency in dance theories and practice. Devika is an 'A' graded artiste in Doordarshan and was empaneled in SPIC MACAY, Delhi. She is an empaneled artiste with, and fellow of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations Delhi. She won the Madras Music Academy's Best Dancer Award in 2016 for the mid-year fest.
