Dhee was born on 26 June 1998 to Indian classical singer, Meenakshi Iyer, who later remarried music composer Santhosh Narayanan. Dhee has an elder brother, Sudheekshanan, and attends Northmead Creative and Performing Arts High School in Sydney. Dhee began her playback singing career by performing songs in two of Santhosh Narayanan albums, Pizza II: Villa (2013) and Cuckoo (2014), during breaks from her education. Dhee made a breakthrough by singing "Naan Nee" from Pa. Ranjith's Madras (2014) alongside Shakthisree Gopalan. Her work on the song saw the pair garner nominations for Best Female Singer at the Filmfare Awards and the Vijay Awards.