Nayanthara (born Diana Mariam Kurian; 18 November 1984) is an Indian actress and producer who works mainly in Tamil cinema and also in Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi films. She has appeared in more than eighty films since 2003 and for much of the last decade has been the highest-paid actress in South India, able to carry films without a male star. Fans and the press long called her the “Lady Superstar”, a title she asked them in 2025 to drop.
Quick Facts
| Birth name | Diana Mariam Kurian |
| Born | 18 November 1984, Bengaluru, Karnataka |
| Age | 41 |
| Occupation | Actress, producer |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Known for | Chandramukhi, Billa, Sri Rama Rajyam, Raja Rani, Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, Aramm, Kolamaavu Kokila, Jawan |
| Education | Mar Thoma College, Thiruvalla (B.A. English Literature) |
| Spouse | Vignesh Shivan (m. 2022) |
| Children | 2 sons |
Early Life
She was born in Bengaluru into a Malayali Syrian Christian family from Thiruvalla in Kerala. Her father, Kurian Kodiyattu, served in the Indian Air Force, and she went to school in Jamnagar, Delhi and other stations before the family settled in Kerala. She studied English literature at Mar Thoma College, Thiruvalla, and worked as a model and television presenter while a student.
Career
Beginnings
The director Sathyan Anthikad saw her in an advertisement and cast her in the Malayalam film Manassinakkare (2003), giving her the screen name Nayanthara. She appeared with Mohanlal and Mammootty before moving to Tamil with Ayya (2005). The same year she played the heroine opposite Rajinikanth in Chandramukhi, which ran in one Chennai theatre for more than two years. Ghajini, Billa and Yaaradi Nee Mohini made her one of the most sought-after actresses in Tamil and Telugu.
Break and return
She played Sita in the Telugu mythological Sri Rama Rajyam (2011), a performance that won her the Nandi Award, and then withdrew from films for about a year. She returned with Raja Rani and Arrambam (2013) and entered the most successful phase of her career.
Carrying films
Beginning with the horror film Maya (2015) she starred in a series of films built around her character. In Naanum Rowdy Dhaan she played a deaf woman bent on revenge; in Aramm (2017) a district collector directing the rescue of a child from a borewell; in Kolamaavu Kokila (2018) a timid young woman who becomes a drug courier to pay for her mother’s treatment. At the same time she appeared in the biggest star vehicles, including Viswasam, Bigil and Darbar.
Hindi debut and recent work
She made her Hindi debut opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Atlee’s Jawan (2023), one of the highest-grossing Indian films. Annapoorani (2023), her seventy-fifth film, about a Brahmin woman who becomes a chef, was withdrawn from a streaming service after complaints that it hurt religious sentiments. In 2026 she appeared with Chiranjeevi in the Telugu hit Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu, in the Malayalam ensemble thriller Patriot and with Yash in Toxic, with a sequel to her devotional comedy Mookuthi Amman to follow.
Producer and Entrepreneur
With her husband she runs Rowdy Pictures, which produced Koozhangal (“Pebbles”), India’s entry for the Academy Awards in 2021. She has also launched skincare and personal-care brands.
Personal Life
She was received into the Hindu faith at an Arya Samaj temple in Chennai in 2011. She married the director Vignesh Shivan, whom she had met on Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, at Mahabalipuram on 9 June 2022, and their twin sons were born through surrogacy later that year. A Netflix documentary on her life and wedding, released in November 2024, led to a public dispute and a lawsuit over the use of footage from that film, which was produced by Dhanush. She gives almost no interviews and does not take part in film promotions.
Featured image: Nayanthara at the album launch of Toxic, August 2026. Photo by Reaaaan, licensed under CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
