Dhanya Mary Varghese – Malayalam actress and model of ‘Seetha Kalyanam’ fame

Dhanya Mary Varghese is a model turned actress of Malayalam cinema and television. She has also appeared in a couple of Tamil movies. She owns a successful modeling career, and has been featured in TV ads of several leading brands of the country. She is a well-known dance performer too. She is a recipient of Kerala state critic’s television award for her performance in Daivatinte Swatham Devooty in 2012. She played supporting roles in Pranayam, Veettilekkulla Vazhi, Karayilekku Oru Kadal Dooram, Nayakan, 3 Char Sau Beas, Kerala Café, Vairam, Thalapavu, Cheriya Kallanum Valiya Policum, Red Chillies and many more Malayalam movies. Currently she plays the lead role in TV soap, Seetha Kalyanam since 2018. The show gave her an excellent comeback to entertainment industry.

She started her career in films as a background dancer

Dhanya Mary Varghese was born in year 1983 in Koothattukulam, Muvattupuzha. She completed her higher studies from St. Teresa’s College, Kochi and also attended Kalabhavan. She started her film journey as a junior artist and background dancer. She was first seen as a background dancer in a song sequence (Thottuvilichalo) of Suresh Gopi starrer Swapnam Kondu Thulabharam.

She made her acting debut through Tamil films

Thirudi in 2006 gave her first break to acting. She played lead role opposite Kathir in this romantic film directed by K. Shankar. Kathir also marked his acting debut with this movie. The movie received good reviews and fared average at box office. Very soon she bagged her second Tamil project, Veeramum Eeramum, where she became the part of ensemble cast. After that she completely switched to Malayalam movies and TV serials. Thalapavu was her debut flick in Malayalam, where she played lead role of Saramma. The movie opened to critical acclaim but was a commercial failure. The movie directed by Madhupal won 5 state awards.

Later she mostly played supporting roles in Malayalam movies, and most of the roles went unnoticed. In 2012, after her marriage with actor John Jacob she completely switched to TV shows. Deivathinte Swantham Devootty marked her small screen debut, and slowly she gained popularity among TV audience. They got married after they worked together in the series. After a son was born she took a break from acting and joined television industry in 2017 with the show, Kali Gandaki. Seetha Kalyanam is her third TV show, and her role as protagonist earned her immense popularity.

Dhanya Mary Varghese – Some interesting and less-known facts

A photo from the wedding album of actors – Dhanya and John Jacob

1. Her husband John Jacob has acted in 2010 Malayalam sports movie, Tournament, and has also appeared in TV shows. He worked with Dhanya in Deivathinte Swantham Devootty, which paved way to their marriage with the consent of their parents.

2. She has rejected a few good film roles, which would have changed her career graph. Navya Nair’s role in Yugapurushan was initially offered to her. She scared that if she appears in offbeat films, she won’t get offers from mainstream films. She also rejected Maithili’s lead role in the investigation thriller, Paleri Manikyam. If she had accepted that role, it would have changed her film career.

3. While at college, she was regular at fashion shows and cinematic dances. Later she turned a model and stage performer.

4. In the anthology film Kerala café, she appeared in the segment, Lalitham Hiranmayam aside Suresh Gopi and Jyothirmayi, directed by Shaji Kailas.

5. She has been featured in the TV ads of Asian Paints, Malayala Manorama, Kalyan silks, Chungath Prince Jewelers, Eastea Tea, Goodknight Neem Agarbatti etc.

6. In 2016 she along with her husband and brother-in-law were taken into police custody at Nagercoil. They were accused of real estate fraud case. It was alleged that they duped people to pay huge sums of money (100 crores from 50 people) on the pretext of building flats in Kochi. She was then serving as the corporate head of the Samson and Sons Company.