Narain was born in Thrissur, Kerala. After completing a course in cinematography at the Adyar Film Institute, Narain came into the film industry as an assistant to Rajeev Menon, one of India’s noted film makers and cameramen. He worked with him for many advertisements and also a film – Morning Raga. His first film, was Nizhalkuthu by the veteran director Adoor Gopalakrishnan. His first commercial film 4 The People, brought him recognition and fame as an actor. In this sensational blockbuster, Narain’s performance as the firebrand IPS officer Rajan Mathew was well noticed. 4 The People was dubbed in Tamil and Telugu. He portrayed a struggling lawyer, Emmanuel John, in Achuvinte Amma and also realistically played a doctor, Jeevan, in Sheelabathi. He also played notable role in Annorikal. Classmates brought him close to peoples heart. His debut Tamil movie was Chithiram Pesuthadi, which was declared a blockbuster. Through Panthaya Kozhi, produced by director Lal, he has been re-launched as an independent action hero in the Malayalam film industry. In 2008, he did another youth-oriented Malayalam movie Minnaminnikoottam. This film did quite well in box office. His film Pallikoodam was highly performance oriented, playing the character of a collector Vetrivel.