Uma was born as the only child of her artist parents. Her father, Kamesh, was a music director and her mother, Kamala Kamesh, was a famous actress who is well respected in the industry. After losing her father at age of nine, she was single-handedly brought up by her mother. She is married to Malayalam actor Riyaz Khan. They have two sons, Shariq Hassan and Samarth. Currently, Samarth is acting in a children’s film called Suttapazhamum Sudathapazhamum and Shariq had acted in a Tamil film named Pencil

Khan went to Fatima Convent School in Kodambakkam. She was a state level athlete in 100 meters, Javelin throw, and a professional dancer. She was a trained classical dancer, and later switched to salsa and other Latin American dance forms.

Uma's first film was the Hindi film Muskurahat (1992) by director Priyadarshan. In the film she played Amrish Puri’s daughter. She described her first movie as a ‘superb’ experience. She calls her work in the film Anbe Sivam as her magnum opus.^[2] For her performance in Mouna Guru she received a lot of appreciation in the form of awards that year.^[2]

She took part in second season of the much talked about show, Jodi Number One, which aired on Vijay TV in 2007. After that she judged a show called Kalakka Povathu Yaaru.^[2]

TV shows

• Jodi Number One (second season)
• Kalakka Povadhu Yaaru (Judge)

TV serials

• Marumagal (Star Vijay)
• Muhurtham (Sun TV)
• Vamsam (Sun TV)
• Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (Star Vijay)

Films

• Vijay Award for Best Supporting Actress - Mouna Guru (2011)