Priyamani

Priya Vasudev Mani Iyer (born 4 June 1984), professionally credited as Priyamani, is an Indian film actress and former model, who works predominantly in Tamil and has also done few Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam-language films. She is the recipient of a National Film Award for Best Actress and three Filmfare Awards in different-language films.

Priyamani
Priyamani at Filmfare Awards, 2015
Born	Priya Vasudev Mani Iyer (1984-06-04) 4 June 1984[1][2][3] Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Occupation	Actress model
Years active	2003–present
Spouse(s)	Mustafa Raj ( m. 2017)
Relatives	See Priyamani family

Priyamani, born and raised in Bangalore, worked as a model before pursuing a career in films. In 2002, she made her acting debut with a leading role in the Telugu film Evare Atagaadu (2003). She gained widespread recognition for her role as village girl Muththazhagi in the Tamil romantic drama Paruthiveeran in 2007, receiving a National Film Award for Best Actress and a Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil for her performance. During the same year, she achieved commercial success in Telugu cinema with S. S. Rajamouli-directed socio-fantasy film Yamadonga.[4] In 2008, Priyamani received further critical acclaim for her role as Malavika in the Malayalam romance Thirakkatha–and won a Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Malayalam.[5] Her first role in the Kannada film came the following year, with the romantic comedy Raam, which proved to be a major critical and commercial success. Priyamani made her Hindi film debut through Mani Ratnam's bilingual in Tamil and Hindi epic adventure films, titled Raavan and Raavanan respectively. In 2012, her portrayal of conjoined twins in the multilingual film Chaarulatha, based on the Thai film Alone, gained critical praise and a third Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Kannada. She received further success for her role in the Kannada–Telugu thriller film Idolle Ramayana (2016) earned her a Best Supporting Actress nomination at Filmfare.

In addition to acting in films, she is active in the South Indian Television shows, having judged several dance reality shows.

Life and career

Priyamani was born in Bangalore, Karnataka.[6] She modelled for Kancheepuram silks, Erode silks and Lakshmi silks during her school years. When she was in the 12th Standard, Tamil Director, Bharathiraja, introduced her to the film industry. Her father, Vasudev Mani, who hails from Palakkad from a Tamil family, owns a plantation business and her mother, former national level badminton player, Lathamani, who hails from Thiruvananthapuram, was a bank manager at Union Bank of India. She has an elder brother, Vishakh, who is in the plantation business with her father. While at school, she actively participated in extracurricular activities and in sports.[7] She is the granddaughter of Carnatic vocalist, Kamala Kailas.[8] She is the cousin of film actress, Vidya Balan and the niece of playback singer, Malgudi Shubha.[9][10]

After completing her schooling, Priyamani modeled for print advertisements. Priyamani pursued a degree in Bachelor of Arts in psychology through correspondence.[11]

Priyamani made her debut with Telugu film, Evare Atagaadu. She then made her debut in the Malayalam Film Industry with Sathyam, but this film performed poorly at the box office.[8] She was signed by Tamil film director and cinematographer Balu Mahendra to act in the 2005 drama Adhu Oru Kana Kaalam. Before release, Babith said "Priyamani has come up with an excellent performance in the movie. Adhu Oru Kana Kaalam was critically acclaimed but failed at the box office.[12] However, she won acclaim for her performance in the film.[13][14] In 2006, Priyamani starred in the Telugu film Pellaina Kothalo. The film was a super hit and got her three Telugu films.[8][15][16]

Priyamani during the filming of Rakta Charitra 2

Priyamani managed to prove her acting credentials and commercial appeal with 2007's Paruthiveeran, directed by Ameer Sultan, in which she was co-starred with debutant Karthi Sivakumar. A rural subject which told the story of a notorious young villager in Madurai, the film won critical acclaim and became a surprise box-office blockbuster.[17][18][19] She went on to win the National Film Award,[20] followed by South Filmfare Award,[21] Tamil Nadu State Film Award and an award at the Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema.[22]

She had another commercially successful film in Telugu, in the 2007 film Yamadonga[23][24][25] and in the Tamil film Malaikottai.[26][27][28] She again received critical acclaim in 2008 for her role in the Malayalam film Thirakkatha, in which she played a role based on the turbulent real-life story of late film actress Srividya.[29] She won another Filmfare Award for her performance.[30] In Tamil, she had a single release in 2008: Thotta.

In 2009 she had two Tamil releases, the masala film Arumugam and the remake of the Malayalam blockbuster Classmates,[31][32] titled Ninaithale Inikkum.[33] The former was a commercial failure:[34][35] Her Kannada debut film Raam was also a commercial success.[36][37][38][39] All three of her Telugu releases that year, however, (Drona, Mitrudu, Pravarakhyudu) did not do well at the box office.[40][41][42] In 2010 she acted in the satirical film Pranchiyettan & the Saint which became the longest-running Malayalam film since 2005.[43] She won a Filmfare nomination for her role as a Mumbai-based interior decorator in the film.

