After marriage she stopped acting and settled for family life in New Jersey, where in 1977 she started the Padmini School of Fine Arts. It is now considered as one of the oldest and largest Indian dancing school in the US.
Along with her elder sister Lalitha and her younger sister Regini, they were all exceptionally skilled classical dancers and film actresses, and together they were branded as the "Travancore Sisters".
Born in Poojappura, Thiruvananthapuram, she was the second daughter of Thankappan Pillai, a landlord and Saraswathi Amma, a pious housewife.
Her niece (her brother's daughter) is Shobana, and her nephew (her husband's brother's son) is Vineeth.
Speaks five Indian languages: Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada.