While studying at college, Nayantara was working as a part-time model. She was spotted by director
Sathyan Anthikkad, who had seen some of her modelling assignments and approached her to play a pivotal role opposite
Jayaram in his film
Manassinakkare (2003).
[11] Although she turned down the offer initially, as she was not interested in films, she gave in eventually and agreed to do "just that one movie".
[11] Manassinakkare went on to become a high financial success and she continued to receive acting offers. Her both releases in 2004,
Natturajavu by
Shaji Kailas and
Fazil's pychological thriller
Vismayathumbathu saw her co-starring alongside
Mohanlal; while she played the protagonist's adopted sister in the former, she portrayed a ghost in the latter.
[12] Her performance in
Vismayathumbathu, in particular, was lauded, with critics claiming that she had "stolen the thunder with her author-backed role",
[13] and was "the revelation of the film".
[14] She also acted opposite
Mammootty in
Thaskara Veeran and
Rappakal.
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. The family drama film opened to positive critical response, fetching Nayantara positive feedback as well. Behindwoods.com claimed that she had made a "sensational debut in Tamil",
[15] while a reviewer from Nowrunning.com said that her "presence with her beautiful smile is crowd winning".
[16] While still shooting for
Ayya, she was selected to portray the love interest of
Rajinikanth in the
comedy horror film
Chandramukhi,
[17] after its director
P. Vasu's wife had seen
Manassinakkare and recommended her.
[18] The film became one of the most successful Tamil films in history, running for over 800 days in theatres,
[19] eventually turning Nayantara into one of the most-sought after actresses in Tamil.
[20] 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 told that appearing in
Ghajini was a big mistake and the "worst decision" she ever took.
[20] Nayantara then accepted to appear in an
item number as herself in the
Perarasu-directed
masala film Sivakasi starring
Vijay.
[21] Her first release in 2006 was
Kalvanin Kadhali. Indiaglitz.com termed her performance as the "strength of the movie".
[22] She next made her debut in
Telugu, starring in the film
Lakshmi, following which she performed in
Boss, I Love You, alongside
Venkatesh and
Nagarjuna respectively. Three Tamil films in which she enacted the lead female characters –
Vallavan,
Thalaimagan and
E – were released simultaneously during Diwali 2006.
[23] All three films opened to mixed reviews;
[24][25] Nayantara mostly won praise for her performances. In
Vallavan, she portrayed a lecturer who falls in love with a student younger than her. Sify wrote: "Nayanthara virtually walks away with the film and has never looked so beautiful. She looks gorgeous especially in songs and does justice to her well-etched out role".
[26] The science fiction thriller
E featured Nayantara in the role of a bar dancer. Reviewers claimed that she made an impact,
[27] was "very adequate and impressive in a slightly complicated role",
[28] and that she had "come up with a good performance".
[25] In
Thalaimagan, she played a news reporter, with critics agreeing that she did not have much to do in the film.
[29][30] She regained her star billing in Kollywood acting opposite
Ajith Kumar in the
Vishnuvardhan-directed
gangster film Billa (2007). A remake of the
same-titled 1980 Tamil film, it went on to become a blockbuster success at the box office,
[31] while Nayantara received many accolades for her performance as Sasha.
[32] Sify heaped praise on her, describing her as a "show stopper". The reviewer further wrote: "Nayanthara has [...] go[ne] full throttle to look her sexiest best [...] She has a beautiful body which she flaunts daringly [...] and is also able to bring out the cold aloofness and bitterness of her character.
[33] Similarly a critic from Nowrunning.com noted that she looked "great in mini skirts, jacket, dark glasses and tall boots".
[34] In 2008 she had five releases, four of which were in Tamil. Her first release, the family entertainer
Yaaradi Nee Mohini was critically acclaimed and one of the highest grossing Tamil films of the year. Nayantara's portrayal of Keerthi was appreciated by critics. Behindwoods.com wrote: "Nayan dispels her bombshell act and proves that she can more than just that. She breaks into tears when needed, shows vicious contempt when rubbed the wrong way in the name of love, and looks endearing in songs". Nowrunning.com cited that she "exhibits her acting skills in full measure [and] gives a moving performance in emotional scenes", while
Sify's critic wrote that she looked "sensational and has done a great job in perhaps the meatiest role she has done so far".
[35] She won the
Vijay Award for Favourite Heroine for second consecutive year,
[36] as well as a nomination for the
Best Actress prize at the
56th Filmfare Awards South. 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
Suriya which released in October of that year.
In 2010, all her releases, which featured her as the female lead, 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).
[37][38] She won the Asianet Film Award for Best Actress for her performance in
Bodyguard. The latter three, in particular, were exceptionally successful, with
Simha becoming one of the highest-grossing Telugu films of the year and
Boss Engira Bhaskaran releasing to highly positive reviews and becoming a
blockbuster.
[39][40][41] Upendra's
Super, which marked her debut into the
Kannada film industry opened to rave reviews, while her performance was also praised by critics.
[42][43] Her performances in
Simha,
Boss Engira Bhaskaran and
Super eventually fetched her nominations for the Filmfare Best Actress Award in the respective languages.
[44][45][46] She also starred in
Shyamaprasad's critically acclaimed Malayalam film
Elektra. Her performance was well appreciated by critics when it was screened at the
International Film Festival of India.
[47] The film was also screened at the
Dubai International Film Festival.
[48] Her only release in 2011 was the mythological film
Sri Rama Rajyam by
Bapu, in which she played the role of
Sita. The film was dubbed in the media as her
swan song and considered to be her last release before her release as she was reported to quit acting thereafter.
[49] However, after her break-up with Prabhu Deva, she made a comeback; she began shooting for
Krish's
Krishnam Vande Jagadgurum in March 2012, following an 11-months
sabbatical.
[50]Relationships
While shooting for her Tamil film
Vallavan, she was romantically linked with the film's director and co-actor
Silambarasan Rajendar.
[51] She initially denied the reports.
[20] In November 2006, however, she confirmed that she and Silambarasan had broken up, going on to add that she will not work with him again.
[52] During the making, in 2008, and after the release of her film
Villu, reports suggested that she was in a relationship with its director
Prabhu Deva, with some sources even claiming that both had married secretly in June 2009.
[53] She had tattooed his name on her wrist,
[53] and began appearing with him in public, while keeping silence and refusing to comment about the issue, neither denying nor confirming the relationship.
[54][55] In September 2010 then, Prabhu Deva openly confessed his love for Nayantara and further stated that he would marry her soon.
[55] The issue soon gained media attention and turned into a controversy, since Prabhu Deva was already married and not divorced yet, with his wife Ramalath, unwilling to agree for a divorce, filing a petition at the family court, seeking directions against her husband and Nayantara from marrying, attending functions together and receiving awards as husband and wife and requesting a reunion with him.
[56][57] Furthermore, Ramalath threatened to go on
hunger strike, if Prabhu Deva married Nayantara,
[57] while several women's organizations also conducted protests against Nayantara for "bringing disrepute to Tamil culture", burning an
effigy of her.
[57][58] In 2012, Nayantara confirmed that she had ended her relationship with Prabhu Deva.
[59]
