Who is Nejm, the Tamil model who taught Bharatanatyam mudras to Rihanna?

Global pop sensation Rihanna made a surprise visit to India on April 24 for the launch of her beauty brand, Fenty Beauty. The 38-year-old posed with paparazzi, danced with influencers, rubbed shoulders with the Ambanis, and generally made a splash on social media.Tamil model and influencer Nejm danced with Rihanna in Mumbai(Also read: Rihanna wins hearts as she invites paparazzi to pose with her at Mumbai event: ‘Just Queen things’. Watch)One video in particular made the internet take a collective gasp. It showed Rihanna learning Bharatnatyam mudras from a Tamil influencer named Nejm. Nejm shared two clips on Instagram, one of which reached over 5.6 million views. The Indian influencer showed Rihanna a few Bharatanatyam mudras and explained how emotions are conveyed through the eyes in this classical dance form originating from Tamil Nadu.Who is Nejm?Nejm is a model, rapper and influencer from Tamil Nadu, India.She won the Vogue Model of the Year award in 2025. Through her modelling, she wants to represent women who are “South Indian, dark-skinned, curvy, and strong”.The word “Nejm” means real in Tamil. She gave herself the name when she started making music as a teenager.“I’m a lyric, rapper and storyteller. I began writing at 16 and started battling at 18,” she told The Word magazine in 2025.Nejm has over 6.8 lakh followers on Instagram, where she posts under the handle @keepinitnejm.How Nejm started modellingIn her older Instagram posts, Nejm has opened up about how she got her start in modelling while working with Microsoft in Chennai.She revealed that she went on a date in 2022 with a man who asked her, “Why aren’t you a model?”She initially laughed it off “because I’ve never seen anyone like me in the mainstream media growing up. Moreover, in the south they only prefer conventionally attractive women.”But her date passed her contact to a friend, and soon Nejm was on a flight to Mumbai. “Little did I know this weekend trip would change the course of my career,” she said in an Instagram post in September 2025 when she accepted the Vogue Model of the Year award.“For most of my life, I had been told to look a certain way or to change myself, until I reached a point where I stopped caring. I realised that criticism often says more about the person giving it…” she told the Word magazine, adding that she was pleasantly surprised the modelling industry and how accepting it was.“Growing up, I never saw South Indian women truly celebrated for how we look. We’re often curvy, plus-size, and dark-skinned-it’s in our genes, it’s who we are.“People might call that obese, but I’m healthy, strong, and fit. I’ve learned to see it as a blessing. Many of us in the South look like me-yet, for the longest time, we were made to feel like a minority,” she said.(Also read: Bharatanatyam dancer handles wardrobe malfunction mid-performance, continues dancing without missing a beat)