Dhanya Balakrishna is an Indian actress who appears in Telugu and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

films. After making her debut in A. R. Murugadoss's ''

7aum Arivu ''7 Aum Arivu'' ( ) is a 2011 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language science fiction action film written and directed by AR Murugadoss and produced by Udhayanidhi Stalin under Red Giant Movies. The film Suriya in dual roles, along with Shruti Ha ...

'' (2011), in a supporting role, she appeared in ventures including

Gautham Vasudev Menon Gautham Vasudev Menon (born 25 February 1973) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, film producer and actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema, Tamil film industry. He has also directed Telugu cinema, Telugu, Hindi cinema, Hindi and Ma ...

's '' Neethaane En Ponvasantham'' (2012), Atlee's '' Raja Rani'' (2013) and Srikanth Addala's '' Seethamma Vaakitlo Sirimalle Chettu'' (2013). Dhanya made her debut as female lead in Telugu with ''Chinni Chinni Aasa'' (2013).

Personal life

Dhanya Balakrishna was born in Bangalore,

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. She was educated at MES. She married Tamil filmmaker and actor

Balaji Mohan Balaji Mohan (born 25 May 1987) is an Indian filmmaker and actor in Tamil-language films. After discontinuing his engineering studies to pursue his passion for becoming a director, he enrolled at a film academy and attended courses and workshop ...

in January 2022 after falling in love while filming '' As I'm Suffering From Kadhal'' (2017).

Career

Dhanya began her acting career with performances in theatre, before playing a supporting role in A. R. Murugadoss's ''

'' (2011) alongside Suriya and

Shruti Haasan Shruti Haasan (born 28 January 1986) is an Indian actress and singer who predominantly works in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films. One of the highest paid actresses in South Indian cinema, Haasan is the recipient of various accolades, including t ...

. She was next seen in two bilingual projects, portraying supporting roles in ''

Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi ''Kadhilil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi'' () is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed Balaji Mohan in his feature debut and produced by S. Sashikanth, Nirav Shah and Siddharth under YNOT Studios and Etaki Entertainment ...

'' (2012) and then

's '' Neethaane En Ponvasantham'' (2012). Dhanya, portrayed supporting role in the 2013 Telugu film '' Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu'' as a girl who proposes to the character played by

Mahesh Babu Ghattamaneni Mahesh Babu (born 9 August 1975) is an Indian actor who works in Telugu cinema. He is one of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinema and has featured in ''Forbes India''s Celebrity 100 list since 2012. He has appeared in more tha ...

; while in '' Raja Rani'' (2013), she was seen as Nivitha, a friend of

Nayantara Nayanthara (born Diana Mariam Kurian; 18 November 1984) is an Indian actress and producer known for her work in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. One of the highest-paid actresses in India, she was the only South Indian actress to be featu ...

's character. Her first leading role was in the Telugu film ''Chinni Chinni Aasa'' (2013), released in November 2013, while other projects, ''

Amrutham Chandamamalo ''Amrutham Chandamamalo'' () is a 2014 Indian Telugu-language science fiction comedy film written and directed by Gunnam Gangaraju. The film stars Srinivas Avasarala, Harish Koyalagundla, Vasu Inturi, Sivannarayana Naripeddi, Dhanya Balakris ...

'' and '' Second Hand'', were released thereafter. She has been part of nearly 40 movies and 10 web series. She is able to speak Kannada, Tamil and Telugu fluently.

Filmography

Films

Television

Controversies

Offensive post targeting Tamil community

In 2012, when the IPL team

Chennai Super Kings The Chennai Super Kings, also known as CSK, are a professional Twenty20 cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team was one of the eight debut franchises when the league was establ ...

qualified for the playoffs, Dhanya took to Facebook and wrote a disparaging message, alleging that people from

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

were dependent on the people of

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

for basic necessities. She claimed that

residents (

Tamils The Tamils ( ), also known by their endonym Tamilar, are a Dravidian peoples, Dravidian ethnic group who natively speak the Tamil language and trace their ancestry mainly to the southern part of the Indian subcontinent. The Tamil language is o ...

) relied on Bangalore for water and electricity, further asserting that they contributed to making Karnataka's capital unclean when visiting. These remarks sparked significant backlash at the time. Dhanya Balakrishna initially announced her departure from

Tamil cinema Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Ch ...

. However, despite this declaration, she continued to feature in Tamil films such as '' Raja Rani'', ''

Carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...

'', and ''

Yaar Ivan ''Veedevadu'' () is a 2017 Indian Telugu language, Telugu-language action thriller film written and directed by Tatineni Satya. Also partially re-shot in Tamil language, Tamil as ''Yaar Ivan'' (), the film stars Sachiin J. Joshi and Esha Gupta, ...

'', as well as in Tamil web series like '' As I'm Suffering From Kadhal''. In 2024, as the release of '' Lal Salaam'', directed by Aishwarya Rajinikanth, approached, Dhanya's past comments resurfaced as she was cast as a lead in the film. People questioned the director's decision to cast someone who held negative views about the Tamil community in a Tamil film. Responding to the controversy, Dhanya issued a statement denying authorship of the post. The actress asserted that the post was fabricated by a troll, vehemently denying ever making such derogatory comments. She pledged her professional integrity, affirming that she had never expressed such sentiments in the past.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balakrishna, Dhanya Living people Indian film actresses Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses from Bengaluru 21st-century Indian actresses Actresses in Malayalam cinema Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) 1991 births