Priyamani is an Indian multilingual film actress who works in Kannada, Hindi,Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam Cinema. Priyamani gained widespread recognition for her role as village girl Muththazhagu in the Tamil filmParuthiveeran in 2007, receiving National Film Award for Best Actress andTamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress for her performance. During the same year, she achieved commercial success in Telugu cinema with S. S. Rajamouli-directed Yamadonga.[2] In 2008, Priyamani received further critical acclaim for her role as Malavika in the Malayalam film Thirakkatha, written and directed by Ranjith.[2] The following year, she made her Kannada film debut inRaam which proved to be a commercial and critical success. Priyamani made her Hindi film debut through Mani Ratnam's bilingual in Tamil and Hindi, titledRaavan and Raavanan respectively. In 2012, her portrayal of conjoined twins in the multilingual film Chaarulatha, based on Thai film Alone, gained critical praise.
Priyamani was born and raised in Bangalore.[3] Priyamani was born to Vasudeva Mani Iyer and Latha Mani Iyer. 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 who hails from Palakkad from a Tamil Iyer family owns a plantation business, and her mother, former national badminton player, Lathamani, who hails fromThiruvananthapuram was a bank manager at Union bank. 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.[4] She is the granddaughter of Carnatic vocalist Kamala Kailas.[5] Hindi film actress Vidya Balan is her cousin.[6][7]
She did her schooling at Sri Aurobindo Memorial School and attended Bishop Cotton Women’s College in J C Road.[3][8]After completing her schooling, Priyamani modeled for print advertisements. Priyamani is currently pursuing a degree in Bachelor of Arts in psychology.[9]
She started her film career with her debut film in Kollywood called Kangalal Kaithu Sei alongside actor Vaseegaran. The film was a flop at the box-office and she moved on to Malayalam and Telugu films owing to a lack of offers in Tamil films. She made her Telugu debut in Pellaina Kothalo with Jagapati Babu. Priyamani rose to fame with this film. Priyamani has made her Tamil comeback with the internationally acclaimed Tamil film Paruthiveeran helmed by Ameer Sultan, starring debutant Karthik Sivakumar. She has also signed on for another Tamil film in which she plays the lead role with actor Jeevan.. She then made her debut in the Malayalam film industry with Sathyam, but this film performed poorly at the box office.[5] 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. Her performance would be widely acclaimed."[10] Adhu Oru Kana Kaalam was critically acclaimed but failed at the box office.[11] However, she won acclaim for her performance in the film.[12][13] In 2006, Priyamani starred in the Telugu film Pellaina Kothalo. The film was a super hit and got her three Telugu films.[5][14][15]
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.[16][17][18] Priyamani's performance was unanimously praised by the critics.[19][20] She went on to win the National Film Award,[21] followed by South Filmfare Award,[22] Tamil Nadu State Film Awardand an award at the Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema.[23]
She had another commercially successful film in Telugu, in the 2007 filmYamadonga[24][25][26] and in the Tamil film Malaikottai.[27][28][29] 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.[30] She won another Filmfare Award for her performance.[31] 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 blockbusterClassmates,[32][33] titled Ninaithale Inikkum.[34] The former was a commercial failure:[35][36] Her Kannada debut film Raamwas also a commercial success.[37][38][39][40] All three of her Telugu releases that year, however, (Drona, Mitrudu,Pravarakhyudu) did not do well at the box office.[41][42][43] In 2010 she acted in the satirical film Pranchiyettan & the Saintwhich became the longest-running Malayalam film since 2005.[44] 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.[45] 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.[46] Her Kannada film Vishnuvardhana became a blockbuster hit[47][48] and later she starred in Anna Bond.[49] Although the film was poorly received by critics and featured on Rediff's "Most Disappointing Kannada Films of 2012" list,[50] it went on to become a successful venture at the box office.[51] She appeared in an item number in the Bollywood film Chennai Express.[52]
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.[53] She is currently shooting for the Kannada film Ambareesha.[54]
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