Nayantara was born as Diana Mariam Kurien in a Malayali Nasrani (Syrian
Christian) family to an Indian Army Officer father, Kurien Kodiyattu,
and Omana Kurien, in Bangalore, Karnataka. She has a brother, Leno, who
resides in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
After her father's retirement the family settled down in Kerala where
she continued with her college studies but she did her schooling in
several schools in Chennai, Jamnagar, Delhi, and Gujarat.
During the year 2003, while still in college, she was spotted by
director Sathyan Anthikkad who cast her in a Malayalam movie. Two years
later, she went on to act in Tamil and Telugu movies. As she became
popular she also appeared in Kannada language movies.
She soon acquired the reputation of acting opposite male actors who are
almost twice as old. She starred in her first Malyalam film opposite
Jayaram, and then in "Chandramukhi" with renowned Indian actor
Rajnikanth, then with other aging actors like Sarath Kumar, Mohanlal,
and Mammotty.
She has been cast to play the lead role in a much younger Simbu's
directorial debut, in which he also has the lead role. Nayanthara and
Simbu's intimate life-sized posters created shock waves in Chennai,
which were subsequently pulled down by the police. Similar excitement
resulted when glamorous life-sized posters were posted all over Chennai
this time with her co-star S.J. Surya.
During September 2010, Prabhu Deva, publicly declared his love for her,
even though he was married to Ramalath and had three children. After a
bitter and contested court battle, the couple was divorced during July
2011.
On August 7, 2011, Diana, a Jacobite Christian, converted to Hinduism
at the Arya Samaj Mandir in Chennai and her screen-named is now her
formal official name.
With her attractive looks and talent, it is no wonder that she is one
of the most popular and sought after actresses in the South Indian film
industry.
