Acting

Priyamani

Priyamani (born Priya Vasudev Mani Iyer; 4 June 1984) is an Indian actress and former model who works predominantly in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi cinema. She made her acting debut in the Telugu romantic drama *Evare Atagaadu* (2003), followed by her Tamil debut in Bharathiraja's *Kangalal Kaidhu Sei* (2004) and her Malayalam debut in *Sathyam* (2004). Her breakthrough came with Ameer Sultan's Tamil romantic rural drama *Paruthiveeran* (2007). Her performance as Muthazhagu won her the National Film Award for Best Actress, the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil, and the Tamil Nadu State Film Award. Her other films include S. S. Rajamouli's fantasy film *Yamadonga* (2007), the Malayalam drama *Thirakkatha* (2008), the Kannada film *Raam* (2009), Ranjith's satire *Pranchiyettan and the Saint* (2010), Mani Ratnam's bilingual films *Raavanan* / *Raavan* (2010), Ram Gopal Varma's *Rakht Charitra II* (2010), and the horror thriller *Chaarulatha* (2012), for which her dual role earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Kannada. She also appeared in the song "1-2-3-4 Get on the Dance Floor" from *Chennai Express* (2013) and starred in Prakash Raj's bilingual films *Idolle Ramayana* / *Mana Oori Ramayanam* (2016).