Actor Nani’s wife Anjana Yelavarthy reveals why she stopped straightening her hair: ‘Could my curls be pretty too?’

Actor Nani is currently in the spotlight as his film The Paradise has hit the theaters and already recorded a first-day milestone by earning Rs 40 crore worldwide gross. While the actor has grabbed the headlines his wife Anjana Yelavarthy, has also carved out her own space in the beauty and wellness world as the founder of a curly hair boutique salon. A quick look at Nani's social media shows his wife with shiny and bouncy curls. Previously, she had once opened up about her own journey of learning to embrace her naturally curly hair.

In a blog post, Anjana Yelavarthy recalled a conversation she had with her best friend a couple of years ago that completely changed her perspective about her own hair. She wrote that her best friend complimented her hair during a meeting, even though she had straightened out her crown while the rest of the hair was curly. The founder admitted aloud to her friend that she wished she had straight hair so that she could simply walk out of the shower confidently. However, her friend pointed out the irony. While Anjana wanted naturally straight hair, her friend wanted curly hair. Anjana admitted that she felt her curls were not pretty enough and her friend then encouraged her to embrace her natural hair.

Embracing her curls

This conversation stayed with Anjana and she recalled walking away, wondering whether her curls could actually be beautiful too, and she described that conversation as something that “literally changed everything” for her. In the blog, Anjana revealed that embracing her natural hair texture was not an overnight process. She initially struggled with her curly hair, and would often find herself heading to a salon for a quick blow dry whenever she wanted to look her best. She admitted that people often want what they do not have and added that the society has conditioned people to believe that straight hair is beautiful. However, the turning point came the next day when she went for the big job and began appreciating her curls.


Her new look instantly caught attention, with people asking whether she had curled her hair and if they could touch it. This newfound attention felt addictive and boosted her confidence. She said that it took some time for her to find an approach that felt natural to her hair and fit into her life and was also simple. Eventually, she found her own method and described it as the best feeling.

Anjana Yelavarthy's note for Nani’ before The Paradise release

Nani’s wife, Anjana Yelavarthy, shared a sweet and emotional note for her husband. A day before the release of The Paradise, Anjana took to social media to look back at the actor’s journey in cinema. She recalled 2009, when she and a few friends had bunked college to watch one of Nani’s films, only to discover that it did not even have a morning show on its release day.

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A post shared by Anjana Yelavarthy (@anjuyelavarthy)

Looking back, she remembered thinking about how difficult it must have been for a newcomer to get a film released on time.

‘This Rome was definitely not built in a day’

16 years later, Anjana said seeing audiences turn up for The Paradise simply because of the trust Nani had built over the years left everyone emotional and grateful. She compared his career to Rome, saying “this ‘Rome’ was definitely not built in a day”, and added that she had witnessed the journey herself. Anjana also described every film as Nani’s baby. Some films, she wrote, waddled, while others ran or bumped their heads along the way. But regardless of what happened, each one remained his baby and nothing else mattered.

As The Paradise was about to arrive, she described the film as taking its “baby steps” and reassured Nani that whatever happened, things would be good. She ended the heartfelt note with “We’ve got you like no other”, signing off with an affectionate heart emoji.