Lalitha was born as Maheshwari Amma at
Aranmula, in present day
Pathanamthitta District, on 10 March 1947. as the eldest among five children; her four siblings were Indira, Babu, Rajan and Shyamala. She is the child born five years after her parents' marriage. 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. Her family migrated to
Changanassery, Kottayam for her to join dance class. In a young age itself she had very much interest in dance. She learned to dance when she was a child under the guidance of Chellappan Pillai and then under 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
Kerala People's Arts Club (K. P. A. C.), which was a prominent leftist drama troupe in
Kerala. She was given the stage 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. == Acting career==