PRIYA MANI - NEW LOOK AT SUCCESS

20 TIME OUT The Gulf Today / Thursday, August 16, 2007
CINEMA

NEW
LOOK AT
SUCCESS


PRIYAMANI, WHO WON THE HEARTS OF
FANS BY PLAYING VILLAGE-BELLE ROLES,
IS NOW IN A GLAMOROUS ROLE IN
THE FORTHCOMING
VISHAAL-STARRER MALAIKOTTAI
WRITES KK MOIDU
Priyamani is a lovely heroine with amiable
eyes and a smooth smile. She recently
won the best actress award at the Osean’s cine-fan festival
in New Delhi. Her attractive performance
as Karuppachi Muthazhagu in Paruthiveeran, as a
village girl who meets with a grievous
end in the film, fetched her the
award.
Although a movie’s success
depends on the entire team, an actor
or actress becomes known for a particular
character after the success of
their roles in hit films. Majority of
actors or actresses stick to those
stereotypical roles and wait for luck
to come their way. Priyamani, the
heroine of the super hit
Paruthiveeran is bold enough to say
“no” to typecast roles.
Surya’s younger brother Karthi
played the male lead in his debut
film Paruthiveeran directed by
Ameer. He played a tough role,
without giving the audience a
chance to think that he was a beginner.
In the film, the love of a girl
from a respectable family changes
him forever. The movie not only
won rave reviews but also did well
at the box-office. The highlight of
the film was it’s climax.
Priyamani’s riveting performance
as Muthazhagu in
Paruthiveeran brought an end to her
agonising wait for success. Her earlier
films were with big names of the
industry, but she couldn’t achieve
fame. Paruthiveeran took her career
to new heights.
Priyamani was born on June 4,
1984, into an Iyer family in
Palakkad, Kerala. She is the daughter
of Vasudev Mani and Latha
Mani. Her father is an industrialist
and mother was an international
badminton player and worked in
UBI as an assistant manager. She
later took voluntary retirement after
Priyamani’s entry into the film
industry.
Priyamani has done modelling
for famous jewellery brands and
textile houses like Kancheepuram
Silks, Eorde Silks and Lakshmi
Silks etc.
Renowned director Bharathiraja,
who discovered Revathi, Radhika
etc. gifted Priyamani to the spectacular
film industry. She is a smart and
talkative girl, loves music, dance
and acting is her craze.
Priyamani has acted in four
Tamil films, two Malayalam films
and one Telugu film in a short span
of her three-year career. She made
her debut in the Tamil film Kangalal
Kaidhu Sei. Although the film was
directed by veteran Bharathiraja, the
movie bombed at the box-office.
But her excellent performance and
camera-friendly aspect in the film
was noted by few in the industry.
Priyamani’s second Tamil film
Adhu Oru Kana Kaalam was directed
by talented Balu Mahendra and
she proved her mettle as an actress
in the film. Priyamani was the love
interest of Dhanush, but the movie
did not help her to make a name in
the industry.
Priyamani played the heroine in
Madhu, a romantic entertainer and
the male lead of the movie was
Jithan Ramesh, Jeeva’s brother and
the third son of famous producer RB
Choudhary. Madhu was directed by
Thennarasu and produced by
Thanga Sekar.
Although Priyamani was brought
up in Bangalore as a modern girl, the
offers which came on her way were
the typical village-belle roles.
In order to escape from these
roles, she tried her luck in the
Malayalam film industry and did a
glamorous role in her debut movie
Sathyam. Her male lead of the film
was Prithviraj. Sathyam was noticed
by the image change of Prithviraj as
an action hero. But lady luck was
not on her side and the movie did not
give her a promising career. Her
other Malayalam film Ottananayam
also went unnoticed.
Priyamani returned in Tamil after
a break and played the deglamourised
role in Paruthiveeran. Her
seniors like Gopika, Navya Nair,
Meera Jasmine etc. from Kerala
were receiving glamorous roles in
Tamil and Telugu and at the same
time they performed in Malayalam
films. They were shining in the
industries but the pretty actress
Priyamani had a tough time to establish
herself in all the three languages.
Priyamani’s Telugu film Pellaina
Kothalo with Jagapathi Raju made
her popular in the industry. The films
success merited her prestigious
offers like Yamadonga, Toss and
Mitrudu.
In the forthcoming film
Yamadonga directed by Rajamouli,
she pairs with Jr NTR. In Toss, a love
story directed by Priyadarshini Ram,
her male lead is Raja. Upendra will
appear in a pivotal role in the film.
Mani Sharma is the music director.
In another forthcoming Telugu film
Mitrudu, her hero is Tarun.
After the success of
Paruthiveeran offers were flooded
to the actress from various sides. But
all for the same village-girl roles that
she performed so well earlier.
Priyamani knows that rural beauty
roles without makeup will not
make her a front-line heroine in
Tamil and Telugu. Her realisation of
the industry forced her to portray the
right glamour in Malaikottai.
Priyamani wants to establish herself
as a commercial heroine in the
industry and is looking for different
roles. In order to gain that roles in
films, she has changed herself with
new hair styles, costumes and
attended film parties.
Priyamani, who was known for
donning performance-oriented roles,
has managed to obtain offers for
glamorous roles. Her experiments in
style and appearance will fulfill her
dream to become a sought after
heroine of the South Indian film
industry.
Her forthcoming Malaikottai, a
mass entertainer, is a big-budget film
directed by G Boopathy Pandian.
The story and the screenplay of the
film is contributed by the director
himself. The film is produced by T
Ajaikumar under the banner of
Lakshmi Productions. Mani Sharma
tunes for the lyrics of Muthukumar
and Yugabharathi. Other artistes of
the film are Ashish Vidyarthi,
Devaraj, Ajai, GM Kumar,
Ponnambalam, Mayilsamy,
Manobala, Dandapani, Azhagu,
Jayasurya, Urvasi, Nirosha and
Arthi.
Besides her city-bred college student
role in Malaikottai, Priyamani
has signed another promising Tamil
film, Thotta. She is paired opposite
Jeevan and it will be directed by
Selva.
Priyamani has succeeded in gaining
glamorous roles in films, but the
audience will decide the success of
her new glamorous roles. Whether
the audience will accept her in
revealing costumes or will they like
to watch her in village-belle roles
only is left to be seen. If her movies
work well at the box-office, her
dream to establish herself as an
actress who can fit into any kind of
role will become a reality.