Nayanthara

nayantara
Born	Diana Mariam Kurian
Other names	Nayan
Occupation(s)	Actress, Model
Years active	2003 - present
Height	5 ft 4 in (1.57 m)
Website	http://nayanthara.sifymax.com/home/

Diana Mariam Kurian (Template:Lang-ml; born on November 18, 1981), best known by her stage name Nayantara, is an Indian actress who has acted in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu movies. After several commercial successes such as Chandramukhi, Ghajini, Billa and Yaaradi Nee Mohini, she has become one of the leading actresses in Tamil cinema.

Early life

She was educated in various parts of India (Kerala and Tamil Nadu), as her father was an Indian Air Force official. She is a Syriac Orthodox Christian (Jacobite) by birth. She attended Balikamadom High School, Thiruvalla for +2, then attended Marthoma College in Thiruvalla for her Bachelor's degree in English Literature. She is a native of Tiruvalla, Pathanamthitta district.

Career

Nayantara, who was Diana Mariam Kurian at the time, was chosen 1st runner up in the Best Model competition for Kerala 2003, which was conducted by Thrissur Advertising Club. This gave her a few opportunities in modeling for advertisements. While at college, she was spotted by director Satyan Anthikkad and cast opposite Jayaram dgfin Manassinakkare. Afterwards, she co-starred alongside Mohanlal in Natturajavu and in Fazil's Vismayathumbathu. She was also cast with Mammootty in Thaskaraveeran (Dubbed into Tamil as Yuvaraj) and Raapakal.

She has also starred in several Tamil and Telugu movies. She was cast opposite Sarath Kumar in Ayya and with Rajnikanth in Chandramukhi. Her later films Vallavan (Tamil) and Yogi (Telugu) flopped except for Tamil film Ghajini. She regained her throne in Kollywood acting opposite Ajith Kumar in the stylish and elegant Billa. Yaaradi Nee Mohini released in 2008 was a huge hit and received seven nominations at the 56th Filmfare awards South; it was one of the highest grossing Tamil films of the year. Her next release Aegan opposite Ajith Kumar was an average grosser. Her films like Kuselan opposite Rajnikanth, Sathyam opposite Vishal and Villu opposite Joseph Vijay were all unsuccessful. Her latest appearance was in Aadhavan with Surya Sivakumar which released on October 16, 2009.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Language	Other notes
2003	Manassinakkare	Gauri	Malayalam
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
2006	Kalvanin Kadhali	Haritha	Tamil
	Lakshmi	Nandhini	Telugu
	Boss	Anuradha	Telugu
	Vallavan	Swapna	Tamil
	Thalaimagan	Meghala	Tamil
	E	Jyoti	Tamil
2007	Yogi	Nandini	Telugu
	Dubai Seenu	Madhumathi	Telugu
	Sivaji: The Boss		Tamil	Item number
	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	Nayantara	Tamil Telugu	Guest role
	Sathyam	Deivalakshmi	Tamil Telugu	Made simultaneously in Telugu as Salute
	Aegan	Mallika	Tamil
	Twenty:20	Diana	Malayalam	Special appearance
2009	Villu	Janavi	Tamil
	Anjaneyulu	Anjali	Telugu
	Aadhavan	Tara	Tamil
	Bodyguard	Ammu	Malayalam	Filming
	Adurs		Telugu	Filming
2010	Electra	Electra	Malayalam	Pre-production
	Boss Engira Bhaskaran		Tamil	Pre-production
'	Most Wanted		Hindi	Named