The film received rave reviews, and became a commercial success as well, with her performance garnering her a nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category at the 57th Filmfare Awards South.
The same year she appeared in Vellathooval, Angel John and Kerala Cafe.
She received positive reviews for the lattermost.
1959
She received a nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress at the 59th Filmfare Awards South She next appeared in ad-filmmaker Jayendra's bilingual venture Nootrenbadhu, which was made and released in Tamil and Telugu (as 180), in which she played a photo journalist named Vidya.
She described the character as "bubbly, full of life, nosey, wide-eyed and innocent in life" and to be similar to herself.
Later the year, she was seen in Sibi Malayil's Violin in Malayalam and the Gautham Vasudev Menon-produced Veppam in Tamil.
She also featured in V. K. Prakash's Kannada anthology film Aidondla Aidu where she played a young bride who is obsessed with making payasam for her new husband much to his chagrin.
She had sung and also choreographed one of the songs, titled "Payasa".
1990
Nithya Menen (born 8 April 1990) is an Indian actress and singer who works primarily in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu films.
Having worked in more than 50 films, she is acknowledged for her acting versatility.
Nithya Menen was born on 8 April 1990 in Bangalore to Malayali parents settled in Karnataka.
She was educated at Poorna Prajna School and Mount Carmel College, Bangalore.
She has said that she initially wished to become a pilot, but ultimately found pilot unappealing, so she pivoted to filmmaking, and enrolled in a cinematography course at the Film and Television Institute of India at Pune.
During the school's entrance exam, she met B. V. Nandini Reddy, who convinced Menen to take up acting.
Nithya is a polyglot and can speak six languages including Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and English.
As a child, Menen had acted in a French-Indian English film named Hanuman, at the age of 8, playing younger sister to Tabu's character.
At the age of 15, she played a supporting role in a Kannada film 7 O' Clock.
1998
She appeared first on-screen as a child, when she was eight, in the French-Indian English film, Hanuman (1998), playing the younger sister to Tabu's character.
In 1998, Menen appeared first on-screen as a child in Hanuman (1998).
She also was a part of the Hindi-language soap opera Choti Maa – Ek Anokha Bandhan.
2006
At the age of 15, she appeared in a supporting role in the Kannada film 7 O' Clock, which was released in 2006.
She played a supporting role in the Kannada film 7 O' Clock (2006).
2008
She started her film career by playing the lead role in the Malayalam film Aakasha Gopuram, which was released in 2008.
The 2008 off-beat film Aakasha Gopuram, directed by K. P. Kumaran, marked her film career in Malayalam in a leading role, in which she was paired with Mohanlal.
2009
She next made a comeback into Kannada films with the film Josh in 2009.
2010
In 2010, she starred in the Malayalam films, Anwar and Apoorvaragam where she plays Nancy, a young girl who gets involved with two male students (Nishan and Asif Ali) who are later discovered to be con-artists.
The film received mixed to negative reviews, but became a hit at the box office.
2011
Her debut in leading roles in Telugu and Tamil films were Ala Modalaindi (2011) and Nootrenbadhu (2011).
Menen's career marked a turning point in 2011, with the romantic comedy Ala Modalaindi, which was her maiden Telugu venture.
The film opened to favourable reviews by critics and turned out to become a sleeper hit, while Menen received critical praise for her performance.
Idlebrain's Jeevi in his review cited that she "epitomized Nitya character with her fabulous performance", "looks beautiful in all kinds of dresses" and was "the best debut in recent years of Telugu cinema after Samantha in YMC", while another critic wrote that she was a "charming find" and "...quite the Genelia replacement that our cinema so badly needs right now."
She eventually won the Nandi Award for Best Actress for her performance and received a nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Actress.
Further more, she also sang two songs for the soundtrack album of the film, tuned by Kalyani Malik.
Nandini Reddy, later, went on to describe Menen as "the discovery of the decade".
Following Ala Modalaindi, she starred in Santosh Sivan's historical fiction Urumi as part of an ensemble cast.
She portrayed a Chirakkal princess named Bala, playing the love interest of Prabhu Deva's character, which gained positive remarks, with a Sify review claiming that she "looks pretty and is a scene stealer".
Menen quoted that much of her character was based on "Santosh's perception of who I am", with Sivan stating that he had written that role for her and that only she could play it.
2012
She was in the midst of her 12th class exams when she was offered the role, after Mohanlal had spotted her on the front cover of a tourism magazine, Stark World Kerala.
Her performance was well received, with critics writing that she shows "sparkle in her debut venture" and "makes her entry in an impressive role", though the film was a financial failure.
