Nayanthara opens up about past relationships, accepts she quit films ‘because the man asked me to’: ‘I trusted easily’

Nayanthara’s relationship with Silambarasan TR

In the recently released Netflix documentary, Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale, the actor opened up about her past relationships, the learnings from it, and the toll it took on her before finding her peace in her husband, filmmaker Vignesh Shivan. “My first relationship was purely based on trust. The trust that the other person is in love with you,” said Nayanthara in the documentary without taking any names. Her first relationship after entering cinema was with actor-filmmaker Silambarasan TR. 

They worked together in Silambarasan’s debut directorial, Vallavan, and made headlines with the news of them being together. In many ways, they were the ‘It couple’ of that era. Both young and primed to move up the ladder in Tamil cinema, and it was something that wasn’t seen in the industry for a long time. Vallavan too marked the first time Nayanthara kissed onscreen, and a particular ‘glamorous’ poster became a talking point for quite some time.

Silambarasan and Nayanthara from Vallavan

However, a leaked image of them kissing each other offscreen, which became public without her consent became a point of contention. The relationship didn’t last long, and both moved on, albeit in not so amicable terms. In fact, in the documentary, Nagarjuna, who was shooting for Boss with Nayanthara at that time, said, “I think it was a turbulent time of her relationship. In fact, we would dread the moment her phone rang because it would turn her off immediately. She became a different person.”  

Post this relationship, Nayanthara moved on by burying herself in work. She acted in as many as 10 films in the next couple of years. She balanced films in Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam. It is then she began her most-publicised relationship. 

Nayanthara’s relationship with Prabhu Deva

In 2008, Nayanthara was signed on for Villu, which marked her maiden collaboration with Vijay as a heroine, and her first film in actor-choreographer-filmmaker Prabhu Deva’s direction. Having developed mutual feelings for each other, it was speculated that they were going to get married in 2009. But there was a catch. Prabhu Deva was still married to Latha, and not only didn’t she approve of this relationship, she even went public with her disagreement. 

Vijay, Prabhu Deva and Nayanthara from Villu

Even as Prabhu Deva openly announced that he was indeed going to marry Nayanthara after splitting up from his wife, the Billa actor maintained a stoic silence and went about with her work. Once again, when the pressure around her was high, she went on to immerse herself in her acting career, and starred in nine films over the span of two years in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada. There were speculations that they were finally going to tie the knot in 2011, and the Telugu film, Sri Rama Rajyam, was billed to be her last film. It was said that she was quitting acting after her impending wedding. 

Although Nayanthara won her first Nandi Award for Sri Rama Rajyam, it was anything but smooth sailing. There were sections of the audience who criticised the makers for choosing Nayanthara to play the role of Sita. They argued that Nayanthara’s personal choices didn’t augur well for an actor who was going to play the role of the goddess. Even though Nayanthara offered to step down from the Balakrishna-starrer, helmed by legendary filmmaker Bapu, the makers lent her unequivocal support. The image of the last day of shoot where she is showered with flower petals became an iconic moment in Nayanthara’s career. During a pre-release event, legendary director Dasari Narayana Rao asked Nayanthara to reconsider her decision to quit films after Sri Rama Rajyam. “Don’t do that,” he said. 

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‘It was the man who told me to quit cinema’: Nayanthara

However, Latha’s persistence to not grant a divorce to Prabhu Deva was a major obstacle, and due to undisclosed reasons after this development, Nayanthara and him called it quits in a relationship that pushed her to an early retirement. “It was the man who told me to quit cinema,” said Nayanthara in the documentary, referring to Prabhu Deva. “It wasn’t like I had an option. I was told to leave cinema, and I agreed.” 

Speaking about her past relationships, Nayanthara said, “Just because I never openly addressed my past, people started writing their own stories. And, all of them were pretty bad.” Reminiscing on those times, she remarked, “They started assuming the worst. How come none of the boys were asked anything? Why was I the only one questioned? I think I just trusted people very easily.”

‘When everyone thought I was done, Nagarjuna called me’

Nayanthara was disturbed from her ‘retirement’ stupor by a phone call from Nagarjuna. “When everyone thought I was done, he called me with an offer,” said the Darbar actor. “Something told me she was ready,” said Nagarjuna. In fact, Sathyan Anthikkad, who launched Nayanthara in films with the 2003 superhit, Manasinnakare said, “One day, after the two-year break, she just called me. We spoke for about 4-5 hours that day. At some point, you just need someone to listen to. It wasn’t about my advice or anything. She just needed to talk to someone who knew her from the beginning. It defined her when she decided to come back.”  

Nayanthara in stills from Manasinnakare and Raja Rani

After the break in 2011 and 2012, Nayanthara came back with a mission. As always, she immersed herself in work. Starting off with Atlee’s Raja Rani, she did 13 films over 2013, 2014, and 2015 in Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam. 

Then, towards the end of 2015, she starred in a film called Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, which was backed by Dhanush, and directed by a one-film-old director called Vignesh Shivan. 

And as they say… Rest is history.