Parvati Nair

Parvati Venugopal Nair (born 5 December 1992) is an Indian model and actress who works in the South Indian film industry. Born into a Malayali family in Abu Dhabi, she trained as a software professional from Manipal Institute of Technology. She started modelling at the age of 15 .

Nair made her acting debut with the Malayalam film ''Poppins'' as a lead in the 5 segments directed by V. K. Prakash during her Christmas vacations in December 2012, before appearing in a number of critically acclaimed films across all four South Indian film industries, including '' Story Kathe'' (2014 ) and ''Yennai Arindhaal'' (2015). Her performance as a young journalist in ''Story Kathe'' won her the Best Kannada Debut Actress Award at the South Indian International Movie Awards, while the role of a vengeful wife in ''Yennai Arindhaal'' won her praise from critics and received a Filmfare nomination. In 2015, she starred in the critical and commercial success '' Vascodigama'', portraying an English lecturer.

Background and family

Parvati was born in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates into a Malayali family and has an elder brother named Shankar who worked as a selector for the IPL team “Kings11 Punjab” and presently is a director for JIO - heading cricket . Her dad is a businessman based in Dubai and her mom is a professor . She attended Our Own English High School in Abu Dhabi and went on to graduate in Computer Science and Engineering in from Manipal Institute of Technology in Manipal, Karnataka, India, hoping to work as a software engineer. As a school student, she won a Guinness certificate for being part of the team that made the longest painting in the world. She became a full-time model after she participated in "Miss Karnataka", won the title and went on to be an ambassador for Mysore Sandal Soap. She won "Navy Queen Kerala", before appearing in numerous print and television commercials. As a model, she has endorsed the brands Anchor, Asian Paints, Malabar Gold, Mazaa, Prestige, Reliance, ANA Airlines Japan, AbuDhabi T10 Abudhabi, Renault cars, Peps, GRT gold and diamonds, Vanish, Tata Diamonds etc. and several other national and international brands . she had also expressed interest in participating in the Femina Miss India pageant after winning the state-level title, but could not apply as a result of the competition's height eligibility. While working as a model, she began appearing in short films, music videos and documentaries. Nair married businessman Ashrith Ashok in 2025.

Career

Early work, 2012-2013

After working in a jewellery commercial for director V. K. Prakash, she made her acting début in Prakash's anthology film ''Poppins'' (2012), and worked on the project alongside commitments for other Malayalam films. She played further roles as a traditional bride in the horror film '' Yakshi – Faithfully Yours'' (2012) and in Shalil Kallur's drama film. She subsequently began working on bigger budget films in the Malayalam film industry and signed on to portray Jayasurya's wife in the action anthology '' D Company'' (2013), as a part of the segment ''Gangs of Vadakkumnathan'', which won positive reviews. Nair made her debut in the Kannada film industry through '' Story Kathe'' (2013) which earned her recognition as the Best Debut Actress in Kannada films at the 3rd South Indian International Movie Awards. Portraying a television journalist who tries to win patent rights for a medical student, her role was appreciated by critics and the film performed well at the box office. In 2013 Nair appeared as a judge in the first modelling based Malayalam reality show ''Super Models'' on Amrita Television. She also appeared in a music video, "Ariyathe Ninayathe" by Vineeth Sreenivasan and was included in ''Bangalore Times''' "Most Desirable Women of 2013" list. She was also in the most desirable women of 2015, 2016, and 2017 lists from Kochi. She gave motivational talks at TEDx Bangalore and was invited to speak at a Rotary Club and various other venues.

