actor

Ramya Krishnan (born 15 September 1970) is an Indian actress who has appeared in over 260 films across Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi cinema. She began her acting career with the Tamil film *Vellai Manasu* (1985).

Krishnan's breakthrough in Telugu cinema came with K. Viswanath's *Sutradharulu* (1989). Her Telugu films from the 1990s include K. Raghavendra Rao's *Alludugaru* (1990), *Allari Mogudu* (1992), and *Annamayya* (1997). Her Hindi film credits include *Parampara* (1993), *Khalnayak* (1993), and *Bade Miyan Chote Miyan* (1998). In 1999, she played Neelambari opposite Rajinikanth in the Tamil film *Padayappa*, earning the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil.

Krishnan appeared in devotional films including *Ammoru* (1995) and *Rajakali Amman* (2000), and in the comedy *Panchatanthiram* (2002), alongside Kamal Haasan. She later played Rajamata Sivagami Devi in S. S. Rajamouli's films *Baahubali: The Beginning* (2015) and *Baahubali 2: The Conclusion* (2017), earning the Filmfare and Nandi Awards for Best Supporting Actress

Krishnan portrayed a politician inspired by J. Jayalalithaa in the web series *Queen* (2019). Her later film roles include *Super Deluxe* (2019), the Telugu drama *Republic* (2021), *Liger* (2022), and the action film *Jailer* (2023), in which she reunited with Rajinikanth. Her 2024 films include *Guntur Kaaram* and *Purushothamudu*. She also hosted the reality television show *Second Love* (2026) on JioHotstar.