Navya nair

Navya Nair (born Dhanya Veena) is an Indian actress who has appeared predominantly in Malayalam cinema along with Kannada and Tamil language films. She is the recipient of two Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress, the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Malayalam and the Kalaimamani Award for her contribution to Tamil cinema. After making her debut in the film Ishtam (2001), she went on to star in several successful films including, Mazhathullikkilukkam (2002), Nandanam (2002), Kalyanaraman (2002), Kunjikoonan (2002), Pattanathil Sundaran (2002), Chathikkatha Chanthu (2004) and Pandippada (2005) establishing herself as one of the leading actresses of Malayalam Cinema in the 2000s. She then transitioned into Tamil cinema, changing her next-door girl image and appearing in female oriented films by the mid-2000s, including Azhagiya Theeye (2005), Chidambarathil Oru Appasamy (2005), and Aadum Koothu (2006). She appeared in Kannada films, which include Gaja (2008) Nam Yajamanru (2009), Bhagyada Balegara (2009) and Drishya (2014). She took a break from acting post-marriage and made a return to cinema, appearing in Drishya 2 (2021) and Oruthee (2022). Early and personal life Navya Nair was born Dhanya Veena on 14 October 1985 in Muthukulam, a village near Haripad in Alappuzha, Kerala. Her parents are Mr. Raju, a telecom employee, and Veena, a school teacher. She performed well in school before focusing on a film career. She learned dance at a young age, trained in classical dance and has won the Kalathilakam title as a student of Bethany Balikamadam Girls High School, Nangiarkulangara, Haripad in the Alappuzha District School Youth Festival. She is a graduate in BA English. She married Santhosh Menon, a Mumbai settled Malayali, on 21 January 2010 and the couple have a son, Sai Krishna born the same year. Malayalam film Director K. Madhu is her Maternal Uncle. Director Sibi Malayil preferred Navya as her screen name because he believed Dhanya was inappropriate for an actress.