Nithya Menen
Nalini Sukumaran Nithya, known professionally as Nithya Menen, is an Indian actress and singer who works predominantly in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. She has also acted in a few Kannada films. Having appeared in over 59 films, she is noted for her strong portrayals. Menen is a recipient of several accolades including a National Film Award, four Filmfare Awards South and two Nandi Awards.
Menen started her career as a child artist, in the French-Indian English film, Hanuman, playing the younger sister to Tabu's character. She made her screen debut with the Kannada film 7 O' Clock. The 2011 romance film Ala Modalaindi proved to be her breakthrough and won her Nandi Award for Best Actress. Menen received the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu for her portrayal in Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde. Further success in Telugu films came with Ishq, Malli Malli Idi Rani Roju, which won her the Filmfare Critics Best Actress – Telugu, Rudhramadevi, Janatha Garage, Awe and Bheemla Nayak.
Menen established herself as a leading South Indian actress with the Tamil romantic film O Kadhal Kanmani. She went on to appear in such commercially successful films — the Malayalam films Ustad Hotel, Bangalore Days and 100 Days of Love, and the Tamil films Kanchana 2, 24, Mersal,''Thiruchitrambalam and Thalaivan Thalaivii. Mersal earned her Filmfare Best Supporting Actress – Tamil, while Thiruchitrambalam earned her Filmfare Critics Best Actress – Tamil and National Film Award for Best Actress. Menen ventured into Hindi films with the science drama Mission Mangal'', which remains her highest-grossing release.
Early life
Nithya Menen was born in Bangalore, Karnataka, to Sukumar and Nalini. Her grandparents were Malayalis from Kerala who had settled in Bangalore. She was educated at Poorna Prajna School in Bangalore and at Mount Carmel College, Bangalore. She then completed her degree in journalism from the Manipal Academy of Higher Education.Menen has said that she initially wished to become a pilot but ultimately found aviation unappealing, so she pivoted to filmmaking. This led her to enroll in the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, to study cinematography. While there, she met B. V. Nandini Reddy, who convinced her to take up acting. Menen is a polyglot and can speak six languages: Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, and English. She claims she made up the surname "Menen" as she felt it "helps with her passport during travel".
Career
Child artist and early roles (1998-2010)
In 1998, Menen appeared first on-screen as a child in a French-Indian English film named Hanuman, at the age of 8, playing younger sister to Tabu's character. She also was a part of the Hindi-language soap opera Choti Maa – Ek Anokha Bandhan, in one episode, which was aired during 2001-2002.In 2006, at the age of 15, she played a supporting role in the Kannada film 7 O' Clock. The 2008 off-beat film Aakasha Gopuram, directed by K. P. Kumaran, marked her film career in Malayalam in a leading role, in which she was paired with Mohanlal. She was in the midst of her 12th class exams when she was offered the role, after Mohanlal had spotted her on the front cover of a tourism magazine, Stark World Kerala. Her performance was well received, with critics writing that she shows "sparkle in her debut venture" and "makes her entry in an impressive role", though the film was a financial failure.
She next made a comeback into Kannada films with the film Jhossh, in 2009. The film received rave reviews, and became a commercial success as well, with her performance garnering her a nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category at the 57th Filmfare Awards South. The same year she appeared in Vellathooval, Angel John and Kerala Cafe. She received positive reviews for the lattermost. In 2010, she starred in the Malayalam films, Anwar and Apoorvaragam where she plays Nancy, a young girl who gets involved with two male students who are later discovered to be con-artists. The film received mixed to negative reviews, but became a hit at the box office.
Breakthrough and commercial success (2011–2014)
Menen's career marked a turning point in 2011, with the romantic comedy Ala Modalaindi, which was her maiden Telugu venture. The film opened to favourable reviews by critics and turned out to become a sleeper hit, while Menen received critical praise for her performance. Idlebrains Jeevi in his review cited that she "epitomized Nitya character with her fabulous performance", "looks beautiful in all kinds of dresses" and was "the best debut in recent years of Telugu cinema after Samantha in YMC", while another critic wrote that she was a "charming find" and "...quite the Genelia replacement that our cinema so badly needs right now." She eventually won the Nandi Award for Best Actress for her performance and received a nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Actress. Further more, she also sang two songs for the soundtrack album of the film, tuned by Kalyan Malik. Nandini Reddy, later, went on to describe Menen as "the discovery of the decade".Following Ala Modalaindi, she starred in Santosh Sivan's historical fiction Urumi as part of an ensemble cast. She portrayed a Chirakkal princess named Bala, playing the love interest of Prabhu Deva's character, which gained positive remarks, with a Sify review claiming that she "looks pretty and is a scene stealer". Menen quoted that much of her character was based on "Santosh's perception of who I am", with Sivan stating that he had written that role for her and that only she could play it. She received a nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress at the 59th Filmfare Awards South She next appeared in ad-filmmaker Jayendra's bilingual venture Nootrenbadhu, which was made and released in Tamil and Telugu, in which she played a photo journalist named Vidya. She described the character as "bubbly, full of life, nosey, wide-eyed and innocent in life" and to be similar to herself. Later the year, she was seen in Sibi Malayil's Violin in Malayalam and the Gautham Vasudev Menon-produced Veppam in Tamil. She also featured in V. K. Prakash's Kannada anthology film Aidondla Aidu where she played a young bride who is obsessed with making payasam for her new husband much to his chagrin. She had sung and also choreographed one of the songs, titled "Payasa".
