Dhanya Ananya – Malayalam film actress of ‘41’ and ‘Ayyappanum Koshiyum’ fame

Dhanya Ananya is a budding actress of Malayalam cinema. She came to limelight after playing the memorable supporting role of Jessy, a Lady Constable in 2020 hit Malayalam movie, Ayyappanum Koshiyum. Her face off with Prithviraj in one of the scenes is the most memorable shot of her career, for which she earned applause from critics and audience alike. She earlier shared screen space with Biju Menon for yet another movie, Nalpathiyonnu (2019), and her debut film role as Suma, Vavachy Kannan’s wife was appreciated.

She is a theatre personality turned film actress

Dhanya Ananya hails from Muzhikodu, Kottarakara. Radhakrishnan and Shailaja are her parents. She was born and brought up in Meerat, Uttar Pradesh, where her father was an employee. She moved to her hometown while doing her 7^th grade class. She completed her studies in Kottarakara and Thiruvananthapuram. Since young she was interested in acting.

She acted in a short film while doing journalism degree at Mar Ivanious College, Thiruvananthapuram. She also appeared in a few music videos. As she was interested in theatre and acting she joined MA Theatre and Drama course at Kaladi Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit. During her theatre days at Kaladi, she became a part of a few independent movies and also appeared in college plays. She also got opportunity to direct plays those days.

Lal Jose’s directorial Nalpathiyonnu marked her screen debut in Malayalam cinema

As a film actress she got her first break through a Hindi film – Check Post. The movie was a joint project of Iran and Odisha. She played three female characters in the play, Thuramukham, written by Gopan Chidambaram. Her appearance in this play gave her first break to Malayalam movies. She was spotted by screenwriter Prageesh after seeing a few posters of the play, and he suggested her name to the filmmakers of 41. In fact it was her friend Rigil who sent posters to the scriptwriter. She was finalized for the supporting role of Vavachy Kannan’s wife by director Lal Jose, and she made an impressive debut on screen.

She came to limelight with her second release, Ayyappanum Koshiyum

She was invited for an audition by director Sachy for his movie, Ayyappanum Koshiyum. She got the character role of Jessy after the audition, and her brief role as Lady Constable remained memorable. She earned praises for that particular scene where she scolds Prithviraj in front of others. In fact she was first given a lengthy dialogue. As she faced difficulty to deliver it, it was broken into two and she also did dialogue rehearsal before doing that particular scene. Operation Java and Seemantham are her upcoming flicks.

Dhanya Ananya – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. She has been a theatre artist before joining film industry.

2. She shared screen space with Biju Menon in Malayalam movies – 41 and Ayyappanum Koshiyum, and both the movies got noticed.

3. She shared screen space with yet another newcomer Sharanjith for her debut Malayalam flick, Nalpathiyonnu. As a couple, their roles were well appreciated.

4. For the audition of Ayyappanum Koshiyum, she was given the scene where she bursts at Koshy, the character played on screen by Prithviraj. Later this single scene gave her a lot of applauses.

5. During the initial days of shooting of Ayyappanum Koshiyum, she tried to keep the body language of a stiff officer. She brought stiffness to her body as well as dialogues. But the director told her that the character Jessy is very simple. So she visited a police station at Kaladi, spent one day there and observed policemen and policewomen there, before resuming the role.

6. She was seen in an uncredited role in Athiran, starring Fahadh Fasil. It was her first appearance in any Malayalam movie. ’41’ followed this role.

7. She is a foodie who hates dieting. Yet she is willing to shed a few pounds if her character on screen demands so.

8. Chapati and Aloo Paratha are her favourite dishes. But both should be made by her mother.