Meet a popular pan-Indian actress who has shared the screen with A-list actors like Dhanush, Thalapathy Vijay, and Akshay Kumar among others. This actress recently won the prestigious National Film Award for her brilliant performance. Guessed it already? We are talking about Nithya Menen. In this article, we will talk about her personal and professional life in detail.
Who is Nithya Menen?
Nithya Menen was born on 8 April 1990 to her Malayali parents Nalini and Sukumar in Bangalore, Karnataka. The actress completed her initial education at Poorna Prajna School and later shifted to Mount Carmel College in Bangalore.
Nithya was born as NS Nithya with ‘NS’ being her parents’ initials. In an interview with India Today, the actress revealed that she changed her name to Menen using numerology for practical reasons, including on her passport. Interestingly, Nithya is a polyglot and is comfortable speaking six languages including Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, and English.
In an interview with India Today, Nithya Menen revealed that pursuing a career in the entertainment field was something she never imagined. She initially wanted to be a pilot or a war journalist and even a wildlife journalist. However, Nithya Menen eventually entered the film Industry. As per several media reports, it was during her school entrance exam that the actress met filmmaker B. V. Nandini Reddy who convinced Menen to take up acting.
Today, Nithya Menen is an established actress and singer who works primarily in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada movies. She is a recipient of several awards including a National Film Award.
Nithya Menen’s filmography
Nithya Menen made her first onscreen appearance as a child artist in 1998 in a French-English movie titled Hanuman. It is worth mentioning that the actress was just 8 years old when she played the younger sister to Tabu’s character.
Besides, in the years 2001 and 2002, Nithya Menen also appeared in the Hindi daily soap Choti Maa- Ek Anokha Bandhan. At the age of 15, the actress worked in a Kannada film titled 7 O’ Clock. Later, Nithya debuted in the Malayalam film industry alongside Mohanlal with the film Aakasha Gopuram, helmed by K.P. Kumaran. In the following years, the actress appeared in several films including Josh, Vellathooval, Angel John, Kerala Cafe, Anwar, and Apoorvaragam among others. Nithya Menen’s breakthrough came in 2011 when she appeared in the rom-com Telugu film Ala Modalaindi alongside Nani.
After Ala Modalaindi, Nithya collaborated with Santosh Sivan for the historical fiction Urumi. The actress was seen playing the role of a princess named Bala who was the love interest of Prabhu Deva in the film. Nithya Menen continued her venture into films and was seen in movies like Veppam, Violin, Aidondla Aidu, Ishq, Karmayogi, Thalsamayam Oru Penkutty, Bachelor Party, Ustad Hotel among others.
In 2017, Nithya was seen in Tamil film Mersal opposite Thalapathy Vijay, where she was praised for her role as a tough yet supportive wife. In 2019, she shared the screen with Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, and Tapsee Pannu in the Hindi film Mission Mangal. In 2022, Nithya Menen had four film releases and two web releases. She was seen in Bheemla Nayak opposite Pawan Kalyan and Rana Daggubati and the film was a box-office success.
Talking about Nithya Menen’s filmography, she recently bagged the National Film Award owing to her performance in Dhanush starrer Thiruchitrambalam. Directed by Mithran R. Jawahar, the film revolves around Pazham, a delivery boy, and his best friend Shobana.
In an interview with the Indian Express, the Skylab actress revealed she is happy that she got national recognition for Thiruchitrambalam. Moreover, she said that she always wants to do films that make her happy while doing them and make others happy while watching them. Nithya Menon’s notable works include Awe, Psycho, Ninnila Ninnila, Skylab, 19(1)(a), Wonder Women, Kolaambi, and Masterpiece, and others.
Nithya Menen’s upcoming Movie
Nithya Menen and Dhanush are all set to reunite on-screen for Idli Kadai. The duo worked together in Thiruchitrambalam. It is pertinent to mention that Idli Kadai marks Dhanush’s fourth directorial after Pa Paandi, Raayan, and Nilavukku En Mel Ennadi Kobam.
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