Dhanya Nair (born 1985), better known by her stage name Navya Nair, is an Indian actress who works in Malayalam, Tamil, and Kannada films. She has won the honour of Kalathilakam in the Alappuzha District Schools Youth Festival.She comes from a village, Muthukulam, in Alleppey District. She got her first offer for the film 'Ishtam' when she was in 10th. For Higher Secondary, she studied in MSM Higher Secondary School, Kayamkulam. She then graduated with a BA in English.She has won the honour of Kalathilakam in the youth festival of Alleppey district. Daughter of Mr. Raju, working with the Telecom and mother Veena, a teacher with the M.S.M High Secondary school, Navya was a 12th student at M.S.M High secondary school when she entered the film industry. She is accused of cheating during class 12 board exams with the help of school authorities and the news was reported by some prominent newspapers. Investigative director K.Madhu is her uncle.She married Mumbai-based businessman, Santhosh Menon, on January 21, 2010 and their first child, Sai Krishna, was born on November 22, 2010 in KIMS Hospital,Trivandrum, Kerala.The actress caught everyone's attention starring opposite Dileep in Ishtam in 2001. She did it again with him in films like Mazhathullikilukam, Kunjikoonan and Kalyanaraman. She is noted for her portrayal of a typical Malayali girl in various movies. She bagged the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress Award in 2002 for the film Nandanam and again in 2005 for her performance in films Kanne Madanguka and Saira.Navya is a good dancer as well. She acted opposite Dileep in many successful films. Navya Nair is now well established in Malayalam, Tamil and Kannada film industry. There are around 50 movies to her credit.She stepped to Tamil films through Azhagiya Theeyee. She has acted in films like Amirdham, Chidambarathil Oru Appasamy & Pasakkiligal. "Gaja" is her debut movie in Kannada.