Priya Mani Raj
[ ] (
née
The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
Iyer; born 4 June 1984
), known professionally as Priyamani, is an Indian actress who works in
Telugu,
Kannada
Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...
,
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
People, culture and language
* Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka
** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
,
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
, and
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
films. She is the recipient of a
National Film Award
The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...
, three
Filmfare Awards South
The Filmfare Awards South are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Telugu cinema, Tamil cinema, Malayalam cinema and Kannada cinema. They are presented by ''Filmfare'' magazine of The Times Group. When it was intr ...
and a
Tamil Nadu State Film Award.
Priyamani began her career with the 2003
Telugu film ''
Evare Atagaadu''. She went on to star in ''
Raam'' (2009), ''
Puthiya Mukham'' (2009), ''
Raavanan'' (2010), and ''
Pranchiyettan & the Saint'' (2010). She gained praise for playing a rape victim in the Tamil romantic drama ''
Paruthiveeran'' (2007), which won her the
National Film Award for Best Actress
The National Film Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India since 1968 to an actress for the best performance in a leading role within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry. ...
and the
Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil. She also won the
Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Malayalam for ''
Thirakkatha'' (2008) and the
Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Kannada for ''
Chaarulatha'' (2012). She has since starred in ''
Idolle Ramayana'' (2016), ''
Jawan'' (2023), ''
Article 370'' (2024), and ''
Officer on Duty'' (2025).
Early life
Priyamani was born and raised in
Bangalore
Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
,
Karnataka
Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
,
to a
Tamil Palakkad Iyer family. Her father, Vasudevan Mani Iyer, owns a plantation business, and her mother, former national-level badminton player Lathamani Iyer, was a bank manager at
Union Bank of India
Union Bank of India (UBI) is an Indian public sector bank headquartered in Mumbai. It has 153+ million customers and a total business of Rs.22,92,644 crores as of 31 March 2025. After the merging with Corporation Bank and Andhra Bank, which c ...
.
Priyamani modeled for
Kanchipuram Silk, Erode Bharani Silks, and Lakshmi Silks during her school years. When she was in the 12th standard, Tamil film director
Bharathiraja
Bharathiraja ( born 17 July 1941) is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor who works mainly in the Tamil film industry. Making his debut in 1977 with ''16 Vayathinile'', he is known for realistic and sensitive portrayals of ...
introduced her to the film industry.
While at school, she actively participated in extracurricular activities and in sports. She is the granddaughter of Carnatic vocalist Kamala Kailas.
She is the cousin of film actress
Vidya Balan
Vidya Balan (pronounced ; born 1 January 1979) is an Indian actress. Known for pioneering a change in the portrayal of women in Hindi cinema with her roles in female-led films, she is the recipient of several awards, including a National Fil ...
and the niece of playback singer
Malgudi Shubha.
Priyamani studied at
Sri Aurobindo Memorial School, Bengaluru. After completing her schooling, she modeled for print advertisements. She then completed her pre-university course and the degree from Bishop Cotton Women’s Christian College, Bengaluru. She can speak in English,
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
People, culture and language
* Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka
** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
,
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
,
Kannada
Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...
,
Telugu, and
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
fluently. Film director
Fazil had approached her for acting in a movie, and she rejected the offer prior to her board examinations and eventually made her film debut in a Tamil film.
Career
Priyamani made her debut with Telugu film, ''
Evare Atagaadu''. Although she began her acting career with
Bharathiraja
Bharathiraja ( born 17 July 1941) is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor who works mainly in the Tamil film industry. Making his debut in 1977 with ''16 Vayathinile'', he is known for realistic and sensitive portrayals of ...
's Tamil film, ''
Kangalal Kaidhu Sei,''
it was ''Evare Atagaadu'' which was released first.
Priyamani then made her debut in Malayalam cinema with ''
Sathyam''.
Then she was signed by Tamil film director and cinematographer
Balu Mahendra
Balanathan Benjamin Mahendran (20 May 1939 13 February 2014), commonly known as Balu Mahendra, was a Sri Lankan Tamil cinematographer, director, screenwriter and film editor who worked in various Indian film industries, primarily in Tamil ...
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. However, she won acclaim for her performance in the film. In 2006, Priyamani starred in the Telugu film ''
Pellaina Kothalo''. The film was a hit and got her three Telugu films.
Priyamani managed to prove her acting credentials and commercial appeal with 2007's ''
Paruthiveeran'', directed by
Ameer, in which she was co-starred with debutant
Karthi
Karthik Sivakumar (born 25 May 1977), credited as Karthi, is an Indian actor who works in Tamil Cinema. He is son of veteran actor Sivakumar who began his career as an assistant director in his elder brother Suriya's
film '' Aayutha Ezhuthu ...
. A rural subject which told the story of a notorious young villager in
Madurai
Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...
, the film won critical acclaim and became a surprise box-office blockbuster. She went on to win the
National Film Award
The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...