Breakthrough, 2014

Nair moved on to work on two big-budget Tamil films during the course of 2014 and shot for Gautham Vasudev Menon's ''Yennai Arindhaal'' (2015) and Kamal Haasan's ''Uttama Villain'' (2015). Nair was cast alongside Ajith Kumar, Trisha and Anushka Shetty in ''Yennai Arindhaal'' after a successful screen test. The actress stated it was "a dream-come-true" and to be cast in the project was "huge encouragement", and made reference to Menon's dignified portrayals of female characters. Portraying Elizabeth, the vengeful wife of Arun Vijay's character, the film and her performance received praise from Silverscreen.com, who stated she displays "awesome ruthlessness" and "nails the part". Nair also auditioned for ''Uttama Villain'', directed by Ramesh Aravind, and portrayed the girlfriend of Kamal Haasan's son. Featuring alongside an ensemble cast, her role was extended as the shoot progressed and Nair expressed her delight at working with Kamal Haasan, stating it was like "going to an acting school". The film opened to positive reviews and marked the actress's most high-profile project at that time. She then appeared in the Kannada film, '' Vascodigama'' (2015), as a college lecturer alongside Kishore. Nair also made her debut as a singer through the film, in a song which featured Kannada and English lyrics. The film opened to positive reviews from critics and performed well at the box office. Indiaglitz.com noting that she "suits the role precisely" and another reviewer stating she was "utilised well" in the film.

She played the lead in the first Tamil production of Eros International, the period film '' Enkitta Mothathe''. She later appeared '' James and Alice''. Her next release was the Tamil film ''Koditta Idangalai Nirappuga'' directed by R. Parthiepan with Shanthanu Bhagyaraj as male lead in which her performance stood out and was widely appreciated. The road thriller ''Overtake'' was her next Malayalam film in which she performed stunts without a double. The movie opened to good reviews at the Kerala box office and the concept was fresh to Malayalam cinema . She paired up with Mohanlal for the movie '' Neerali'', directed by AJoy Varma which opened to positive reviews. She later appeared in Amazon Prime's first exclusive series in Tamil named ''Vella Raja''.

Nair received the Indian Affairs "Most Promising Actress 2017" award at the 8th Annual India Leadership Conclave in Mumbai on 4 August 2017.

Parvati Nair collaborated with a US-based fashion brand Yog The Label selling her pictures featured products manufactured in USA and Europe worldwide.

In the media

Nair has been a regular guest model at Indian fashion weeks, often appearing in the main display of shows. At the 2013 Chennai International Fashion Week, Nair was the main model for Sakshi Bindra's clothing line and was the first day's "showstopper". She wore costumes styled by Vivek Karunakaran as a part of the Walk of Pride charity event held at the Park, Chennai in April 2015. During August 2015, she attended the India Luxury Style Week and Chennai's Fashion Culture Week within a fortnight, to promote the fashion industry in the city. In 2016, she was showstopper in the first day of the Bangalore Fashion Week, wearing traditional wear by designer Mable Thomas, and then at the Keralan Fashion League. Her experience as a successful model saw her as a main judge on Amrita TV's reality show, ''Supermodels'' during 2013. She also appeared alongside four other actresses as the judges of the beauty pageant, Miss India Bangalore 2015 during December of that year. Her popularity as a model had initially helped her make a breakthrough into the film industry, and saw her get recognition across all four South Indian states.

Nair was announced as the brand ambassador of the Karnataka Bulldozers team during the 2016 Celebrity Cricket League and attended the team's fixtures across South India as a part of her role. She shared ambassadorial duties with actress Sharmiela Mandre, stating that she had grown up following the sport during her childhood in the United Arab Emirates, where her father and brother had played regularly. The actress also attended matches played by Royal Challengers Bangalore during the IPL Season of 2015 and played cricket as part of shooting for ''Uttama Villain'' (2015). In 2016, she was announced as one of the ambassadors of the Nellai Dragons team led by Jayam Ravi at the Nadigar Sangam's Star Cricket competition. Nair has also been a part of charity events including the Clean Bengaluru Challenge in November 2014 initiated by Times Foundation, where she helped sweep the streets of Vasanthnagar in the city. She has been chosen by Peta India as an ambassador for the adopt a stray dog campaign. She was brand ambassador for the World Junior Squash Championships held in Chennai along with Ashok Selvan. She was the brand ambassador of the Abudhabi T 10 league in the year 2019 ,2021 ,2022 and well as 2023.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nair, Parvati
Living people
21st-century Indian actresses
Actresses in Kannada cinema
Actresses in Tamil cinema
Actresses in Telugu cinema
Actresses in Malayalam cinema
Female models from Kerala
Indian film actresses
Actresses from Kerala
Manipal Academy of Higher Education alumni
People from Abu Dhabi
Indian expatriates in the United Arab Emirates
South Indian International Movie Awards winners
1992 births
Actresses in Hindi cinema