Debut and early struggles (1984–1988) She started her acting career with the Malayalam film
Neram Pularumbol. Although this was the first movie where she acted, it had a delayed release in 1986. Her first release was
Vellai Manasu in 1985, a Tamil movie opposite
Y. G. Mahendra. Her first Telugu film was
Bhalae Mithrulu (1986). Then she went on to play supporting roles in
Tamil films which include
Padikkadavan (1985) starring
Rajinikanth where she was given a uncredited role and
Per Sollum Pillai (1987) starring
Kamal Haasan. In Telugu, she starred with
Rajendra Prasad in
Madana Gopaludu (1987),
Bhama Kalapam (1988),
Asthulu Anthasthulu (1988) and
Bava Marudula Saval (1988). She worked in Malayalam films such as
Orkkappurathu,
Aryan and
Anuragi with
Mohanlal. She enjoyed success in Kannada movies as well. One of her earlier roles as heroine was in
Krishna Rukmini opposite superstar
Vishnuvardhan. She played a small role in the Hindi film
Dayavan that starred veteran actor
Vinod Khanna.
Breakthrough in Telugu and Hindi (1989–1998) After a series of failures in both Tamil and
Telugu, she achieved fame through
K. Viswanath's
Sutradharulu, released in 1989. Her breakthrough came from
K. Raghavendra Rao directorial movies where she emerged as a commercial romantic diva, due to successful movies such as
Alludugaru (1990),
Allari Mogudu (1992),
Major Chandrakanth (1993) along with
Mohan Babu and
Allari Priyudu (1993) along with
Rajasekhar. She played the role of a devoted wife of
Sri Annamacharya, which was played by
Nagarjuna in the film
Annamayya (1997). In 1998, she played a leading role in
Kante Koothurne Kanu. She received a
Nandi Award for Best Actress from the
Government of Andhra Pradesh for her performance in the film. Her biggest Kannada hits include
Gadibidi Ganda (1993) and
Mangalyam Tantunanena (1998) with
Ravichandran. Ramya made her debut as a heroine in
Hindi films with
Yash Chopra's
Parampara (1993). She acted in a few more Hindi films including
Subhash Ghai's
Khalnayak (1993),
Mahesh Bhatt's
Chaahat (1996),
David Dhawan's
Banarasi Babu (1997), and
Bade Miyan Chote Miyan (1998) along with
Amitabh Bachchan and
Govinda and
Shapath with
Mithun Chakraborty.
Comeback to Tamil cinema and Debut in TV serials (1999–2014) After a four-year break from Tamil cinema, in 1999, Ramya played the female antagonist, Neelambari in
Padayappa opposite
Rajinikanth. The critic from
Rediff stated "Ramya does a fantastic job. She is vicious to her dying breath, when she declares she will revenge herself in her next life. She does a fabulous tandav of rage when her father commits suicide". She went onto receive several awards including
Filmfare Award for Best Actress - Tamil and
Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize. She then starred in commercially successful films like
Budget Padmanabhan and
Panchatanthiram. The critic from
Screen called her performance in
Panchatanthiram "one of the finest performances ever". Ramya has also acted in many devotional films including
Rajakali Amman (2000),
Nageswari (2001),
Sri Raja Rajeshwari (2001) and
Annai Kaligambal (2003). Her notable film in Malayalam was
Ore Kadal (2007) with
Mammootty, which received
the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam. She had acted as the mother-in-law of
N. T. Rama Rao Jr. in the movie
Naa Alludu (2005) marked for her role and later in the film
Konchem Ishtam Konchem Kashtam (2009). She also appeared in a guest role in item songs in Tollywood and Kollywood. She turned to acting in TV serials before hosting a game show called
Thanga Vettai, on
Sun TV, and judging a dance show,
Jodi Number One, on
Vijay TV. Ramya is stepping in television serials for the first time. She was seen in
Kalasam in two roles. One of them is Neelambari, a character she played in the
Rajinikanth starrer
Padayappa. In 2009, she appeared in
Suresh Krissna's
Arumugam and
Rama Narayanan's
Kutti Pisasu. She continued her stay under the
Sun TV banner to act in
Thangam,
Vamsam and
Rajakumari. Later, she acted in supporting roles in Telugu as
Ranga The Donga (2010),
Yamudiki Mogudu (2012) and in Kannada as
Sweety Nanna Jodi (2013) and
Maanikya (2014).
2015–present gives a special award to Ramya Krishnan, at the 30th Ugadi Celebrations & Puraskar Presentation - 2018, organised by Delhi Telugu Academy, in New Delhi In 2015, Ramya acted in
S.S. Rajamouli's film
Baahubali: The Beginning and its sequel
Baahubali: The Conclusion, where she played Rajamata Sivagami Devi. Her performance met with the critical acclaim and the films became the
highest grossing Indian films. Sangeetha Devi Dundoo praised Ramya's performance and stated "Ramya Krishnan once again aces with her part". She received the
Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress - Telugu for both films. In 2019, she played a porn actress in
Super Deluxe directed by
Thiagarajan Kumararaja. Srivatsan S from
The Hindu stated her role as "boldest role yet". She made her debut in the digital platform with
Queen in 2019. The critic from
India Today stated, "Ramya Krishnan as the failing actress and a budding politician (the later part of Shakthi's life) puts in a measured performance and it is what stands out in a series that relies heavily on performances". In 2022, Ramya appeared in
Dharma Productions and
Puri Jagannadh's sports action film
Liger. The 2023 Tamil film
Jailer featured Ramya in the lead role as
Rajinikanth's wife. In 2025, she played an important role in the
Hindi language film
Jaat, which stars
Sunny Deol and was directed by
Gopichand Malineni and produced by
Mythri Movie Makers and
Zee Studios. ==Personal life==