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Know your stars: Nayanthara, the `Lady Superstar` of South Indian cinema

Diana Mariam Kurian, an Indian actress best recognized by her stage name Nayanthara, is mainly recognized for her roles in Telugu, Malayalam, and Tamil films. Known as the `Lady Superstar` of South Indian cinema, she debuted as an actor with the Malayalam film Manassinakkare in 2003 and in Kollywood with Ayya in 2005. Since then, she's acted in more than 70 movies.

Nayanthara Birth Date and Education:

Nayanthara was born as Diana Mariam Kurian on 18th November 1984 in Bangalore, Karnataka, to Kurian Kodiyattu and Omana Kurian in an Orthodox Christian family from Thiruvalla, Kerala.

She completed her schooling from Balikamadom Girls Higher Secondary School and attended the Marthoma College in Tiruvalla. Nayanthara holds a bachelor`s degree in English literature.

Nayanthara Family:

Nayanthara`s father was an Indian Air Force official. Her elder brother, Leno, lives in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Nayanthara tied the knot with filmmaker-lyricist Vignesh Shivan on June 9, 2022. The couple revealed the birth of their twin children named Uyir and Ulagam, via surrogacy. Additionally, their twin boys' full names, Uyir RudroNeel N Shivan and Ulag Daiwik N Shivan, are written with a N in place of their mother Nayanthara.

Nayanthara Film Career:

Nayanthara took up a couple modeling jobs while she was in college. Director Sathyan Anthikkad chose to cast her in his film Manassinakkare during this time after being inspired by her work. Nayanthara, however, first turned down the invitation because she had no interest in performing before eventually accepting it.

After starring in a few Malayalam movies, in 2005, Nayanthara made her Tamil film debut with the movie Ayya. She co-starred with Rajinikanth in the horror-comedy Chandramukhi that same year, which went on to become one of the most popular Tamil films ever produced. She appeared in Bodyguard (Malayalam), Simha (Telugu), Adhurs (Telugu), Super (Kannada, Telugu), and Boss Engira Bhaskaran (Tamil).

Her 2020 release includes Darbar. Her other notable works include Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal (2022) and O2 (2022), Gold (2022), Jawan (2023) and Godfather (2023).

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