Priyamani - Profile

PROFILE
Priyamani, born Priya Vasudev Mani Iyer on June 4, 1983, better known by her stage name Priyamani, is an Indian film actress and model who has acted in several Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam language films. She is best known for earning a National Film Award for Best Actress for her role in the 2006 Tamil film Paruthi Veeran directed by Ameer Sultan. She is the cousin of Bollywood actress Vidya Balan.

Priyamani was born on June 4, 1983 in a Iyer family with roots in Kerala,Bangalore Karnataka. She grew up and schooled in Bangalore, Karnataka. As a result of her dynamic exposure in different South Indian states, she speaks Malayalam,Kannada, Hindi, and Telugu. After completing her schooling, Priyamani was roped in to model for print advertisements. As a subsequent result of her extended modelling, she began to earn opportunities to star in films. After being approached by several directors and being considered for roles, she finally starred in director Bharathiraja's film Kangalal Kaidhu Sei which was released in 2004.[1] She is currently doing her final year of B.A. Psychology.

Her debut film Kangalal Kaidhu Sei in Tamil flopped when released in 2004, and her Telugu debut Evare Atagaadu too sank without a trace. Priyamani then made her debut in her native film industry, Malayalam, where she starred opposite another rising actor who would go on to establish himself as a popular actor in Tamil as well, Prithviraj Sukumaran, through the film Satyam [disambiguation needed] but the film failed to do well in the box-office either. Despite the failures, she was hired by another revered Tamil film director and cinematographer Balu Mahendra to star opposite rising Tamil star Dhanush in the 2005 drama Adhu Oru Kana Kaalam. She won tremendous acclaim for her performance in the film, but the film's under-performance meant that box-office success still eluded her.

Priyamani found success coming for her finally in the year 2006, when she starred opposite veteran Telugu actor Jagapathi Babu in the film Pellaina Kothalo, a film about a newly-wed couple. The film was a surprise hit given its low budget and modest star cast and propelled Priyamani to fame in Tollywood.

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