Nayantara was born in Bangalore, Karnataka to Jacobite Orthodox Christian Malayali parents, Kurian Kodiyattu and Omana Kurian. Her brother, Leno, who is nine years elder to her, lives in Dubai. As her father was an Indian Air Force official, she studied in various parts of India, mainly in North India. She did her schooling in Chennai, Jamnagar, Gujarat and Delhi. Following his retirement, they settled in Kerala, where she continued her college studies, at the Kendriya Vidyalaya schools in Kerala. In Tiruvalla, she studied at Balikamadom Girls Higher Secondary School and then attended Marthoma College for her bachelor's degree in English Literature.
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| Nayantara - South Actress |
Nayantara was spotted, while she was still in college, by director Sathyan 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. In 2005, she was cast opposite Sarath Kumar in Hari's 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 800 days in theatres, eventually turning Nayantara into one of the most-sought after actresses in Tamil.
Later that year her third Tamil film, A. R. Murugadoss' Ghajini, in which she played a secondary female character, again was a commercially highly successful venture. However, she later disclosed that appearing Ghajini was a big mistake and the "worst decision" she ever took. 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, while Nayantara received many accolades for her performance as Sasha.
In 2008 she had five releases, four of which were 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 and Villu opposite Vijay, were all unsuccessful, while Aegan became an average grosser. Her only successful release in 2009 was Aadhavan with Surya which released in October 2009, and become one of the few successes of 2009.
In 2010, all her releases, which featured her in the lead female role turned out to be commercial successes. She delivered five super hit films in the four Southern languages - Bodyguard (Malayalam), Adurs and Simha (Telugu), Boss Engira Bhaskaran (Tamil) and Super (Kannada). She won the Asianet Film Awards Best Actress in a leading role for her performance in Bodyguard.
