Dhanya Balakrishna

Dhanya Balakrishna has been all over the South Indian film scene, and honestly, it feels like she’s done a bit of everything. She kicked things off with a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it role in A. R. Murugadoss’s 7aum Arivu back in 2011. But it wasn’t long before she was popping up in bigger parts—people started noticing her in flicks like Neethaane En Ponvasantham and the hit Raja Rani, plus Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu, all around 2012-2013. Her first shot at a lead? That was in the Telugu movie Chinni Chinni Aasa, also in 2013. Wild how quickly things moved for her, right? She’s racked up over 40 films and 10 web series by now, which is honestly kind of nuts. Some of her standout projects include Second Hand, Raju Gari Gadhi, and Bhale Manchi Roju. And she didn’t just stick to movies—Dhanya jumped into the digital space too. She was pretty memorable in the Tamil web series As I’m Suffering From Kadhal and took on a key role in the Telugu series Recce in 2022. Dhanya grew up in Bangalore, went to M.E.S. School, and graduated from Mount Carmel College. Fun fact: her dad, Balakrishna Doreswamy Iyengar, is a Carnatic musician, so maybe the performing arts thing runs in the family. Before films, she was actually into theatre and even had a stint as a teacher. She’s fluent in Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu, which really helps her play such a variety of roles. At this point, she’s pretty much a staple in the South Indian entertainment world.