Nayanthara Kurian

Nayanthara Kurian, known to audiences simply as Nayanthara, is an Indian actress and producer who ranks among the leading stars of Tamil cinema. She also works in Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. She is best known for Sri Rama Rajyam, Aramm and Jawan, and her honours include five Filmfare Awards South and a Nandi Award. Her screen journey began in Malayalam with Manassinakkare in 2003. Tamil audiences first saw her in Ayya in 2005, and the same year brought the hits Chandramukhi and Ghajini. She entered Telugu films with Lakshmi in 2006, then found success with Billa (2007) and Yaaradi Nee Mohini (2008). Playing Sita in Sri Rama Rajyam (2011) won her the Filmfare and Nandi awards for Best Actress in Telugu. Raja Rani (2013), Naanum Rowdy Dhaan (2015) and Aramm (2017) brought her Best Actress prizes in Tamil, and Viswasam and Bigil were both big successes in 2019. Her Hindi debut, Jawan (2023), became the highest-grossing film of her career. She followed it with Test (2025). Nayanthara stands out for leading women-centred stories on her own, from Maya (2015) and Imaikkaa Nodigal (2018) to Mookuthi Amman (2020) and Netrikann (2021). Across more than 75 films, she has also won three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and seven SIIMA Awards. Beyond acting, she runs the production company Rowdy Pictures.