Nayanthara is a famous Indian actress, model, and film producer. She has worked in over 75 films in various languages including Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and Telugu. he rose to fame with her performances in popular movies including Aramm (2017), Raja Rani (2013), Sri Rama Rajyam (2011). She was featured in Forbes India, Celebrity 100 list after she became the highest-paid actress in the country.
Wiki/Biography
Nayanthara was born on Sunday, 18 November 1984 (age 37 years; as of 2021) in Thiruvalla, Kerala, India. She was born as Diana Mariam Kurian.
Nayanthara’s childhood image
She lived in various cities with her family and her schooling was done in Gujarat, Jamnagar, and Delhi. After this, she attended Marthoma College, Thiruvalla for her Bachelor’s in English literature.
Height (approx.): 5′ 5″
Weight (approx.): 53 kg
Hair Colour: Dark Brown
Eye Colour: Black
Body Measurements (approx.): 34-26-34
Family
Nayanthara belongs to a Christian family.
Parents & Siblings
Nayanthara is the daughter of Kurian Kodiyattu and Omana Kurian. Her father Kurian is a retired Air India Force Official. She also has a brother named Lenu Kurian.
Nayanthara with her parents
Relationships/Affairs
In 2006, she met Simbu while shooting for her film Vallavan. They became friends and soon fell into a relationship. They broke up in 2014 after their intimate pictures went viral on the web.
Nayanthara with boyfriend Simbu on a film set
Next, she fell into a relationship with Prabhu Deva in 2011. However, this relationship didn’t last long and they soon parted ways.
Nayanthara with Prabhu Deva
In 2015, Nayanthara met Vignesh Shivan, a film director on the set of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan. They began liking each other and soon began dating each other. She confirmed her relationship with him at an award ceremony in Singapore. She got engaged to him in 2021 and in May 2022, they announced their wedding to be held on 9 June 2022.
Nayanthara with her fiancee, Vignesh
Religion/Religious Views
Nayanthara was born in a Christian family and later converted to Hinduism.
Signature
Career
Film
Nayanthara began working as a part-time model during her college days. In 2003, Director Sathyan Anthikkad came across her modeling assignments and offered her a role in his film. She hesitated at first as she didn’t want to become an actress but later said yes and made her acting debut in the Malayalam film Manassinakkare. She thought that she will do just this one film but her fate bought her fame as her movie became a big success after which she was offered roles in various movies.
Nayanthara in a still from film Manassinakkare
In 2004, she acted in two movies. The first one was Natturajavu, a film directed by Shaji Kailas. Her second project this year was Vismayathumbathu in which she worked opposite Mohanlal. It was a psychological thriller directed by Fazil and produced by Ammu International. In 2005, she made her Tamil debut Ayya, a film by director Hari. The movie became a hit and Nayanthara received positive reviews for her performance which bought her fame in Tamil cinema.
while shooting for Ayya, Nayanthara was signed up for a comedy horror film by director P. Vasu. The director’s wife saw Nayanthara’s movie Manassinakkare and recommended her. P. Vasu signed up Nayanthara for the movie Chandramukhi. This movie was released on 14 April 2005 and became a big success. This movie made a record for running in theaters for over 800 days and made Nayanthara a leading Tamil actress. This year, she also worked in Thaskara Veeran, a movie directed by Pappan and Promod which was released on 27 May 2005. After this project, she worked in Rappakal in which she co-starred with Sharada and Mammootty. She also worked in Ghajini which was an A. R. Murugadoss movie released on 29 September 2005. After this, she also did an item number in Perarasu’s film Sivakasi.
Her first release in 2006 was on Kalvanin Kadhali which was directed by Tamilvannan and did well at the box office. 2006, was also the year of her Telugu film debut with Lakshmi which was followed by another Telugu film, Boss, I Love You. That year, she worked in three Tamil films including Vallavan in which she played the character of a lecturer who falls in love with her student. In this project, she starred with Premgi Amaren, Silambarasan TR, and others. Her performance in this film was reviewed by Sify which wrote,
Nayanthara virtually walks away with the film and has never looked so beautiful. She looks gorgeous especially in songs and does justice to her well-etched out role”.
