Dhanya Balakrishna

Last updated

Dhanya Balakrishna
Born6 August 1991
OccupationActress
Years active2011–present
Spouse
(m. 2022)

Dhanya Balakrishna is an Indian actress who has appeared in Telugu films along with Tamil and Malayalam films. After making her debut in A. R. Murugadoss's 7aum Arivu (2011), in a supporting role, [1] she appeared in ventures including Gautham Vasudev Menon'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).

Contents

Personal life

Dhanya Balakrishna was born in Bangalore, Karnataka. [2] She was educated at MES. She married Tamil filmmaker and actor Balaji Mohan in January 2022 after falling in love while filming As I'm Suffering From Kadhal (2017). [3] [4]

Career

Dhanya began her acting career with performances in theatre, before playing a supporting role in A. R. Murugadoss's 7aum Arivu (2011) alongside Suriya and Shruti Haasan. [5] She was next seen in two bilingual projects, portraying supporting roles in Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi (2012) and then Gautham Vasudev Menon's Neethaane En Ponvasantham (2012). [5] [6]

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; while in Raja Rani (2013), she was seen as Nivitha, a friend of Nayantara's character. Her first leading role was in the Telugu film Chinni Chinni Aasa (2013), released in November 2013, while other projects, Amrutham Chandamamalo 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

List of Dhanya Balakrishna film credits
YearTitleRoleLanguageNotes
2011 7aum Arivu Malathi Tamil Debut film
2012 Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi RashmiBilingual film; Telugu Debut
Love Failure Telugu
Neethaane En Ponvasantham Nithya's friendTamilBilingual film
Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu Telugu
2013 Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu girl who proposes to Chinnodu
Raja Rani NivethaTamil
Chinni Chinni AasaNishaTeluguDebut as lead actress
Second Hand Sahasra / Deepu / SwechaAlso singer for "Jo Tera Hi Ho Mera Hai"
2014 Amrutham Chandamamalo Sanjeevani
Run Raja Run Soundarya/BangaramCameo Appearance
Chinnadana Nee Kosam Nandhini's friend
2015 Raju Gari Gadhi Bala Tripura Sundari
Bhale Manchi Roju Maya D'Souza
2016 Nenu Sailaja Keerti
Thanu Vachhenanta
Savitri Gayathri
2017 Veedevadu Dr.Gouthami RamakrishnaBilingual film
Yaar Ivan Tamil
Jaya Janaki Nayaka Sweety's friendTelugu
2019 Love Action Drama Priya Malayalam Malayalam debut
Puzhikkadakan Anna
Hulchul SwathiTelugu
Sarvajanikarige Suvarnavakasha Jahnavi Kannada Kannada Debut [7]
Software Sudheer SwathiTelugu
2020 Anukunnadi Okati Ayinadi Okati Dhanya
2022 Carbon SwapnaTamil
JagamemayaChitraTelugu25th Film; Released on Disney+Hotstar
Nodi Swamy Ivanu Irode Heege GajalakshmiKannada
2023 Undenama Preethi
2024 RAM (Rapid Action Mission) Dr.JahnaviTelugu [8]
Lal Salaam AmmaniTamilGuest Appearance [9]
Sharma & AmbaniSitaraTeluguDirect release on ETV Win

Television

List of Dhanya Balakrishna television credits
YearTitleRoleLanguageAvailabilityNotes
2016 5th South Indian International Movie Awards Host Sun TV YouTubeCo-hosted with Sathish
2017 6th South Indian International Movie Awards
2017PillASahasra Telugu Viu Web Debut
As I'm Suffering From Kadhal Meera Tamil Hotstar
2019What's Up VelakkariJessi ZEE5 India's first bilingual web series
What's Up PanimanishiTelugu
Rakta Chandanaa DSP Janaki Atholi IPS Kannada Watcho
2021Alludu GaruAmmuTelugu Aha Official Remake of What the folks series
2022 Loser Maya Sivaramakrishna ZEE5 Season 2
Recce Gouri
Mad Company RoshiniTamil Aha

Controversies

Offensive post targeting Tamil community

In 2012, when the IPL team Chennai Super Kings qualified for the playoffs, Dhanya took to Facebook and wrote a disparaging message, alleging that people from Chennai were dependent on the people of Bangalore for basic necessities. [10] She claimed that Chennai residents (Tamils) 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. However, despite this declaration, she continued to feature in Tamil films such as Raja Rani , Carbon , and Yaar Ivan , as well as in Tamil web series like As I'm Suffering From Kadhal . [11]

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. [12]

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. [13] [ non-primary source needed ]

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References

  1. "After acting in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam, Dhanya Balakrishnan bags first Kannada film". The Indian Express. 15 October 2018. Archived from the original on 3 November 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  2. "Now I am a south Indian heroine, says Dhanya Balakrishna". The New Indian Express. 14 October 2018. Archived from the original on 13 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021. The best part is that my dialogue delivery will be a lot more real because Kannada is my mother tongue, and unlike other languages, I don't have to translate it in my head, which is just a lot of effort
  3. "Balaji Mohan confirms second marriage with Dhanya Balakrishn". The Times of India . 27 December 2022. Archived from the original on 28 December 2022. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  4. "Balaji Mohan and Dhanya Balakrishnan get married secretly". The Times of India . 18 December 2022. Archived from the original on 5 January 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
  5. 1 2 "The new girl on the block: Dhanya Balakrishnan". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  6. Yerasala, Ikyatha (30 October 2019). "Dhanya's ride to success!". Deccan Chronicle . Archived from the original on 11 June 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  7. "Becoming lead heroine is the toughest thing I have done: Dhanya Balakrishnan". The Times of India. 15 December 2019. Archived from the original on 16 June 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  8. "Ram' (RAM/Rapid Action Mission) Censor Report". Sakshi Post . Archived from the original on 24 January 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  9. "Rajinikanth's next directed by his daughter Aishwarya Rajinikanth, Lal Salaam, to have grand audio launch on this date". OTTPlay. Archived from the original on 23 January 2024. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  10. "Dhanya Balakrishna's controversial 2012 post goes viral again, actress issues statement". WION. 2 February 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  11. "Lal Salaam actor Dhanya Balakrishna faces backlash for her old comments about Tamil people". The Indian Express. 30 January 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  12. "Dhanya Balakrishna clarifies comments against Tamil people in old Facebook post". India Today. 2 February 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  13. "Instagram". instagram.com. Retrieved 4 March 2024.