Ambitious and hardworking, Nayanthara entered the tinsel
world debuting in the Malayalam film 'Manassinakkare'(2003), directed by
Sathyan Anthikad opposite Jayaram. The Kerala-born Christian girl from
Tiruvalla, whose real name is Diana Kurien, had completed her B.A. Literature
and was doing her Chartered Accountancy when films beckoned her. Her striking
appearance and acting talent was appreciated by the Kerala audience. The huge
commercial success of 'Manassinakkare' helped her career in a big way.
Then came her second film, 'Vismayathumbath'(2004) by Fazil, with super
star Mohanlal. Though the film did not fare well at the box office, Nayanthara
became a notable actress in Kerala film industry. Her pretty looks captured
the attention of Malayalam film buffs. Eventually it paved her way to Tamil
films.
Nayan is a self confident person and is always found calm. The pretty
actress stepped into Tamil films with 'Ayya' (2005) where Sarat Kumar was her
hero. Her second release in Tamil was the much awaited 'Chandramukhi' where
she paired with superstar Rajnikanth. Strangely her pairings initially have
all been with senior heroes. In between she came back to the Malayalam
industry with two films Thaskaraveeran (2005) and Raapakal (2005) where
Mammootty was her hero.
After crossing the border from Malayalam to other languages, she changed
her 'seedha sadha' image and started taking up glamorous roles. Nayanthara and
Simbu's intimate life-sized posters in 'Vallavan' (2006)created shock waves in
Chennai. Similar excitement resulted when glamorous posters of 'Kalvanin
Kadhali' were posted all over Chennai. Her maiden Telugu film 'Lakshmi'(2006)
made a big splash at the box office. The same year she also acted in another
Telugu movie 'Boss' (2006) opposite Nagarjuna in which she rocked Tollywood
with her sexy outfits.
In the year 2007, her biggest blockbuster in Tamil was 'Billa' with Ajith
in the lead. She also acted in the movie 'Yaradhi Nee Mohini' with Dhanush as
a hero and Jawahar as the director, which was released in the year 2008.
Nayantara is one of the very few actresses, who can strike a balance
between glamour and homely roles in movies. She played the role of a household
girl in films like 'Manassinakkare', 'Ayya' and 'Chandramukhi'. However in
contrast, she took to glamour and enthralled film-buffs in E, Thalaimagan,
Vallavan, Billa and Tulsi . She is keen on doing a role in an off-beat movie
and would like to dub in her own voice for the film.
Her versatile performance and immense dancing skills has won a lot of
hearts and career wise she is riding high in South Indian films. This glamour
queen has become one of the busiest as well as the highest paid actresses in
the Southern film industry today.