Nayanthara

This article is about the Indian film actress. For the Indian writer, see Nayantara Sahgal.

Nayantara
Born	Diana Mariam Kurian
Other names	Nayan, Diana
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2003 - present

Diana Mariam Kurian (born on 18 November 1984), best known by her stage name Nayantara (Malayalam: നയന്‍ താര), is an Indian film actress, who has appeared in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. After several commercial successes such as Chandramukhi, Ghajini, Billa and Yaaradi Nee Mohini, she has established herself as one of the leading contemporary actresses in Tamil cinema.

Early life

She studied in various parts of India (Bengaluru, Gujarat, Delhi and Kerala), as her father was an Indian Air Force official. She is a Syrian Christian by birth. She did her schooling at the prestigious Kendriya Vidyalaya schools in north India and then attended Marthoma College in Tiruvalla for her Bachelor's degree in English Literature. She is a native of Tiruvalla, Pathanamthitta district..

Career

Nayan was spotted when she was still in college by director Satyan Anthikkad, who cast her opposite Jayaram in the 2003 Malayalam film Manassinakkare. Later, she co-starred alongside Mohanlal in Natturajavu and in Fazil's Vismayathumbathu. She was also cast with Mammootty in Thaskaraveeran and Raapakal.

She subsequently started appearing in Tamil and Telugu films. 2005, she was cast opposite Sarath Kumar in Ayya, debuting in the Tamil film industry, and followed it up with Chandramukhi. The comedy horror film, in which she starred alongside Rajinikanth, became one of the most successful Tamil films in history, running for over 700 days in theatres, turning Nayantara eventually into one of the most-sought after actresses in Tamil. Later that year her third Tamil film, A. R. Murugadoss' Ghajini released, where she played a secondary female character, which again was a commercially highly successful venture. She then made her debut in Telugu, starring in the film Lakshmi, following which she performed in Boss, alongside Venkatesh and Nagarjuna, respectively. She regained her star billing in Kollywood acting opposite Ajith Kumar in the Vishnuvardhan-directed Billa. The gangster film, a remake of the same-titled 1980 Tamil film, went on to become a blockbuster success at the box office.

In 2008 she had five releases, four of which in Tamil. Her first release, the family entertainer Yaaradi Nee Mohini was one of the highest grossing Tamil films of the year, besides receiving seven nominations at the 56th Filmfare Awards South, including a Best Actress nomination for Nayantara for her portrayal of Keerthi. Her subsequent releases, however, Kuselan opposite Rajnikanth, Sathyam opposite Vishal, Aegan opposite Ajith Kumar and Villu opposite Vijay were all unsuccessful while Aegan becoming an average grosser. Her only successful release in 2009 was Aadhavan with Surya which released in October 2009, and become one of the few hits of 2009 which ran for 100 days.

Her three 2010 releases, Bodyguard in Malayalam as well as Adurs in telugu were hit and Simha was commercially successful becoming one of the highest-grossing films of the year. Her latest movie Boss Engira Bhaskaran with Tamil actor Arya released on 10th september 2010 to highly positive reviews. Her forthcoming films include acclaimed director Shyamaprasad's Malayalam film entitled Electra. She is also making her debut into the Kannada film industry opposite super star Upendra in the film Super.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Language	Other notes
2003	Manassinakkare	Gauri	Malayalam	Winner, Asianet Award for Best Female New Face of the Year
2004	Vismayathumbathu	Reetha Mathews	Malayalam
	Natturajavu	Katrina	Malayalam
2005	Ayya	Selvi	Tamil
	Chandramukhi	Durga	Tamil
	Thaskara Veeran	Thankamani	Malayalam
	Rappakal	Gauri	Malayalam
	Ghajini	Chitra	Tamil
	Sivakasi	Nayanthara	Tamil	Special appearance in song Kodambakkam Area
2006	Kalvanin Kadhali	Haritha	Tamil
	Lakshmi	Nandhini	Telugu
	Boss	Anuradha	Telugu
	Vallavan	Swapna	Tamil
	Thalaimagan	Meghala	Tamil
	E	Jyothi	Tamil
2007	Yogi	Nandini	Telugu
	Dubai Seenu	Madhumathi	Telugu
	Sivaji: The Boss		Tamil	Special appearance in song Balleilakka
	Tulasi	Vasundhara Ram	Telugu
	Billa	Sasha	Tamil	Winner, Vijay Award for Favourite Heroine, Nominated, Filmfare Best Tamil Actress Award
2008	Yaaradi Nee Mohini	Keerthi	Tamil	Winner, Vijay Award for Favourite Heroine Nominated, Filmfare Best Tamil Actress Award
	Kuselan	Nayanthara	Tamil	Simultaneously made in Telugu as Kathanayakudu
	Sathyam	Deivalakshmi	Tamil
	Aegan	Mallika	Tamil
	Twenty:20	Diana	Malayalam	Special appearance in song He Dil Deewana
2009	Villu	Janavi	Tamil
	Anjaneyulu	Anjali	Telugu
	Aadhavan	Thara	Tamil	Nominated, Vijay Award for Favourite Heroine
2010	Adurs	Chandrakala	Telugu
	Bodyguard	Ammu Ashokan	Malayalam
	Goa		Tamil	Guest appearance
	Simha	Gayatri	Telugu
	Boss Engira Bhaskaran	Chandrika	Tamil
	Electra	Electra Alexander	Malayalam	Post-production
	Super		Kannada	Post-production

Awards

• 2003 - Asianet Award for Best Female New Face of the Year - Manassinakkare
• 2007 - Vijay Award for Favourite Heroine - Billa
• 2008 - Vijay Award for Favourite Heroine - Yaaradi Nee Mohini