Director Amith Krishnan's feature-length Netflix documentary Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale is a hybrid between a biography, romantic drama and wedding film, and explores the life and career of the South Indian superstar and her relationship with Tamil film director Vignesh "Wikki" Shivan.
First teased in 2022, the film's release was delayed due to legal proceedings regarding the use of a clip from the 2015 film, Naanum Rowdy Dhaan, which featured Nayanthara. In an open letter addressed to superstar Dhanush, a producer of the film, and shared on social media, Nayanthara's team had to "re-edit and settle for the current version", which caused the delay. Dhanush, she alleges in the letter, also demanded 10 crores (100 million rupees; $1.1 million) for use of three-second clip from the film.
Stylistically balancing itself between performative and expository narrative styles, Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale tries to cover broad strokes of three primary topics – her upbringing, career and relationship.
To its credit, the film is primarily fascinating, tracing the life of Nayanthara through the eyes of her mother; actors Radhika Sarathkumar, Taapsee Pannu and Nagarjuna Akkineni; as well as directors Sathyan Anthikad and Vishnuvardhan. From her rise to superstardom, being cast alongside powerhouse names across South Indian cinema such as Mohanlal, Ajith and Rajinikanth, to her feelings on the implicit misogyny and body-shaming women in the industry, the storytelling here remains engaging, mostly because of how Nayanthara presents herself in a way that feels inherently human.
While her relationship with Shivan is an equally important part of the documentary, it's unfortunately also the weakest portion narratively. Not because the subject itself isn't interesting, but because we're presented with talking head after talking head throughout this portion. Considering the implication that the actor is a fiercely private person, this makes perfect sense, but it doesn't really translate into compelling storytelling.
Thankfully, the movie picks up by the final third of its runtime, which is primarily wedding-focused.
Krishnan's biggest achievement here is capturing the inspirational persistence of Nayanthara in the industry, which is probably why she's known in and out of industry circles as the "Lady Superstar". Bringing her best foot forward in her projects, she's also an inspiration to women across the country by balancing commercially successful blockbusters such as Billa (2007) with projects like Kolamaavu Kokila (2018), where she's the top-billed cast member.
She made her Hindi-language debut with the Shah Rukh Khan blockbuster Jawan, which was released last year.
More than two decades since her debut in Anthikad's Manassinakkare (2003), she's now South India's highest-paid actress, breaking gender norms in several film industries, where the very idea of superstardom is gatekept by men.
An entire documentary outlining her career, humanity and determination would have made for an emotionally powerful viewing experience. While Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale is not consistently engaging, it still stands out for the honesty and strength the actress shows throughout. And is still a mostly compelling watch about a woman with a phenomenal fanbase across the pan-Indian film industry.