She was subsequently signed by director Mani Ratnam for his bilingual film, titled Raavanan and Raavan in Tamil and Hindi respectively.[44] Soon after, she was roped in by Bollywood director-producer Ram Gopal Varma for his trilingual film Rakht Charitra. Varma decided to cast her after seeing her National Award-winning performance in Paruthiveeran.[45] Her Kannada film Vishnuvardhana became a blockbuster hit[46][47] and later she starred in Anna Bond.[48] Although the film was poorly received by critics and featured on Rediff's "Most Disappointing Kannada Films of 2012" list,[49] it went on to become a successful venture at the box office.[50] She appeared in an item number in the Bollywood film Chennai Express.[51] She has completed shooting for a Malayalam film, The True Story and the Telugu film, Chandee, in which she plays Ganga the granddaughter of a freedom fighter, who seeks revenge for the problems her family had to face.[52] She was cast opposite Darshan in the Kannada film Ambareesha in (2014).[53][54]

In 2014, she posed for a PETA ad campaign, asking the public to boycott zoos that feature caged tigers.[55][56][57]

Personal life

Priyamani married Mustafa Raj, an events organizer, in a private ceremony on 23 August 2017. [58]

Awards

• National Film Award for Best Actress (2006) - Paruthiveeran
• Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress (2006) - Paruthiveeran
• Vikatan award for best actress (2006) - Paruthiveeran
• Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil (2007) - Paruthiveeran
• Vijay Award for Best Actress (2007) - Paruthiveeran
• Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Malayalam (2008) - Thirakkatha
• Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Actress (2009) - Raam
• Sandalwood Star Award for Best Supporting Actress (2011) - Vishnuvardhana
• Nominated—Bangalore Times Film Awards for Best Actress in a Negative Role (2011) - Vishnuvardhana
• Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Kannada (2012) - Chaarulatha
• SIIMA Award for Best Actress (2012) - Chaarulatha
• Suvarna Film Award for Best Actress (2012) - Chaarulatha
• Asiavision Television Award for Best Celebrity Judge (2015) - D2 - D 4 Dance
• Asiavision Television Award for Best Celebrity Judge (2015) - D3 - D 4 Dance
• Nominated—Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress – Telugu (2016) - Mana Oori Ramayanam
• TSR TV9 National Film Award for Best Actress - Kannada (2018)- Dwaja

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Language	Notes
2003	Evare Atagaadu	Priyamani	Telugu
2004	Kangalal Kaidhu Sei	Vidya Sadagoppan	Tamil
	Satyam	Sona	Malayalam
2005	Adhu Oru Kana Kaalam	Thulasi	Tamil
	Otta Nanayam	Reshma	Malayalam
2006	Pellaina Kothalo	Lakshmi	Telugu
	Madhu	Mercy	Tamil
2007	Paruthiveeran	Muthazhagu		National Film Award for Best Actress (2006)
	Toss	Naina	Telugu
	Yamadonga	Maheswari
	Nava Vasantham	Anjali
	Malaikottai	Malar	Tamil
2008	Thotta	Nalina
	Thirakkatha	Malavika	Malayalam
	Hare Ram	Anjali	Telugu
	King	Unknown		Special appearance in song "Nuvvu Ready Nenu Ready"
2009	Drona	Indhu
	Mitrudu	Indu
	Puthiya Mukham	Anjana	Malayalam
	Arumugam	Yamini	Tamil
	Ninaithale Inikkum	Meera
	Pravarakhyudu	Sailaja	Telugu
	Raam	Pooja	Kannada
2010	Shambo Shiva Shambo	Munimma	Telugu
	Sadhyam	Suhani
	Golimaar	Pavithra
	Raavanan	Vennila	Tamil
	Raavan	Jamuni	Hindi
	Pranchiyettan and the Saint	Padmashree	Malayalam
	Eno Onthara	Madhumathi	Kannada
	Rakta Charitra II	Bhawani	Hindi
	Rakta Charitra II	Bhavani	Telugu
	Ragada	Priya/ Ashtalakshmi
2011	Raaj	Mythili
	Kshetram	Naga Penchalamma/ Sohini Aggarwal
	Vishnuvardhana	Meera	Kannada
2012	Ko Ko	Cauvery
	Ullam	Kavitha	Tamil	First film; Direct-to-television
	Anna Bond	Meera	Kannada
	Grandmaster	Deepthi	Malayalam
	Chaarulatha	Chaaru/Latha	Tamil
			Kannada	Bilingual
2013	Lakshmi	Priya
	Chennai Express	Dancer	Hindi	Special appearance in the song "1 2 3 4 Get on the Dance Floor"
	Chandee	Ganga/Chandee	Telugu
2014	Alice: A True Story	Alice/Uma	Malayalam
	Njangalude Veettile Athidhikal	Bhavana
	Ambareesha	Smitha	Kannada
2015	Ranna	Herself		Special Appearance in the song "What to do"
2016	Kathe Chitrakathe Nirdeshana Puttanna	Geethanjali
	Kalpana 2	Kalpana
	Dana Kayonu	Jhummi
	Idolle Ramayana	Susheela
	Mana Oori Ramayanam		Telugu
2017	Chowka	Mariea D Souza	Kannada
2018	Dhwaja	Ramya
	Ashiq Vanna Divasam	Shyni	Malayalam
2019	Pathinettam Padi	Gowri Vasudev		Cameo appearance
	Nanna Prakara	Dr. Amrutha	Kannada
2020	Ateet	Janvi	Hindi	Zee5 Original Film
	Virata Parvam 1992	Comrade Bharatakka	Telugu	Filming[59][60][61][62]
	Naarappa	Sundaramma		Filming[63][64][65][66]
	Sirivenella	TBA		Post production[67][68][69][70]
	Dr.56	TBA	Kannada	Filming[71][72]
2021	Maidaan	TBA	Hindi	Filming[73]

