Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Introduction
In an industry that is largely patriarchal with the biggest marketshare reserved for the male superstars, it is really inspiring to witness the stature of Nayanthara who is fondly regarded as ‘Lady Superstar’. One look at her journey and you would know that it is an inspirational one. And so when I did get to know about the new Netflix documentary titled ‘Nayanthara – Beyond The Fairy Tale’, I was quite looking forward to relive her journey which is filled with ups and downs. There was an expectation from my end that this documentary would match the level of the SS Rajamouli documentary that was a fitting ode to the legendary filmmaker. I was discreetly hopeful that the documentary would dare to focus on some controversies of her life, while giving the viewers enough inspiration to bounce back. The recent Dhanush-Nayanthara face-off was also an important episode that dated itself a decade ago when Nayanthara began her relationship with her then boyfriend and now husband, Vignesh Shivan, something that I was looking forward to witnessing in the documentary. But seldom did I realise that this documentary not only fails to leave a mark but is essentially an expensive PR exercize of sorts, drifting away from its source material and emphasizing on one aspect of Nayanthara’s life that was tiring after a point.
The Good
Like the SS Rajamouli documentary, the first part of Nayanthara – Beyond A Fairytale focuses on the early life of Nayanthara whose actual name is Diana. I liked how the brief emphasis on her fandom was later cut into the flashback bits, the two frames that were clear indicators of her remarkable journey. You are also introduced to the family of the Lady Superstar, and her equation with her parents, particularly her mother whom we see in front of the camera. There were a few facts that I was unaware of – for instance, Nayanthara’s first film was a Malayalam film (and she is a Malayali by birth). Even her first director, a legend in his own right, Sathyan Anthikad made his way in front of the camera here, accounting her his first experience of interacting with Diana, and convincing her to be the main lead in his film. The rise of Nayanthara shown here is pretty decent but I wished there was more of this in store!
The Not So Good
The opening scene of the documentary on how the makers were invited to cover the Nayanthara-Vignesh wedding, to them not getting permission to shoot in Tirupathi, has got to be one of the most staged opening sequences ever for a documentary. You realise that when Nayanthara randomly appears and stares at the stars in dismay, a scene that was properly enacted for the camera. The moment you feel this space to be intruded, it no longer remains a documentary. And that was my biggest gripe with the documentary, that felt like an expensive PR stunt, something that I didn’t get a feeling with the Rajamouli documentary. And while Nayanthara’s journey to the top is inspiring, I wished to witness more of her creative decisions, like the ones retold by Nagarjuna and Nelson amongst others. Her downs were barely covered, steering clear of any remote sense of a controversy like her affair with Prabhu Deva (which is already in the public domain) to her face-off with Dhanush back in the day, which clearly has its traces in the current timeline too.
What the documentary chose to focus on, was the uninhibited romance of Nayanthara with director Vignesh after meeting him on a film set. This was an important phase in her life, and I agree that it ought to have been shown even while Vignesh was then brutally trolled on the internet for his looks (which is just not right, not cool people). But when you choose to switch over and focus just on the events leading up to your marriage, while totally discarding your individual journey that the documentary originally set out to be, then I can’t help but think that this is a PR stunt. There maybe nothing wrong with a harmless PR stunt but, you then don’t give it a name of a ‘documentary’, given that this seemed like an extended wedding album of sorts. After a point, I clearly found my self increasingly disconnected even as the buildup to the D-Day was pretty evident.
My Final Thoughts
Look, I have always been an admirer of Nayanthara and the body of work that has contributed to the stature of a Lady Superstar. This is particularly impressive because you have to admit that this is largely a male-dominated industry. And so, I am heavily inspired by the journey that she has carved by herself. Yes, everyone has their share of ups and downs, and so did she, while bouncing back wonderfully well on celluloid and delivering significant performances for her industry. Even her love story with Vignesh was a rather sweet one despite him being trolled for his looks by a bunch of losers on the internet, and they have two lovely kids as I type today (and God Bless the family). But when it strictly comes to the documentary, I was unsure if my expectations towards it was right in the first place. I must admit, I did not watch its trailer which may have otherwise given me a clear indicator to set my expectations right. Yet, you have got to ask the question – what did I learn from the documentary? What is it that I did not know early? Was it entertaining or just a cash grab? More importantly, was it a strategized PR activity given that the documentary just felt like a marriage video of two individuals, one of whom just happens to be a Lady Superstar. I rest my case!
Conclusion
Nayanthara – Beyond The Fairytale felt like a strategized PR activity masqueraded as a glossy wedding album documentary, something that switched paths from the personal journey of Nayanthara at the halfway mark, only to offer a sneak-peek into Nayanthara’s days leading up to her marriage. The documentary fails to leave a mark while never being focused on the actual inspirational journey of Nayanthara that earned her the title of ‘Lady Superstar’. Totally disappointing! Available on Netflix.
