Remya Nambeesan is an Indian film actress. She made her career debut in 2000 with Sayahnam. Following performances as a child artist in several Malayalam films during the early 2000s, she went on to play minor supporting roles, before essaying starring roles since 2006. In 2008, she appeared in her first non-Malayalam project, while receiving critical acclaim for her performances in the films Traffic (2011) and Chaappa Kurish (2011). Besides acting, Remya has occasionally worked as a television presenter and singer as well.
Remya first appeared as a child artiste in the critically acclaimed drama film Sayahnam in 2000, directed by R. Sarath. She further essayed minor supporting roles in the following years in films including Sathyan Anthikad's satire film Narendran Makan Jayakanthan Vaka (2001), the art film Sthithi (2002), under R. Sarath's direction again, and Gramaphone (2003) and Perumazhakkalam (2004), both directed by Kamal. She collaborated a third time with Sarath for the short film Bhoomikkoru Charamageetham (2006), a cinematic version of a poem by O. N. V. Kurup.
She played her first leading role, as a bold dance teacher, in the 2006 film Aanachandam; it was a highly unsuccessful venture, which went unnoticed soon after its release. Regarding to her performance in the film, a critic from Rediff noted that she was "refreshing in bits", while another reviewer cited that she was "refreshing enough for a village based flick". Her subsequent projects, Changathipoocha (2007) and Panthaya Kozhi (2007) released to mixed reviews and offered hardly any scope for her, failing to propel her career. The next release, Chocolate (2007), which featured Remya as one of three leading females, gained her considerable attention, after the film went on to become a high commercial success. In 2008, she accepted her first non-Malayalam project, Andamaina Mansulo in Telugu, which was followed by her first Tamil film, the romantic drama Raman Thediya Seethai. Anthiponvettam was her only Malayalam film of 2008, which opened to largely negative reviews, while Remya received positive feedbacks on her performance, with a critic from IndiaGlitz describing her as "a saving grace in the entire movie". In the following two years, she appeared in just three films. She played the female lead in Saarai Veerraju (2009; Telugu) and Aattanayagann (2010; Tamil) and essayed a minor supporting role in Nammal Thammil (2009; Malayalam)—all of which proved critically and commercially unsuccessful,although her performance in the former was lauded. IndiaGlitz claimed that she was the "best performer" in the film, further adding that she had "raised to the occasion and carried the deglamorised role perfectly".
In 2011, Remya who till then had appeared in a series of repetitive roles as a village belle, undergoing an image makeover, choosing more serious, substantial and versatile roles. Her first release of that year was Traffic, starring an ensemble cast. Remya portrayed Shwetha, a "stylish seductress", a character with negative shades. Although her role in the film was short, her performance was appreciated by critics. She next appeared in the thriller film Chaappa Kurish as Sonia, a secretary who has an affair with her colleague. She shot a long kissing scene with her co-star Fahad Fazil in the film – supposedly the first ever in Malayalam cinema — which upon release was termed as controversial, causing a great stir in the industry. Remya later stated: "An actress should always be ready to take risks if her character demands so. Even when I was aware that the two-minute intense scene could create waves, I was sure that it was inevitable as it suited the plot. A sense of necessity made me accept that scene. I think director Sameer Tahir brought out the best in me. In fact, I enjoyed doing the scene".She went on to state that she did not regret "doing it"; she further creditted the Tamil film industry for "propelling" her image makeover. She was part of two Tamil productions, Ilaignan, scripted by former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. Karunanidhi, and the romantic comedy Kullanari Koottam. She performed a comical role as Priya, a zoology student, in the latter, and received positive feedback. Pavithra Srinivasan from Rediff noted that she was "pretty, expressive, and does well with what she's been given".She next appeared in a low-budget Telugu flick by Ravi Babu, Nuvvila, featuring a cast of almost all newcomers, in which she played a "girl with a fetish for cooking".
She is currently filming for one Telugu project, Salamath and three Malayalam films, Pigman, Bachelor Party, in which she will be seen in a "very stylish role", and Ivan Megharoopan that features her in a cameo appearance. She has also signed up Saji Surendran's comedy flick Husbands in Goa, in which she will play a "docile wife", and has completed shooting for an offbeat flick by Priyanandan, titled Oru Yathrayil. Besides, she would reprise her role from the original in the Tamil remake of Traffic. Her Tamil film, Kavithalayaa Productions' Muriyadi, a remake of the Malayalam sleeper hit Passenger (2009), has been long delayed.
