Actress Poornima Bhagyaraj is best known for essaying a number of memorable leading roles in Malayalam and Tamil cinema in the early 1980s. She started out in Bollywood, appearing supporting roles in movies like Paheli (1977) and Dillagi (1978) before landing her first big break with the Malayalam romantic thriller Manjil Virinja Pookkal (1980). The movie, which also marked the debut of celebrated actor Mohanlal, saw Poornima playing a woman tormented by her past - a performance that won her the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress that year.

Subsequently, Poornima established herself as one of the most sought-after leading ladies in South Indian cinema through her performances in movies like Ahimsa (1981), Payanangal Mudivathillai (1982), Mundhanai Mudichu (1983), Thanga Magan (1983) and Prasnam Gurutharam (1983). Her performances in the Kollywood romantic drama Payanangal Mudivathillai and the Malayalam drama film Olangal (1982) won Poornima the Filmfare Award (South) for Best Actress for both the industries in the same year.

Following her marriage to actor-director K. Bhagyaraj, Poornima quit acting in the mid 1980s. It was another 28 years before she returned to cinema with the Tamil romantic drama Aadhalal Kadhal Seiveer (2013). Among her most recent film credits are the Kollywood action drama Jilla (2014), the romantic thriller Mupparimanam (2017) and the horror thriller Mohini (2018).