Samyukta Hornad was born on 23 May in Bengaluru, Karnataka. She is the daughter of actress Sudha Belawadi and comes from a family deeply rooted in theatre and cinema—her grandmother is actress Bhargavi Narayan, and her uncle is theatre personality Prakash Belawadi. She studied Media, English, and Psychology at Christ University and began her career as a TV anchor before moving into films.
Her debut film was Aa Dinagalu (2007), where she played Divya Naayak. She gained recognition with Lifeu Ishtene (2011), directed by Pawan Kumar, and later starred in Oggarane (2014), which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress (Kannada). She has since acted in multiple languages, including Tamil (Un Samayal Arayil), Telugu (Ulavacharu Biryani), and Malayalam (Abhiyude Katha Anuvum). She also appeared in the web series Gods of Dharmapuri (2019).