Her second Tamil film of that year was E which was a science fiction film in which Nayanthara played the character of a bar dancer. This film was directed by S. P. Jananathan and the platforms such as Rediff and Indiaglitz praised Nayanthara for her performance. The third one was Thalaimagan in which she played the role of a news reporter but didn’t receive much traction from it. After this, she worked in Billa which was a remake of a Tamil gangster film from the 1980s. This film was directed by Vishnuvardhan and became a big success after its release on 14 December 2007. Nayanthara was highly appreciated for her performance as Sasha in this film. She got many positive reviews for this film and a Sify reviewer titled her as the show stopper of the film. The reviewer wrote,
Nayanthara has gone full throttle to look her sexiest best. She has a beautiful body which she flaunts daringly and is also able to bring out the cold aloofness and bitterness of her character.’
In 2008, she worked on five successful projects that were screened in different months of the year. The first release was Yaaradi Nee Mohini which was first screened on 4 April 2008. It was a family entertainment film directed by Mithran Jawahar. Nayanthara was nominated at the 56th Filmfare Awards South for her performance in the movie; her performance was also positively reviewed by critics and reviewers. A Behindwoods Reviewer wrote,
Nayan dispels her bombshell act and proves that she can do more than just that. She breaks into tears when needed, shows vicious contempt when rubbed the wrong way in the name of love, and looks endearing in songs.’
This film was followed by Kuselan, Satyam, and Aegan that did well at the box office. In 2010, she gave six releases that bought immense commercial success to the makers. She was in a lead role in five of these films which made her extensively popular in the South. The first one was Adhurs, a Telugu action comedy film that was released on 13 January 2010. The second one was Bodyguard, a Malayalam film that was released on 23 January 2010. The third one was a Telugu film Simha, which was released on 30 April 2010 and was followed by a Tamil film Boss Engira Bhaskaran released on 10 September 2010. Her fifth successful release of that year was Super, with which she made her Kannada film debut on 3 December 2010. The sixth one was a Malayalam film Elektra which was directed by Shyama Prasad. The screening of the film was done at the Dubai International Film Festival and the International Film Festival of India; Nayanthara received positive reviews for her performance in this film. She was also nominated for the best actress award at Filmfare Awards in three different languages for her performance in Simha, Super, and Boss Engira Bhaskaran. In 2011, she played the role of Goddess Sita Sri Rama Rajyam, a film by director Bapu. For this film, she received a mix of good and average reviews.
Nayanthara as Sita in Shri Ram Rajyam
Rediff rated her performance and wrote,
Nayanthara is the surprise package of the film. As Sita, she too has played the role of her lifetime. She gave a fine understated performance conveying a kaleidoscope of emotions.’
After the release of this film, there were humours in the media that this was Nayanthara’s last film before marriage and she will quit acting after marriage. The actress took 11 month sabbatical after this film and bounced back to work in 2012 with Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum which was directed by Krish Jagarlamudi. In this film, she played the role of a journalist and was praised for her comeback after its release on 30 November 2012. Her next release that came out to be a huge success was Raja Rani which was released on 27 September 2013. In this film, she was casted for the role of a wife who was struggling to survive an unhappy marriage. Her next project was Arrambam in which she starred with Arya, Taapsee Pannu, and Ajith Kumar. This film was released on 31 October 2013 and Nayanthara received positive reviews for her acting in this film. In 2014, she played the lead role in Anaamika, which was directed by Sekhar Kammula and was a remake of the Bollywood film Kahani. For this film, she was casted for the role of a wife who went to Hyderabad to find her husband who went missing. This film went on to be a hit and was a commercial success. Her performance was reviewed by a Sify reviewer who wrote,
a one-woman show by her in a difficult role… she nails the character perfectly whether it in the initial scenes showing her anguish or in the stunning climax, where she takes a brave decision.’
