Dhanya Veena, better known by her stage name Navya Nair, is an Indian film actress who has starred in Malayalam, Tamil, and Kannada films. She is a recipient of 2 Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress and the Kalaimamani award.
Navya Nair was born on 14 October 1985 to Raju & Veena Raju who hails from Cheppad, a village near Harippad in Alleppey District. The film director K. Madhu is her uncle. She studied at Bethany Balikamadom High School, Nangiarkulangara till 10th grade and then at MSM Higher Secondary School, where her mother was a teacher. She married a Mumbai-based businessman, Santhosh Menon, on 21 January 2010 and they have a son Sai Krishna, born on 22 November 2010.
She was still at school when offered her first film role, starring opposite Dileep in Ishtam in 2001. There followed roles in partnership with Dileep, in films such as Mazhathullikkilukkam, Kunjikoonan, Kalyanaraman, Pandippada, Gramaphone and Pattanathil Sundaran.