SearchSearch for Movies, Events, Plays, Sports and Activities
Select your region
Sign in
Hamburger Menu
Nayanthara
Also known as:Diana Mariam Kurien, Nayan, Nayantra, Mani, Diana Kurien
Occupation:Actor • Special Appearances • Producer
Born:November 18, 1984
Birthplace:Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Share
About
Diana Mariam Kurian, famously known by her stage name, Nayanthara, is an Indian actress who is primarily known for her work in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu cinema. Hailed as the `Lady Superstar` of South Indian cinema, she made her acting debut in 2003 with the Malayalam movie Manassinakkare, and her Kollywood debut with Ayya (2005). She has since appeared in over 70 films, enjoying tremendous box office success besides winning 5 Filmfare Awards and 6 SIIMA Awards besides earning top honours at the Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh State Film Awards.

EARLY LIFE
Born to Kurian Kodiyattu and Omana Kurian, in Bengaluru, Nayanthara comes from an Orthodox Christian Malayali family. She has an elder brother named Leno, who is settled in Dubai. As Nayanthara`s father was an Indian Air Force official, she did her schooling from two different cities viz. Jamnagar, and Delhi. She completed her schooling from Balikamadom Girls Higher Secondary School and attended the Marthoma College in Tiruvalla. Nayanthara holds a bachelor`s degree in English literature.

PERSONAL LIFE
While shooting for the movie Vallavan in 2006, Nayanthara was apparently dating her co-star and director of the movie, Silambarasan. However, soon after the movie was released the couple parted ways. In 2008, Nayanthara started dating choreographer-actor-director Prabhu Deva. However, in 2012, the couple made a mutual decision to part ways.

MOVIE CAREER
During her college days, Nayanthara took up a few modeling assignments. It was during this period that director Sathyan Anthikkad got impressed by her work and decided to cast her in his movie, Manassinakkare. However, having no interest in acting, Nayanthara declined the offer initially only to accept it later. The movie was released in 2003 and went on to become a commercial hit. Post the success of Manassinakkare, Nayanthara received various acting offers and went on to appear in two Mohanlal starrers in the year 2004 - Natturajavu and Vismayathumbathu.

After starring in a few Malayalam movies, in 2005, Nayanthara made her Tamil film debut with the movie Ayya. The movie turned out to be a hit and her work was praised by the critics and audiences alike. In the same year, she starred alongside Rajinikanth in the horror-comedy flick, Chandramukhi, which went on to become one of the most successful Tamil cinemas ever made. The movie ran for 800 days in theaters and established Nayanthara as one of the most sought after actresses in the Tamil film industry.

Being successful in Malayalam, and Tamil movies, in 2006, Nayanthara made her debut in the Telugu film industry with the movie, Lakshmi. Although that the movie as declared as a super hit at the box office, it received mixed reviews from the critics. The year 2006 turned out to be mediocre for the actress as her three other Tamil releases - Thalaimagan, Vallavan, and E - were average hits.

In the year 2007, Nayanthara delivered a power-packed performance in her only release of the year, Billa, which went on to become a huge box hit. Following the success of Billa, in 2008, Nayanthara starred in a Family entertainer, Yaaradi Nee Mohini, portraying a non-glamorous role, breaking the stereotype. She went on to the win the Vijay Award for Favourite Heroine and was also nominated for Best Actress at the 56th Filmfare Awards South. However, her subsequent releases that year turned out to be average hits and her sole release in 2009 was not well received as well.

Having received moderate success at the box office for two years, in 2010, Nayanthara delivered five hits in four Southern languages. She appeared in Bodyguard (Malayalam), Simha (Telugu), Adhurs (Telugu), Super (Kannada, Telugu), and Boss Engira Bhaskaran (Tamil). She followed this up with two releases in the next two years - Sri Rama Rajyam in 2011 and Krishnam Vande Jagadguram in 2012 - both these movies were critically acclaimed at the box office and she was applauded for her work.

