Kavya Madhavan is an Indian film actress and music composer who predominantly works in Malayalam movies. She made her acting debut as a child in 1991 and later went on to bag her first lead role at the age of 15 in the movie Chandranudikkunna Dikhil (1999), which turned out to be a commercial hit. Kavya has since then appeared in several successful movies.

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Early Life

Kavya was born to P. Madhavan and Shyamala in the Kannur district of Kerala. However, she spent her childhood days in the Kasaragod district of Kerala and was enrolled at the Nileshwaram GLP School. She later completed her schooling from the National Institute of Open Schooling. During her schooling days, Kavya participated in several dance competitions and was also was a Kalathilakam in the sub-district schools` youth festival.

Personal Life

On 9th February 2009, Kavya married Nishal Chandra and they later moved to Kuwait. However, within four months of the marriage, the actress returned to India. She filed for divorce on 24th July 2010, and the couple was officially separated by mutual consent on 30th May 2011.

Movie Career

Kavya first appeared in the movie Pookkalam Varavayi (1991), when she was just seven. She later appeared in movies such as Pavam IA Ivachan (1994) and Azhakiya Ravanan (1996). However, her screentime was minimal and it was only in 1999 that Kavya mesmerized the audience with her commendable performance in the movie Chandranudikkunna Dikhil, which also starred Dileep. The pair of Kavya and Dileep went on to become of the most popular on-screen couples of Malayalam cinema as the duo has starred together in more than 15 films since 1999. Some of their popular movies include Darling Darling (2000), Thenkasipattanam (2000), Madhavan (2002), Thilakkam (2003), Runaway (2004), Inspector Guard (2007), and Vellaripravinte Changathi (2011).

After making a successful start in Malayalam film industry, Kavya received many offers to act in Tamil films as well. However, being pre-occupied with Malayalam projects, the actress was reluctant to take up any other movies. It was only in 2001 that Kavya made her debut in the Tamil film industry, with the movie Kasi (2001)- a remake of the 1999 Malayalam movie Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njaanum. Unlike her success with Malayalam movies, Kavya received a moderate response from the Tamil contingent and went on the star in En Mana Vaanil (2002) and later, Sadghu Miranda (2008).

In 2004, the actress starred as `Ganga` in Kamal`s movie Perumazhakkalam, for which she received critical and commercial acclaim and also won the Kerela State Film Award for Best Actress. The following year Kavya added another star to her impressive resume as an actress by winning the Kerela Film Critics Award for her performance in Santhosh Sivan`s Malayalam directorial debut, Anandabhadram. In the following years, the actress appeared in lead and supporting roles in several hit movies such as Lion (2006), Vadakkumnadhan (2006), Nadiya Kollappetta Rathri (2007), Naalu Pennungal (2007), and Twenty:20 (2008). In 2010, the actress was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her role in the movie Paappi Appacha.

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However, she bagged her first Filmfare Award in the following year for her ground-breaking performance in the drama Gaddama (2011). The movie narrates the story of immigrants in the Persian Gulf through the life of housemaid. In addition to the Filmfare award, the actress also won the Kerela State Film Award and Kerela Film Critics Award for Best Actress. She was also nominated for a National Award for her role. In addition to this, Kavya appeared in top-grossing films of 2011 such as Christian Brothers and Chinatown. Her sole release of 2012 was the average hit Bavuttiyude Namathil, for which she received another Filmfare Award Best Actress nomination. Kavya`s 2016 releases include Pinneyum and Akashvani.