Lanthanide(III) complexes of general formula [La(BPAH) 2 (NO 3) 3 ] and [Ce(BPAH) 2 (NO 3)(H 2 O) 2 ] 2NO 3 .H 2 O (where, BPAH = 2-benzoylpyridine acetyl hydrazone), were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, molar conductance, IR spectroscopy and single crystal X-ray diffraction and Hirschfeld studies. The central metal ion is 12-coordinate in lanthanum complex and 10-coordinated in the cerium complex. The coordination polyhedra around the lanthanum and cerium were found to have distorted icosahedron and distorted bicapped square antiprism respectively. DNA binding and nuclease activity of these complexes were also investigated in the present work.