Dayanand Shetty was born on 11 December 1969, in a Tulu speaking Bunt family in Katapadi village of Udupi district of Karnataka State in India to Chandra Prakash Shetty and Uma Shetty. He has two sisters (Naina and Sandhya). He did his B.com from Rizvi College, Bandra. He married Smitha Shetty and they have one daughter.
He is a sportsman-turned-actor due to leg injury. He was a shot put and discus thrower, which won him many prizes in these Sports. He was the champion of discus throw from Maharashtra in 1994. He has acted in many commercials, and has even won awards as a theatre Artist. He won the Best Actor award for his role in the Tulu language play "Secret".
He then auditioned for the role of CID officer in 1998 and was the one who got selected. He is known for his role of Senior Inspector Daya in CID. He along with actors Shivaji Satam and Aditya Srivastava are the main leads of the show. He has also written for some of the episodes of C.I.D.
Daya Shetty has acted in TV commercials, plays and films. He also won the best looking guy vote conducted by Indian Television in 2002. He also participated in Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa (Season 4), dance reality show.
Daya Shetty and Shivaji Satam appeared as Celebrity Guests in the TV show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L'il Champs(in the Independence Day Special episode of 2011). Daya Shetty, Shivaji Satam, Aditya Srivastava and Narendra Gupta also appeared in Kaun Banega Crorepati 2014. He has won the best supporting actor award (for the role of Senior Inspector Daya in CID) in the Gold Awards 2012.
A song was recorded for CID episode (aired on 21 January 2012) which was a lullaby sung by Daya Shetty and his fellow actors Shivaji Satam and Aditya Shrivastava. His talent as a singer has been appreciated in talk shows like "Movers and Shakers" as well.
He participated in the 2014 Season of Khatron ke Khiladi (TV Series) doing many Stunts, but was eventually eliminated.