, followed by
South Filmfare Award,
Tamil Nadu State Film Award and an award at the
Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema.
She had another commercially successful film in Telugu, in the 2007 film ''
Yamadonga'' and in the Tamil film ''
Malaikottai''. 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
Srividya (24 July 1953 – 19 October 2006), was an Indian actress best known for her work predominantly in Malayalam and Tamil films, along with few Telugu, Kannada and Hindi films. In a career spanning for 40 years, she had acted in more t ...
. She won another Filmfare Award for her performance. In Tamil, she had a single release in 2008: ''
Thotta''.
In 2009 she had two Tamil releases, the
masala film
Masala films of Indian cinema are those that blend multiple genres into one work. Masala films emerged in the 1970s and are still being created as of the 2020s. Typically these films freely blend action, comedy, romance, and drama, or melod ...
''
Arumugam'' and the remake of the Malayalam blockbuster ''
Classmates
A classmate is a student who is a member of the same class, in any of its meanings (a course, a lesson, a graduating year).
Classmate(s) may also refer to:
* ''Classmates'' (1914 film), a 1914 silent film produced by the Biograph Company
* ''Cl ...
'', titled ''
Ninaithale Inikkum''. The former was a commercial failure: Her Kannada debut film
Raam was also a commercial success. All three of her Telugu releases that year, however, (''
Drona
Droṇa (, ), also referred to as Dronacharya (, ), is a major character of the Hindu epic Mahabharata. In the epic, he serves as the royal preceptor of the Kauravas and the Pandavas. He is one of the primary counsellors and warriors featured ...
'', ''
Mitrudu'', ''
Pravarakhyudu'') did not do well at the box office. In 2010 she acted in the satirical film ''
Pranchiyettan & the Saint'' which became the longest-running Malayalam film since 2005. 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
Gopalaratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, film producer and screenwriter who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and a few Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films.
H ...
for his bilingual film, titled ''
Raavanan'' and ''
Raavan'' in Tamil and Hindi respectively. Soon after, she was hired by Bollywood director-producer
Ram Gopal Varma
Penmetsa Ram Gopal Varma (born 7 April 1962), often referred to by his initials RGV, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer, primarily known for his work in Hindi cinema, Hindi and Telugu cinema, Telugu films.**
*
* Varma has dir ...
for his bilingual film ''
Rakht Charitra''. Varma decided to cast her after seeing her National Award-winning performance in ''
Paruthiveeran''. Her Kannada film ''
Vishnuvardhana
Vishnuvardhana () was a king of the Hoysala Empire in what is today the state of Karnataka, India. He ascended the Hoysala throne after the death of his elder brother Veera Ballala I in 1108. Originally a follower of Jainism and known as ...
'' became a blockbuster hit and later she starred in ''
Anna Bond''. Although the film was poorly received by critics and featured on
Rediff
Rediff.com, stylized as rediff.com, is an Indian news, information, entertainment, and shopping website. Founded by Ajit Balakrishnan in 1996, it was the first Indian website to become a mainstream news media organization. It is headquartered i ...
's "Most Disappointing Kannada Films of 2012" list, it went on to become a successful venture at the box office. She appeared in an
item number
In Indian cinema, an item number or special song is a musical number inserted into a film that may or may not have any relevance to the plot. The term is commonly used within Indian films ( Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu c ...
in the Bollywood film ''
Chennai Express''. 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. She was cast opposite
Darshan in the Kannada film ''
Ambareesha'' in (2014). In 2014, she posed for a
PETA
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; ) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president.
Founded in March 1980 by Newkirk and animal right ...
ad campaign, asking the public to boycott zoos that feature caged tigers. In 2024, she was cast in the Hindi film ''
Article 370''
Besides ''The Family Man'', Priyamani was also in
ZEE5
ZEE5 or Z5 is an Indian subscription video on demand and over-the-top streaming service, owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched in India on 14 February 2018 with content in 12 languages. The ZEE5 mobile app is available on We ...
's ''
His Storyy'', ''
Narappa'', and ''
Virata Parvam''.
Personal life
Priyamani announced her engagement to Mustafa Raj, an event organiser, in 2016,
and the couple married in Bengaluru in 2017.
Priyamani is
Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
, while her husband is a Muslim; she has spoken about receiving negative
text messages
Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile phones, tablet computers, smartwatches, desktop computer, des ...
and online comments due to their interfaith marriage.
Filmography
Films
Television
Web series
As a host or judge
Short films
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
*
{{authority control
1984 births
Living people
Indian film actresses
Indian web series actresses
Tamil actresses
Actresses in Tamil cinema
Actresses in Telugu cinema
Actresses in Malayalam cinema
Actresses in Kannada cinema
Actresses in Hindi cinema
Actresses from Bengaluru
Actresses from Palakkad
Female models from Bengaluru
Female models from Kerala
Best Actress National Film Award winners
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners
Filmfare Awards South winners
South Indian International Movie Awards winners
21st-century Indian actresses