‘Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairy Tale’ review: A self-made superstar’s imperfect yet heartfelt tribute to love

While talking about a vulnerable episode of her past, Nayanthara, a female superstar who was infamously refused a chance to keep her private affairs private, looks back at the times she was put on a trial of virtue. “I have never spoken about my past relationships. People assume a lot of things, and they go ahead with the stories they want to believe in,” she says. Gossip, and the resultant character assassination, have of course become a normalised part of being a film star in India, and Nayanthara doesn’t say this to gain your sympathies for superstars with sensationalised private lives. Neither does she bother with using this as an opportunity to set the record straight (because why must one?).

With Netflix’s Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale, Nayanthara takes an assured, dignified step towards letting us in on the life she had led and how it all culminated in her marriage to director-producer-lyricist Vignesh Shivan, the ying to her yang. In a truly fantastic fashion, this is also Nayanthara baring her soul to ask a simple question: what is wrong about a woman searching for true love, if that love is her meaning to all?

Thanks to all the pre-release drama, a law-suit from a certain male superstar, and the gossip-obsessed internet trolls, the murmurs on all our lips had put Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale as a star couple’s attempt at ‘commercialising their wedding cassette.’ And in a way, it is just that; I mean, right off the bat, we see a staged reenactment of an anxious Nayanthara storming out of a wedding planning discussion to calm herself. This, in retrospect, is a technique adopted to introduce Vignesh Shivan at the halfway mark of the documentary — to say how he is the man she always yearned for; someone who could calm her nerves and reassure her that things are going to be fine.

But then, this story has enough and more to underline that statement that such theatrics only bring about a sense of scepticism, a disbelief that this might settle as another PR-driven showcase of vanity. Thankfully, however, the stars do align for Nayan and Wikkie, as the rest of the documentary manages to grow beyond that niggle to tell a deeply personal and genuine story about the inner life of a female superstar, and a life-long quest for true love that she is now famously known for.

The first half of director Amith Krishnan’s documentary traces the journey of how Diana Kurien, a young woman from Thiruvalla, Kerala, became ‘Lady Superstar’ Nayanthara. Sathyan Anthikad, the prolific Malayalam filmmaker, who introduced Nayanthara in 2003’s Manassinakkare, recounts how he cast this young woman after spotting her in a popular magazine. Through interviews with the star herself, and eminent celebrities including director Fazil and producer Pushpa Kandasamy, we trace Nayanthara’s surreal growth in Malayalam and Tamil cinema in the early 2000s.

Thereon, we see landmark moments in her career in Tamil — from the controversy that erupted after her bikini scene in Ajith Kumar’s Billa to her second coming as a leading heroine in the 2010s — to let us in on what went behind the making of this superstar. Where the documentary scores high is in bringing the right kind of guests to the front, to help Nayanthara show us the ropes of making it big in an industry ruled by men. For instance, Tamannaah Bhatia tells us a thing or two about how you had to pose versatility to hold your own ground, and how breaking a pattern requires you to be a part of the pattern. It is fascinating to observe how these interviews also are structured in a way to strike a balance between what was going on in Nayan’s career and on the personal front. Telugu superstar Nagarjuna recounts the temperament of his co-star during 2006’s Boss, and we immediately switch to hearing the personal turmoil that she was going through. On the other hand, while speaking about her post-Raja Rani stardom, Tiruppur Subramaniam mentions how Nayanthara’s presence in a project used to boost a film’s value by ₹ 80-90 crores.

Nayanthara and Vignesh Shivan on their wedding day
| Photo Credit:
Netflix

From the halfway mark, the documentary shifts its focus entirely to Nayanthara’s relationship with director Vignesh Shivan, from how love bloomed while working on their 2015 film, Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, to their wedding on 9 June, 2022. From the way they speak of how the other changed their lives, or how they manage the minor setbacks that arise when two souls are in love, we get several heartfelt moments that leave a mark. However, certain bits feel manufactured and plasticky, like a team dinner at a restaurant (is it the restaurant that’s been dishing out ‘Japan Chicken’ ever since the couple expressed their fondness for it?)

It’s also strange how the film hurries past the months following Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, when their relationship evolved beyond the superstar-director equation. Sure, Wikkie quips how he couldn’t believe that this was for real, but what was really going on in his mind, in his circles, and among his pals that he was in fact dating Nayanthara? How did they feel about Vignesh’s own career, especially during the failure of his sophomore film in 2018? Sure, the liberty on what they wish to open up on lies with the couple, but the docu does lose some steam without the candour we saw early on.

What truly glues you to the screen — apart from Wikkie’s humour — is the sense of someone finally getting what she always aspired for. How the film shifted its focus entirely to her relationship is a statement itself — one that underscores how even while attaining superstardom in films, she desired to build a kingdom for herself and her one true love.Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairy Tale is beautiful when it attempts to speak just that.