Nayanthara is one of the finest actresses of Tamil Cinema. Her reach across South Indian Cinema is strongest. She has wisely zeroed down the roles, worked on her looks and with immense efforts, she shaped her career and today Nayanthara is known as the Lady Superstar of Kollywood. The actress, who celebrates her 36th birthday today, has worked in films as solo leads and with her impeccable performance, she has managed to shatter records at the box office. Mookuthi Amman Movie Review: Nayanthara Makes a Striking Goddess, Urvashi an Absolute Scene-Stealer in RJ Balaji’s Social Entertainer.

For the unversed, Lady Superstar Nayanthara was the only South Indian actress to have made it to the 2018 Forbes India Celebrity 100 list. She has headed women-centric films such as Maya, Aramm, Kolaiyuthir Kaalam, among others. In an interview to Vogue, Nayanthara shared how she deals with films in which she’d be the solo lead. She was quoted as saying, “For my solo films, I decide everything.” She also stated, “Sometimes, directors do come up with sub-plots revolving around husbands or boyfriends. I ask whether it is necessary.” On the occasion of the Lady Superstar’s Birthday, let’s take a look at the eight films in which she played the lead role. Nizhal: Kunchacko Boban And Nayanthara Team Up For A Malayalam Movie!

Anaamika - Directed by Sekhar Kammula, this movie was the remake of the Hindi film Kahaani, in which Nayanthara played the titular role. She essays the role of an IT professional who moves to Hyderabad to look for her missing husband.

Maya – Nayanthara’s next female-centric project was the horror film Maya that’s written and directed by Ashwin Saravanan. It was an unconventional character that she played and that helped her earn positive reviews.

Dora – Directed by Doss Ramasamy, the actress played the role of Pavalakkodi in this horror thriller. Although the film hadn’t received great response, Nayanthara was lauded for her choice of script and performance.

Aramm – Nayanthara took up another challenging role and her readiness to experiment left everyone impressed. She played the role of a district collector in this Gopi Nainar’s film and the risk paid-off handsomely.

Kolamavu Kokila – Nayanthara plays the role an innocent girl in this film that is directed by debutant Nelson Dilipkumar. Kokila decides to smuggle drugs to earn money for her mother’s treatment. Her strong performance and the success of the film at the box office once again proved that she doesn’t require a male lead for a movie to be a hit.

Airaa – This was the second time that Nayanthara was playing a dual role, Bhavani and Yamuna, after Maya. The film tanked at the box office, however, Nayanthara her choice of role was lauded.

Kolaiyuthir Kaalam – Nayanthara believes in giving strong performances, without being worried about the box office collection. She has said, “I’m not someone who lets success go to my head,” reports Vogue. And her character Shruthi, a deaf and mute girl who grew up in an orphanage, was another impeccable role.

Mookuthi Amman – This is the latest film of Nayanthara in which she was seen in the titular role. The actress who is mostly seen in glamorous avatars, smashed the stereotype by essaying the role of deity from a non-descript temple from Nagercoil, and once again won hearts with her performance.

These are the films in which Nayanthara played the lead roles and with time and effort earned the title of Lady Superstar. Here’s wishing the beauty a very happy birthday and many more women-centric roles in the future!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 18, 2020 12:01 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).