She made her acting debut with the Tamil film
Mann Vasanai in 1983. The film was a silver jubilee hit and she was rewarded with a
Filmfare Special Award – South. She then made her Malayalam film debut with the movie titled
Kattathe Kilikkoodu in 1983. This film too hit the gold at the box office and was among her biggest hits of the 1980s. . She was introduced to Telugu film industry with 1984 films,
Seethamma Pelli by director Bapu and
Manasa Veena. Revathy went on to play Seetha in
Pudhumai Penn (1984) directed by
Bharathiraja. The same year she also did
Vaidehi Kathirunthal, directed by
R. Sundarrajan. She was versatile in her choice of roles and often played strong, relatable women characters. Her big break, the one that put her name high on the charts, was her portrayal of Divya, a very spirited and headstrong girl who transforms into a
woman through the course of the movie, in
Mani Ratnam’s
Mouna Ragam (1986). She was cast opposite
Kamal Haasan in
Punnagai Mannan in 1986. Revathi won several accolades for her role in the film. The film too was a huge hit and established her as one of the most sought after actress of Tamil film industry. She finally won her first
Best Actress Award for her splendid performance in the Malayalam film
Kakkothikkavile Appooppan Thaadikal in 1988. She won her
Best Actress Award for Tamil film industry with the film titled
Kizhakku Vaasal in 1990. She gave hits after hits and gave one of her finest performance in
Priyadarshan’s Malayalam film
Kilukkam (1991). She made her debut in Hindi with
Suresh Krissna’s
Love (1991), co-starring
Salman Khan. She then won a
National Film Award under the category of
Best Supporting Actress for her Tamil film
Thevar Magan in 1992. She was at the peak of her career in the early 1990s. She also gave occasional appearance in Telugu and Kannada films as well. Revathy again won the
Filmfare Award in
Balu Mahendra’s
Marupadiyum (1993). The golden run lasted until the end of the 1990s, after appearing in some of her most well-regarded films in that decade
Anjali (1990),
Thevar Magan (1992),
Magalir Mattum (1994) were already behind her. She has also won the
Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize for
Thalaimurai in 1998. and
Abhishek Bachchan at an event Hindi audiences have savoured Revathi in
Margarita with a Straw (2014) and
2 States (2014). She has appeared in the Tamil films
Pa. Pandi (2017),
Jackpot (2019), and in the Malayalam
Virus (2019). She was seen in the bilingual Telugu and Hindi film
Major (2022), where she portrayed
Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan's mother, Dhanalakshmi. In addition to acting, Revathi has directed three features (
Mitr, My Friend,
Phir Milenge and
Salaam Venky) and contributed an episode each to the anthology films
Kerala Cafe and the unreleased
Mumbai Cutting. She won
Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress and
Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress – Malayalam in
Bhoothakaalam (2022). ==Personal life==