Kavya was born on 19 September 1984 to parents P.Madhavan and Shyamala.^[3]She hails from Nileshwaram village in Kasaragod.She has a brother Midhun Madhavan who is a fashion designer.She did her schooling at Nileshwaram Rajas high school.She learnt classical dance during her school days and participated in many dance competitions and won prizes.She was a kalathilakam at a sub district school's Youth festival.

Kavya first appeared as a child artist in Kamal's film Pookkalam Varavayi (1991) at the age of six in a cameo role along the students in a bus. 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 one of the female lead in Chandranudikkunna Dikhil, also starring Dileep, in 1999.^[4][5] After the success of Chandranudikkunna Dikhil, Kavya and Dileep became a popular pairing in Malayalam cinema, and they worked together in 21 movies.^[6] 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.^[7] 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, Best Actress-Malayalam cinema in 59th Filmfare Awards South and Best Actress in Thikkurissy Foundation Awards.^[8] She was part of big grossers like Christian Brothers and China Town in 2011 and was selected as Top Star (Female) 2011 in Malayalam.^[9]

She was cast in Adoor Gopalakrishnan's Naalu Pennungal in which she played a supporting role.

Though she had many offers from Tamil cinema, she was very reluctant to act due to her busy schedule in Malayalam. Her first was Kasi (2001) which was the remake of Vinayans Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njaanum. She went on to act in En Mana Vaanil and Sadhu Miranda and enjoyed moderate success.^{[citation needed]}

She wrote lyrics for the song "En Khalbillulloru Pennaanu" for the film One Way Ticket (2008) and for Akashavani (2016).^[10] She sang her first movie song for the Malayalam film Matinee (2012).^[11] She has appeared in many advertisements, TV shows, short films and stage shows. She also sang songs for the movies Hadiya (2017) and Daivame Kaithozham K. Kumar Akanam (2018).

From acting as a child to acting as an actress, Sreeja has provided voice to her in many films.^{[citation needed]} Devi, Praveena, Bhagyalakshmi and Vimmy Mariam George and Nithuna Nevil Dinesh have also lent their voices in some films.^{[citation needed]}

Kavya married Nishal Chandra on 9 February 2009,^{[citation needed]} after which she moved to Kuwait.^{[citation needed]} However, she returned home in June the same year and filed for divorce on 24 July 2009.^{[citation needed]} Both Kavya and Nishal appeared before the court on 25 May 2011 and expressed their willingness for a mutual divorce. The divorce was granted on 30 May 2011. She married actor Dileep on 25 November 2016 at Vedanta Hotel, Kochi.^[12][13] The couple have a daughter, Mahalakshmi born on 19 October 2018.^[14]

Kavya owns a textile shop named Laksyah. In April 2013, Mathrubhumi Books published a collection of memoirs written by Kavya, titled Kathayil Alpam Kavyam which gives a glimpse into her childhood memories and the experiences of her school days and in the film industry. The book was released by writers Subhash Chandran and Deedi Damodaran at a function held in K. P. Kesava Menon Hall in Kozhikode on 11 April.^[15]

• Kavya Madhavan at IMDb