It isn’t easy being a film star in India. There is no sense of privacy for a public figure — Everything is criticised, scrutinised, commented upon, and dissected. In a world where your every move has to be carefully calculated, can you actually find a moment of honesty? Can you actually find your own cosy corner that allows you to be what you really want to be? After watching the 80-odd minutes of Netflix’s Nayanthara – Beyond the Fairytale, it is clear that the ‘Lady Superstar’ found her cosy corner at the centre of her world in Vignesh Shivan, and everything in this documentary leads to that moment… That moment where Nayanthara can look into the camera and say, “I feel like I don’t need anything else anymore.”

In an industry overwhelmingly dominated by men, Nayanthara is a rarity. A “lady superstar” who earned her spurs the hard way and went on to upend many an established showbiz norm, she has over the years fronted numerous big South Indian films that have ridden on her crowd-pulling prowess. This self-produced Netflix documentary seeks to capture the rise and rise of Nayanthara in the face of several reverses. It isn’t an objective account but, notwithstanding the limitations of its format, Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale is entertaining and insightful.

On Nayanthara’s 40th birthday, Netflix unveiled a documentary series, Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairy Tale, chronicling her journey in the film industry. The series opens with her disappointment over not securing permission to hold her dream wedding at the Tirupati temple and transitions to her eventual wedding at a picturesque beachside glasshouse, attended by the who’s who of Indian cinema.