Television

As reality show judge

Year	Program	Language	Channel	Notes
2014	D 4 Dance	Malayalam	Mazhavil Manorama
2015	D2 - D 4 Dance
	Dancing Star 2	Kannada	ETV Kannada
2016	Dancing Star Juniors
	Kings of Dance	Tamil	Star Vijay
	D3 - D 4 Dance	Malayalam	Mazhavil Manorama	Asiavision Television Award for Best Celebrity Judge
	Dancing Star 3	Kannada	Colors Kannada
2017	D4 junior v/s seniors	Malayalam	Mazhavil Manorama
	Dance Jodi Dance 2	Tamil	Zee Tamil
	Dhee 10	Telugu	ETV Telugu
2018-2019	Dhee 11		ETV Telugu
2018	Master Dancer	Kannada	Colors Kannada	Celebrity judge
2018-2019	Dance Kerala Dance	Malayalam	Zee Keralam
2019	Teas Best Partner		Mazhavil Manorama
	Kerala Dance League		Amrita TV	Celebrity judge
	Comedy Stars		Asianet	Celebrity judge
	D5 junior		Mazhavil manorama	Grand finale jury
2019-2020	Comedy Stars Weekend Challenge		Asianet
	Dance Jodi Dance 3.0	Tamil	Zee Tamizh

Other shows

Year	Program	Role	Language	Channel	Notes
2009	Onasallapam	Herself	Malayalam	ACV	Guest
2013	Prematho Mee Lakshmi		Telugu	ETV Telugu
	EN		Malayalam	Asianet News
2014	Big Screen			Kairali TV	Guest
2015	Bigg Boss 3		Kannada	Colors Kannada
	Dancing Talkies
2016	I personally		Malayalam	Kappa TV	Guest appearance
	Majaa Talkies		Kannada	Colors Kannada
	Badai Bungalow		Malayalam	Asianet
	JB Junction			Kairali TV
	Get Set Chat			Kaumudy TV
	Laughing Villa			Surya TV
	Comedy Super Night 2			Flowers TV
	Onnum Onnum Moonu			Mazhavil Manorama
	Alitho Saradaga		Telugu	ETV Telugu
2017	Weekend With Ramesh		Kannada	Zee Kannada	Guest appearance
	Hand of God	Eleena	Malayalam	Mazhavil Manorama	Short film
2018	Majaa Talkies	Guest appearance	Kannada	Colors Super
	Sadhanimmondigge			Udaya TV
2019	Famously Filmfare	Anchor	Malayalam	MX Player
			Kannada
	White	Blind lady	English	Short film

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Language	Channel	Notes
2019	The Family Man	Suchitra	Hindi	Prime Video
2020	The Family Man Season 2	TBA	Hindi	Prime video	Filming

References

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2. James, Anu (4 June 2015). "Happy Birthday Priyamani: Celebs Wish 'D4 Dance' Judge on her Special Day". International Business Times. Retrieved 19 April 2016. Priyamani ... is celebrating her 31st birthday on Thursday, 4 June.
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4. "The Rajmouli-NTR Jr winning combination". www.rediff.com. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
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71. "Priyamani's next will be the Kannada 'Doctor 56'". www.thenewsminute.com. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
72. "Priya Mani roped in to play CBI officer in bilingual". www.thenewsminute.com. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
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External links

• Priyamani on IMDb