Nayanthara

Nayanthara (born Diana Mariam Kurian; 18 November 1984) is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films.

Nayanthara was born as Diana Mariam Kurian on 18 November 1984 in Bangalore, Karnataka, to Kurian Kodiyattu and Omana Kurian in a Syrian Christian family.

Her elder brother, Leno, lives in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

As her father was an Indian Air Force official, Nayanthara studied in various parts of India.

Her family hails from Thiruvalla, Kerala, and her mother tongue is Malayalam.

Nayanthara did her schooling in Jamnagar, Gujarat and Delhi.

In Thiruvalla, she studied at Balikamadom Girls Higher Secondary School, Thirumoolapuram and then attended Marthoma College, Thiruvalla for her bachelor's degree in English Literature.

Nayanthara made her acting debut with the Malayalam film Manassinakkare (2003).

She began her acting career in 2003 with the Malayalam film Manassinakkare.

While studying at college, Nayanthara worked part-time as a model.

She was spotted by director Sathyan Anthikkad, who had seen some of her modelling assignments and approached her to play a pivotal role in his film Manassinakkare (2003).

Although she turned down the offer initially, as she was not interested in films, she gave in eventually and agreed to do "just that one film".

Manassinakkare went on to become a big financial success and she continued to receive acting offers.

Both her releases in 2004, Natturajavu by Shaji Kailas, and Fazil's psychological thriller Vismayathumbathu, saw her co-starring alongside Mohanlal; while she played the protagonist's adopted sister in the former, she portrayed a ghost in the latter.

Her performance in Vismayathumbathu, in particular, was lauded, with critics claiming that she had "stolen the thunder with her author-backed role", and was "the revelation of the film".

Nayanthara subsequently started appearing in Tamil and Telugu films.

She made her debut in Tamil cinema with Ayya (2005) and in Telugu cinema with Lakshmi (2006).

Her other notable films include Chandramukhi, Ghajini (both 2005), Billa (2007), Yaaradi Nee Mohini (2008), Bodyguard (2010), Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum (2012), Thani Oruvan (2015), Kaashmora (2016), Viswasam, Bigil, Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy (all 2019), Darbar (2020), Annaatthe (2021) and Godfather (2022).

She expanded into Hindi cinema with Jawan (2023).

In addition to her acting career, Nayanthara is a philanthropist and owns a production house called "Rowdy Pictures".

Nayanthara is married to filmmaker Vignesh Shivan, with whom she has two children.

In 2005, she was cast in Hari's Ayya, debuting in the Tamil film industry as lead heroine of the movie.

Behindwoods.com stated that she had made a "sensational debut in Tamil", while a reviewer from Nowrunning.com said that her "presence with her beautiful smile is crowd winning".

While still shooting for Ayya, she was selected for the comedy horror film Chandramukhi, after its director P. Vasu's wife had seen Manassinakkare and recommended her.

The film ran for over 800 days in theatres, eventually turning Nayanthara into one of the most-sought after actresses in Tamil.

She also acted in Malayalam, Thaskara Veeran and Rappakal both co-starring with Mammootty.

Later that year she appeared in AR Murugadoss' Ghajini, in which she played a secondary female character.She was also portrayed in an item song in the film.

Nayanthara then accepted to appear in an item number as herself in the Perarasu-directed masala film Sivakasi.

Nayanthara's first release in 2006 was Kalvanin Kadhali.

Indiaglitz.com stated her performance was the "strength of the film".

She next made her debut in Telugu, starring in the film Lakshmi, following which she performed in Boss, I Love You.

Three Tamil films in which she enacted the lead female characters – Vallavan, Thalaimagan and E – were released simultaneously during Deepavali 2006.

All three films opened to mixed reviews.

In Vallavan, she portrayed a lecturer who falls in love with a student younger than her.

Her portrayal of Goddess Sita in the mythological film Sri Rama Rajyam (2011) earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu and the Nandi Award for Best Actress.

She won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil and Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress, for her performances in the romantic comedy Raja Rani (2013), the action comedy Naanum Rowdy Dhaan (2015) and the political drama Aramm (2017).

Nayanthara went on to establish herself as one of the leading actresses of South Indian cinema with such female-led films as Anaamika (2014), Maya (2015), Kolamavu Kokila (2018), Airaa (2019) and Netrikann (2022).

She was awarded the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Malayalam for her performance in the crime drama Puthiya Niyamam (2016).

One of the highest-paid actresses in India, she was the only South Indian actress to be featured in the Forbes India "Celebrity 100" list of 2018.

She has acted in more than 75 films in a career spanning over two decades and has won numerous awards, including five Filmfare Awards South, one Tamil Nadu State Film Award and a Andra Pradesh State Nandi Film Award.