Jalaja is an actress in Malayalam film whICH was active during the 1970s and 1980s. She had won Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress and Filmfare Award for Best Actress in 1981 for the movie Venal directed by Lenin Rajendran. She is one of the few actors to have acted in the films of most great film-makers of Malayalam cinema, both for art-house and commercial films.She is born on 13 December 1961 to a Professor Thakazhiyil Vasudevan Pilla and Saraswathiyamma in Malaysia. She studied there till her fourth grade and then migrated to India, due to Civil war in Malaysia. She had her primary education from Asan Memorial Senior Secondary School, Madras, Ambalappuzha English Medium School and her Pre-degree from St. Joseph College, Alappuzha. She did her Bachelors and Masters in English Literature from Women's college Thiruvananthapuram.