After this, she worked in another Tamil horror film, Maya which was a story of a single mother troubled by her mysterious past. This movie was written and directed by Ashwin Saravanan and was a big commercial success. Next, she was casted in comedy and action films such as Bhaskar the Rascal and Thani Oruvan which were both released in 2015. Next, she played the lead character of a deaf girl in Naanum Rowdy Dhaan which was a Vignesh Shivan’s film. Her first release in 2016 was Puthiya Niyamam in which she played the role of a rape victim. In this film, she starred with Mammootty, and her performance was positively reviewed by the International Business Times India, the platform wrote,
Nayantara’s role as Vasuki Iyer is one of her career’s best until now and her decision to dub in her own voice for her character is worthy of appreciation.’
She had three more releases in various genres after this release including Thirunaal which was released on 5 August 2016 in which she played the role of a village school teacher. This was followed by Iru Mugan and Kaashmore in the following months. In 2017, she acted as the lead in a horror thriller Dora and a political drama thriller Aramm. She was widely appreciated for her performance as a district collector in Aramm. Her first release of 2018 was Jai Simha in which played the female lead. This release was followed by Kolamaavu Kokila, a black comedy film, and Imaikkaa Nodigal, a thriller film. In the next year, she worked in various movies in different languages and also won an award for her acting in Viswasam. In 2020, she starred as a supporting actor with Rajinikanth in film Darbar. She also played the lead role of a Hindu Goddess in the film Mookuthi Amman which got her positive reviews from critics. In 2021, she worked in another project Annaatthe in which she starred with Rajnikanth. She also worked in a remake of a South Korean crime thriller, Netrikann. Her upcoming projects include a Tamil film named Connect, a Malayalam film named Gold, and a Telugu film named Godfather. She is also working in a Bollywood film with which she will make her Bollywood debut.
Production
In 2021, Nayanthara made her production debut by launching her company Rowdy Pictures which she bought up with her boyfriend Vignesh Shivam. This production company made Netrikann, Pebbles, Kaathu Vaakula Rendu Kaadhal and is now working on new projects.
Controversies
- Nayanthara first ran into controversies when her kissing pictures with her first boyfriend Simbu went viral on the internet and social media. This made a negative impact on her public image.
- In 2015, she ran into controversies after a clip of the film went viral on social media in which Nayanthara was buying liquor from a shop. The Indian Nationalist party, Hindu Makkal Katchi raised objection to this scene and demanded it to be removed from the film. They even protest against Nayanthara and garlanded her picture with beer bottles. Nayanthara tried to give a clarification by saying that the act was just for the scene in the film but that didn’t tame the protestor’s anger.
Awards, Honours, Achievements
- In 2011, she won Filmfare Award South in the best actress category.
- In 2013, she won Tamil Nadu State Film Awards in the best actress category.
- In 2013, she won Filmfare Award South in the best actress category.
Nayanthara after receiving Filmfare Award for her film Raja Rani in 2013
- In 2013, she won Edison Awards (Tamil) in the best actress category.
- In 2015, she won Edison Awards (Tamil) in the best actress category.
- In 2015, she won International Indian Film Academy Awards in the best actress category.
- In 2015, 2016, and 2017, she won Filmfare Award South in the best actress category consecutively.
Car Collection
When it comes to cars, Nayanthara has an Audi Q7 and BMW X5.
Net Worth
Nayanthara’s net worth was estimated to be around $10 Million in 2021.
Favourites
- Food: North Indian Cuisine
- Actor: Rajinikanth and Vijay
- Film: Pokiri, Billa and Yaradi Nee Mohin
Facts/Trivia
- In 2021, Nayanthara launched her gender-neutral lip care brand, The Lip Balm Company. She launched with the famous dermatologist Dr. Renita Rajan and has entered the beauty retail space.
Nayanthara’s lip balm company product
- Nayanthara was a non-vegetarian since childhood and chose to become a vegetarian after converting to Hinduism.