Menen's first 2012 release was the Telugu romance film Ishq with Nithiin. She received the CineMAA Award for Best Actress - Critics, for this film which was a commercial success News18 praised her portrayal and her chemistry with Nithin. She was later seen in five Malayalam films: Karmayogi, V. K. Prakash's Malayalam adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet co-starring Indrajith Sukumaran, Poppins, the Malayalam remake of Aidondla Aidu in which she reprised her role from the original and sang the Malayalam version of "Payasa", T. K. Rajeev Kumar's Thalsamayam Oru Penkutty, in which she portrayed a village woman whose daily life is filmed and broadcast as a reality show for a month, Amal Neerad's Bachelor Party in which she played Asif Ali's wife and young mother to their baby and Ustad Hotel directed by Anwar Rasheed where she paired up for the first time with Dulquer Salmaan. In Ustad Hotel, she played a headstrong girl, who gets in a forced marriage. Rediff.com stated, "Nithiya gets a meaty role as her character is well etched." Most of these films became a major commercial success, solidifying Menen's career.
In 2013, Menen starred in three Telugu and one Kannada film. She first appeared in Okkadine with Nara Rohit and in Jabardasth with Siddharth and Samantha. Menen received praises for playing the titular role of a physically challenged girl in Myna. The film was successful and completed 100 days in many centers across Karnataka. Her performance was well praised by the critics. She also sang the female version of "Modele Maleyante" which was well received. Menen won rave reviews and her first Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu for playing a character with two shades in Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde opposite Nithin, her last release that year. It was a huge box office success. Times of India noted, "Nithya Menen takes the honors as far as acting goes. She has the author backed role and overshadows everyone else".
In her first film of 2014, she played the lead role of a nursing student and rape victim in Malini 22 Palayamkottai, a remake of 22 Female Kottayam. The New Indian Express critic stated, "Nithya, a consummate actor otherwise, has this air of confidence throughout, and is dressed smartly too." Menen then played a cameo in the Malayalam film Bangalore Days opposite Fahadh Faasil. Sify wrote, "Nithya Menen has a limited role to play, but she suit her role perfectly." The film became one of the highest grossing Malayalam films of all time.
Established actress (2015–2019)
Menen starred in numerous films which gave her more critical and commercial recognition, in 2015. In her first film of the year, she appeared opposite Sharwanand for, Malli Malli Idi Rani Roju. She played a young Muslim student in love with a Hindu. She won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress – Telugu and Nandi Special Jury Award, for her performance. With this Menen became the first Telugu actress ever to win Critics Award & the Best Actress Award at Filmfare. News18 noted, "Nithya changed looks and body language in each stage is impressive. She starts as a girl and ends as a woman. Her performance is worth commending." She then appeared in JK Enum Nanbanin Vaazhkai and S/O Satyamurthy directed by Trivikram Srinivas. Menen then played opposite Dulquer Salmaan in 100 Days of Love. The New Indian Express said she gave a "decent performance". All the three films were box office success.Menen achieved further acclaim with three more films in 2015. She played a crippled girl alongside Raghava Lawrence in his directorial Kanchana 2, a successful film. The critics termed her performance "crucial" and "effective". Menen received immense praises for the a romantic film O Kadhal Kanmani, directed by Mani Ratnam. She played an architectural student Tara, opposite Dulquer Salmaan. Dulquer and Menen's on-screen chemistry was praised and she garnered her first Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil nomination. The film became a financial success at the box office. Firstpost noted, " Menen is an exceptional actor and has delivered a very realistic performance." It further praised her chemistry with Salmaan and added, "They're perfect as the couple and the credit goes to the director for capturing the chemistry between them in simple ways." She played princess Muktamba in Rudhramadevi with Anushka Shetty, her final film of the year. The Hindu stated, "Nithya Menen shows that she can leave an imprint on any character she plays. She is an endearing addition to this film."
By 2016, Menen established herself as a leading actress. She starred in three Tamil films in 2016. Beginning the year was 24 where she was paired opposite Suriya for the first time. The film was opened to high critical acclaim, Deccan Chronicle wrote, "Nithya Menen shines in her role." Her screen presence and garnered her a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress – Tamil nomination. She played the main heroine in K. S. Ravikumar's bilingual project titled Kotigobba 2 opposite Sudeep. Towards the end of the year, she starred alongside Vikram in science-fiction thriller Iru Mugan and received praises for her limited role. In Telugu, she starred in two films, Okka Ammayi Thappa opposite Sundeep Kishan and Janatha Garage opposite Jr. NTR. All of her films proved commercial success.
Her only release in 2017 was the Tamil film Mersal opposite Vijay, where she was praised for her role as a tough yet supportive wife, Firstpost noted, "Among the three actresses, it is Nithya Menen who makes an impression with her competent performance." The film garnered her a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress – Tamil at 65th Filmfare Awards South and was a huge box office success. She had two Telugu films in 2018. Menen played a lesbian psychiatrist in Awe, that received highly positive reviews. She became the first mainstream South Indian actress to play an LGBTQ character. The Hindu stated that Menen "shine through", giving her all to character that "don't come by often". She next had a cameo in Geetha Govindam.
Menen played actress Savitri in her first film of 2019, NTR: Kathanayakudu. She reunited with V. K. Prakash in the experimental film Praana which also marks her comeback to Malayalam industry after 2015. She played an English writer who battles intolerance in society and is the sole actor in the film. The News Minute praised the actor and said, "Nithya displays the right emotions as Thara. Remember it's just her, and one person makes so much of an impact. Nithya carries it off all so effortlessly." Menen made her Hindi film debut with the highly successful film Mission Mangal, playing a satellite engineer. Bollywood Hungama noted that Menen has a smaller role but "it serves as a great debut". NDTV said that as the staid and steady Varsha Pillai, Nithya Menen is "delightfully good".