The Ultra-talented Priya Vasudev Mani Iyer aka Priyamani

Posted by Jimmy on Nov 26, 2011 in Priyamani | 1 comment

If you are from India, you should know Priya Vasudev Mani Iyer, better known as Priyamani.  Priyamani is merely her shorter and cuter stage name. If you are not from India, you should know her not only for her stunning good looks as an actress and model, but also because of her superb acting abilities.

Priyamani’s first major cinematic accomplishment was her portrayal of Muththazhagu, a young woman desperately in love with a man who didn’t love her in return, in the 2006 Tamil film, “Paruthi Veeran”.  Her character’s parents didn’t agree with her love and arranged for her to marry somebody else until it drove her into violent rage. It was a demanding role and Priyamani was perfect for it.

The classic love story was shot for two years on location in Madurai, the largest city in Tamil Nadu. It involved 60 new actors that were local talents in the Tamil state. Priyamani was the lead female character, opposite a newcomer Karthi, her love interest.

Released on February 23 2007, the film was critically acclaimed for tackling an issue about life in the pastures and about the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871.  It was warmly accepted by moviegoers and positively received by leading film critics. One of India’s well known film critics described the Priyamani starrer as a “remarkable effort” that “successfully brings alive the feel of the pastures”.

As expected, the Tamil movie did great at the box office and stayed as top movie only until it was replaced by the trendsetting Hollywood movie, “300”. Critics described Priyamani’s performance as “a fairly good job in her deglamourised role”. It was proven by several awards ceremonies, however, that her acting role in “Paruthi Veeran” was more than “fairly good” when the actress received Best Actress accolades.

In 2008, Priyamani won another Best Actress trophy for her role as Malavika in the movie, “Thirakkatha”, given by Filmfare Awards South. The movie was a romantic drama in Malayalam language.  The film won “Best Feature Film in Malayalam” by the National Film Award.

The next year, Priyamani was again nominated for the Best Actress Award for her portrayal of a character named Pooja in the Kannada film, ”Raam”. She didn’t win this time, though. The movie, which was a remake of the successful movie “Ready”, earned a ton of praises and positive reviews.

This super talented actress was yet again nominated twice in 2010 for two movies. The movies were “Raavan” (Hindi), where she played as Jamuni, and “Pranchiyettan and the Saint” (Malayalam) as Padmashree. Unfortunately, she didn’t win in either one.

“Raavan” was an important film that tackled relevant social issues. A Tamil version, “Raavanan” was aired simultaneously, as well as other dubbed versions in several regional languages. It opened on June 2010, and its premiere was shown in London.

The actress was born Priya Vasudev Mani Iyer in Palakkad, Kerala. She grew up in Bengalore and learned several regional languages such as Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Hindi. After her studies in Bengalore, she became a professional model for her gorgeous looks, and soon after, entered the movies.