In 2013, Nayanthara appeared in Raja Rani, her first Tamil movie after three years. An outright critical and commercial success, the film also earned the actress her first Tamil Nadu State Film Award and second Filmfare Award. Subsequently, the actress continued her fine run with hits like Masss (2015) and Thani Oruvan (2015) before winning her next Filmfare Award for her work in the black comedy Naanum Rowdy Dhaan (2015). Two of the three films Nayanthara appeared in 2017 featured her as the solo lead in woman-centric stories: these were the horror thriller Dora (2017) and the political drama Aramm (2017). While Dora fared reasonably well at the box office despite the mixed reviews, Aramm was a major success both in terms of box office returns and critical reception; thereby cementing her status as the `Queen of Kollywood`.

In 2018, Nayanthara essayed the titular role in the Tamil black comedy Kolamaavu Kokila, which was directed by Nelson Dilipkumar. Her stellar performance as an ordinary girl who resorts to extreme measures after being caught up in a smuggling ring`s machinations was applauded by the critics and the audience alike. In the same year, the actress also appeared in the thriller Imaikka Nodigal (2018), where she starred alongside Anurag Kashyap and Atharvaa Murali. Among Nayanthara`s other notable projects in recent times are the Malayalam romantic comedy Love Action Drama, the Ajith Kumar starrer Viswasam (2019), the Telugu movie Syeraa Narasimha Reddy (2019) and Bigil (2019). Her 2020 release includes Darbar. Her 2020 release includes Darbar and Mookuthi Amman. Her 2021 releases include Nizhal, Netrikann, Aaradugula Bullet and Annaatthe. Her other notable works include Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal (2022) and O2 (2022), Gold (2022), Jawan (2023) and Godfather (2023).

Nayanthara tied the knot with filmmaker-lyricist Vignesh Shivan on June 9, 2022.
Peers & More
Trisha Krishnan
Actor
Anushka Shetty
Actor
Silambarasan T. R.
Actor
Samantha Ruth Prabhu
Actor
Family
Omana Kurian
Mother
Kurian Kodiyattu
Father
Leno Kurian
Brother
Popular Movies
View All
Aramm 2
The Test
Mannangatti Since 1960
Dear Students
Rakkayie
Annapoorani - The Goddess of Food
God
Iraivan
Jawan
Shubh Yatra

Did You Know? (8)

  • In 2018 Nayanthara became the first South Indian actress to make it onto the Forbes India Celebrity 100 list.
  • Before her acting career took off Nayanthara wanted to become a Chartered Accountant.
  • Nayanthara was only 19 years old when she appeared in her first feature film Manassinakkare (2003).
  • In 2011 Nayanthara converted from being a Catholic to a Hindu, after which her stage name Nayanthara became her legal name as well.
  • Nayanthara won no less than 8 awards for her performance of Sita in Sri Rama Rajyam (2011).
  • Nayanthara`s one and only appearance in the Kannada film industry was in Super (2010).
  • It was Nayanthara`s idea for her hearing impaired character in Naanum Rowdy Dhaan to wear ear piercings.
  • During the release of her film Dora, Nayanthara who plays the lead role in the movie had a cutout of herself raised at the Albert Theater. This was the first time in the history of Tamil cinema that a female actor had a cutout raised.
  • Personal Quotes (6)

  • "When directors come up with subplots revolving around husbands or boyfriends, I always ask whether it`s mandatory."
  • "I am always busy and shooting all the time. I am a workaholic and live with the fear of not delivering a good product."
  • "I`ve been misquoted and misinterpreted a lot of times. It was too much for me to handle. My job is to act. The films should speak for themselves."
  • "Every day, the way the world perceives you changes. I can`t live my life if I keep worrying about what people say. "
  • "No one has the right to think that heroines can be taken for granted."
  • "Elektra is a complex character driven by love and loyalty. Such challenging female characters are hard to come by in Indian cinema and so I really enjoy playing her."
  • Privacy Note

    By using www.bookmyshow.com(our website), you are fully accepting the Privacy Policy available at https://bookmyshow.com/privacy governing your access to Bookmyshow and provision of services by Bookmyshow to you. If you do not accept terms mentioned in the Privacy Policy, you must not share any of your personal information and immediately exit Bookmyshow.
    hut
    List your Show
    Got a show, event, activity or a great experience? Partner with us & get listed on BookMyShow
    Contact today!
    bookmyshow
    Copyright 2024 © Bigtree Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
    The content and images used on this site are copyright protected and copyrights vests with the respective owners. The usage of the content and images on this website is intended to promote the works and no endorsement of the artist shall be implied. Unauthorized use is prohibited and punishable by law.