This Christian actress converted to Hinduism, once refused to work with Shah Rukh Khan, now India’s top paid actress

One of India’s most popular actresses Nayanthara was born in Christian family and her name was Diana Mariam Kurian. When Nayanthara was in college she started modeling as a part-time work. Before making her film debut, Nayanthara was a TV host. Nayanthara was working as a part-time model when she was first spotted by a director and rest as they say is history.

It was director Sathyan Anthikkad who offered first film to Nayanthara. The Malayalam film proved to be a hit at the box-office and Nayanthara started getting many offers. Today, Nayanthara is more popular than actresses like Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhatt and according to some reports she is the highest paid actress in India. Nayanthara is also known as ‘Lady Superstar’. Nayanthara is the only actress of South Cinema, who was included in the Forbes India 100 Celebrity list of 2018.

Nayanthara converted to Hinduism in 2011 at the Arya Samaj Temple in Chennai. She then changed her name from Diana Mariam Kurian to Nayanthara. Not many people know that Nayanthara was offered to perform in a special song of Shah Rukh Khan's film 'Chennai Express', but she rejected the offer. However, she made his Bollywood debut few weeks ago with Shah Rukh Khan's blockbuster film 'Jawaan'. According to reports, Nayanthara charged Rs 11 crore for 'Jawaan' and became the highest paid actress in India.

Besides being a successful actress, Nayanthara is also a film producer. Nayanthara got married to director Vignesh Shivan in 2022 and the couple are proud parents of twins.