Niuma Mohamed

Niuma Mohamed (pronounced ; 20 October 1977) is a Maldivian film actress, director, and producer.

The highest-paid actress in Maldives, Mohamed is the recipient of several awards, including two Gaumee Film Awards, and four Maldives Film Awards.

She holds the record for collecting all three Maldives Film Awards for Best Actress in a feature film.

Mohamed was born on 20 October 1977 in GDh. Vaadhoo, the youngest of six siblings.

A die-hard fan of Amitabh Bachchan, Rekha, Aamir Khan, and Kajol, she frequently listened to Voice of Maldives and watched Bollywood films, which inspired her to become an actress.

Mohamed attended Maafannu Madharusa school and she calls her experience there a "joyous ride".

She completed eight standard school years with no intention of studying further.

In 1993, she worked in the Villingili government as her first job.

The next year, she joined a taxi centre and four months later, she received a call from Mariyam Shauqee, a producer for Television Maldives, praising her voice and offering to cast Mohamed in one of her films.

After completing eight years of standard education, she dropped out of school and joined a taxi centre where a customer, a producer of Television Maldives, offered her to make her career debut with the drama series Hithi Thajuribaa (1994).

At the age of seventeen, the young actress made her career debut in Shaugee's television drama series Hithi Thajuribaa (1994) alongside Ali Shameel, Aminath Rasheedha, and Arifa Ibrahim.

She later joined a class to complete her GCE Ordinary Level exam but instead "evaded" for a film shooting, using the money she saved up for her exam fee.

Once her talent was recognized with Hithi Thajuribaa, Mohamed was offered several other film roles.

She first acted in the film Badhal (1996), though her first release was Hagu An'bi (1996).

In the former, she starred alongside Hamid Ali, Hussain Sobah, and Waleedha Waleed while playing the role of Shiuna, the charismatic and intelligent teenage daughter of a wealthy businessman who is being duped in a series of unfortunate events.

At the 1996 Aafathis Awards ceremony, Mohamed received the Best actress, Best Dance, and Best Performer awards.

The same year, she starred opposite Arifa Ibrahim, Abdul Raheem, and Ibrahim Wisan in Mohamed Rasheed's Hifehettumeh Neiy Karuna, where she played the role of Thasneem, an orphan who has been mistreated and abused by her adoptive mother.

This was followed by Yoosuf Rafeeu's comedy Nibu (1996), an unofficial remake of Gulzar's Bollywood comedy Angoor (1982), which focuses on two pairs of identical twins separated at birth and how their lives go haywire when they meet in adulthood.

Despite some criticism, she soon received several offers and starred in the horror film Fathis Handhuvaru (1997), which proved to be a breakthrough for her.

Easa Shareef's horror film Fathis Handhuvaru (1997), where are starred opposite Reeko Moosa Manik, proved to be a breakthrough for Mohamed.

The film tells the story of a married young woman who falls in love with a ghost.

The film is celebrated as the most successful Maldivian film with the highest number of shows screened upon release.

Mariyam Shauqee's widely acclaimed family drama television series Kahthiri was released in 1997; here Mohamed played the role of a doctor living in a congested housing complex while dealing with various social issues.

The film was an unofficial remake of Karan Johar's romantic drama Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), starring Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, and Rani Mukerji.

The Amjad Ibrahim-directed Ainbehge Loabi Firiehge Vaajib, starring Mohamed, Yoosuf Shafeeu, Jamsheedha Ahmed, and Arifa Ibrahim was released the same year.

The film revolves around a woman who has been mistreated by her stepmother and forced to marry against her will.

She went on to act in several more horror films, including Zalzalaa (2000), Ginihila (2003), Dhonkamana (2003), Sandhuravirey 2 (2004), and Handhu Keytha (2005).

Mohamed then starred opposite Reeko Moosa Manik, Hassan Afeef, and Mariyam Nazima in Easa Shareef's Emme Fahu Dhuvas (2000), where she played a devious woman who spoils her best friend's upcoming marriage by creating false accusation and staging misleading impressions.

The following year, she played the role of Mary, a devoted wife desperately seeking affection from her husband in Abdul Faththaah's television drama series Dhoapatta (2000).

The series also featured Mohamed Shavin, Sheela Najeeb, and Jamsheedha Ahmed.

Mohamed's collaboration with Faththaah was repeated the same year with another romantic drama series, Aisha, where she played the helpful friend of a young woman suffering from an abusive marriage.

In 2000, Mohamed played Fazlee Shareef, an unattractive fun-loving tomboy who later transforms into a feminine and beautiful girl, and who is secretly in love with her best friend, in Hussain Adil's romance Hiyy Halaaku.

She was later noted for her portrayal of a devoted wife in Hiyani (2006), a schoolteacher in Fathimath Nahula's highest-grossing film, Yoosuf (2008), and in Hiyy Rohvaanulaa (2008), all of which resulted in Gaumee Film Award nominations.

Mohamed received her first Gaumee Film Award for Best Actress in 2007 with her portrayal of the tolerant second wife in Kalaayaanulaa (2003).

She established herself as the most prominent leading actress of Maldivian cinema in 2010 with the film Niuma, which also marked her directorial debut.

She was bestowed with her second Gaumee Film Award for Best Actress along with a nomination as Best Director for this production; she won both the awards at 2nd Maldives Film Awards.

Mohamed's success continued with the family dramas Maafeh Neiy (2010), Sazaa (2011), Mihashin Furaana Dhandhen (2012), Dhilakani (2013), and Aadheys (2014).

In 2011, the Government of Maldives honoured her with the National Award of Recognition.

Mohamed was born in Vaadhoo and raised in Male'.

Marking her twenty-year-long career, in 2017 she announced her retirement from acting and in 2019, she released the psychological thriller Nivairoalhi, her last onscreen film.