Kavya Madhavan (born 19 September 1984) is a former Indian actress, who appeared predominantly in Malayalam films. She made her debut in 1991 as a child artist in Pookkalam Varavayi. Her debut role as a lead actress was in Lal Jose's Chandranudikkunna Dikhil in 1999, when she was in the ninth grade. Its success established her status as a leading actress in the industry during the 2000s. She has acted in over 75 movies. She has won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress twice, for her performances in Perumazhakkalam (2004) and Gaddama (2010). Early life Kavya was born on 19 September 1984 in Kerala. Acting career Kavya first appeared as a child actor in Kamal's film Pookkalam Varavayi (1991) at the age of six. Subsequently, she was offered parts in other projects such as Pavam IA Ivachan (1994), Parassala Pachan Payyannur Paramu (1994) by P. Venu and Azhakiya Ravanan (1996), directed by Kamal. She was offered the female lead in Chandranudikkunna Dikhil, also starring Dileep, in 1999. After the success of Chandranudikkunna Dikhil, Kavya and Dileep became a popular pairing in Malayalam cinema, and they worked together in 21 movies. Some of their movies are Thenkasipattanam (2000), Darling Darling (2000), Dhosth (2001), Meesa Madhavan (2002) which was one of biggest grosser of the year and was directed by Lal Jose, Mizhi Randilum (2003) in which she played a double role, Sadanandante Samayam (2003), Thilakkam (2003) directed by Jayaraj, Runway (2004) directed by Joshiy, Kochi Rajavu (2005), Lion (2006) again directed by Joshiy, Chakkara Muthu (2006), Inspector Garud (2007), Paappi Appacha (2010), Vellaripravinte Changathi (2011) and Pinneyum (2016). Most of their movies were in the romantic comedy genre. She also acted in films with Mammootty and Mohanlal, and in movies with several stars, such as Ee Pattanathil Bhootham, Christian Brothers and China Town. She got critical acclaim for her performance of the role of Ganga in Perumazhakkalam for which she won 2004 Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress and for the role of Ashwati in Gaddama where she played a housemaid working in Saudi Arabia. The movie was based on a feature by K. U. Iqbal, published in Bhashaposhini. The movie was directed by her mentor Kamal, and she got her second Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress for 2011. She won the 2011 Kerala Film Critics Awards for Best Actress, Amrita-FEFKA Film Awards for Best Actress,