Nithya Menen
Born: 1988-04-08 in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Known For: Acting
Biography
Nithya Menen (born April 8, 1988) is an Indian actress and playback singer who works predominantly in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi cinema. After appearing on screen as a child artist in *The Monkey Who Knew Too Much* (1998), she made her debut in a leading role with the Malayalam film *Aakasha Gopuram* (2008) and entered Kannada cinema with *Josh* (2009). Her breakthrough in Telugu cinema came with the romantic comedy *Ala Modalaindi* (2011), for which she won the Nandi Award for Best Actress. Over the following years, Menen established a prolific career across South Indian film industries, appearing in *Urumi* (2011), *Ishq* (2012), *Ustad Hotel* (2012), and *Bangalore Days* (2014). She won two Filmfare Awards for Best Actress – Telugu for *Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde* (2013) and the romantic drama *Malli Malli Idi Rani Roju* (2015). Her notable releases during this period also included *S/O Satyamurthy* (2015), the romantic drama *O Kadhal Kanmani* (2015), *24* (2016), *Janatha Garage* (2016), the psychological thriller *Awe!* (2018), and the Tamil action thriller *Mersal* (2017), which earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress – Tamil. In 2019, she made her Hindi film debut in *Mission Mangal*. For her performance in the drama *Thiruchitrambalam* (2022), Menen won the National Film Award for Best Actress and the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil. In streaming, she starred in the thriller series *Breathe: Into the Shadows* (2020–2022), the comedy-drama series *Kumari Srimathi* (2023), and *Masterpeace* (2023). Her subsequent credits include *Kadhalikka Neramillai* (2025), *Thalaivan Thalaivii* (2025), and *Idli Kadai* (2025).
Filmography
2025
- Idli Kadai as Kayal
- Thalaivan Thalaivii as Perarasi 'Arasi'
- Kadhalikka Neramillai as Shriya
2023
- Masterpeace as Riya
- Kumari Srimathi as Srimathi
- Kolambi
2022
- Modern Love Hyderabad as Noori
- Thiruchitrambalam as Shobana
- Bheemla Nayak as Suguna
- 19(1)(a) as Penkutty
- Wonder Women as Nora
2021
- Gamanam as Shailaputri Devi
- Skylab as Gauri
- Ninnila Ninnila as Maya
2020
- Breathe: Into the Shadows as Abha Sabharwal
- Psycho as Kamala Das
2019
- N.T.R: Kathanayakudu as Savitri
- Mission Mangal as Varsha Gowda
- Praana
2018
- Geetha Govindam as Passerby (Special Appearance)
- Awe! as Krishnaveni
2017
- Mersal as Aishwarya Vetrimaaran
2016
- Janatha Garage as Anu
- 24 as Priya
- Iru Mugan as Aayushi
- Kotigobba 2 as Shubha
- Okka Ammayi Thappa as Mango
- JK Enum Nanbanin Vaazhkai as Nithya
2015
- 100 Days of Love as Sheela
- O Kadhal Kanmani as Tara Kalingarayar
- Malli Malli Idhi Rani Roju as Nazeera Khanum
- Kanchana 2 as Ganga
- Rudhramadevi as Muktamba
- Son of Satyamurthy as Valli
2014
- Bangalore Days as Natasha Francis
- Malini 22 Palayamkottai as Malini
2013
- Jabardasth as Saraswati
- Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde as Shravani
- Myna as Myna
- Okkadine as Sailaja
2012
- Bachelor Party as Neethu
- Ustad Hotel as Shahana
- Ishq as Priya
- Poppins
- Thalsamayam Oru Penkutty as Manjula Ayyappan
- Doctor Innocentanu as Anna
- Karmayogi as Moonu Mani
2011
- Ala Modalaindi as Nithya
- Makaramanju as Model
- Urumi as Chirakkal Bala / Daisy da Cunha
- Violin as Angel
- 180 as Vidya
- Veppam as Revathi
2010
- Apoorvaragam as Nancy
- Anwar as Asna Begum
2009
- Josh as Meera
- Kerala Cafe as JK's co-passenger
- Vellathooval as Jiya James
- A Mango Tree in the Front Yard as Tamile
- Angel John as Sofia
2008
- Aakasha Gopuram as Hilda Varghese
1998
- Hanuman as Anja's sister