Priyamani is a highly respected Indian actress who started her career in the entertainment business as a model. She is been one of the most talented multilingual artists, who has appeared in films across different languages including Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam. The actress who is known for portraying her roles with panache has been part of several critically acclaimed movies like Raam (2009), Raavanan (2012), and Chaarulatha (2012). For her stellar acting performances, the actress has won several awards including a National Award for best Actress and Filmfare awards.

Early Life
Born in Palakkad, Kerala and raised in Bengaluru, Priyamani comes from a typical Tamil-Brahmin family. Her father, Vasudev Mani Iyer hails from a Tamil Iyer family from Palakkad that owns a plantation business. Her mother, Latha Mani Iyer was a former national Badminton player and has worked as a bank manager in Thiruvananthapuram. The actress has an elder brother named Vishakh who manages her family plantation business. Well-known Carnatic vocalist, Kamala Kailas is her grandmother and Hindi film actress, Vidya Balan is her first cousin.

Priyamani completed her schooling from Sri Aurobindo Memorial School and later went to Bishop Cotton Woman’s College. Right from her school days, Priyamani actively participated in many extracurricular activities like sports and modeling. Before Priyamani entered the film business, she worked as a model for various traditional brands. Renowned director, Bharathiraja introduced her to the film industry soon after she passed 12th grade.

Personal Life
On 27th May 2016, Priyamani got engaged to her long-standing boyfriend, Mustufa Raj in a very private ceremony.

Movie Career
Priyamani started her acting career in 2004 with Tamil film, Kangalal Kaithu Sei directed by P. Bharatiraja. The movie was a commercial and critical flop and the actress moved to acting in Malayalam and Telugu movies. Following her debut debacle, the Priyamani made her Telugu film debut with Madan's Pellaina Kothalo in 2006 alongside Jagapati Babu. The movie was an average hit and but it marked the beginning of Priyamani's rise to fame.

The following year, the actress made her comeback to the Tamil film industry and featured in one of the most critically acclaimed movies of her career, Paruthiveeran alongside debutant Karthik Sivakumar. For her stellar performance in the film, Priyamani received the National Film Award for Best Actress and the Tamil Nadu Filmfare Award for Best Actress. The actress followed her National Award winning act with another smashing performance in the commercially successful Telugu movie, Yamadonga directed by S.S. Rajamouli.

In 2008, the actress received critical acclaim for her role in the Malayalam movie, Thirakkatha, which was based on the real-life story of the late actress, Srividya. In the same year, she also featured in a Tamil movie, Thotta. The movie, which received critical acclaim was a huge box-office hit and it ran for more than 100 days across theaters in Tamil Nadu. For her performance in the movie, Priyamani won a Filmfare Award. The actress continued her impressive run with Ninaithale Inikkum, which was the remake of the blockbuster Malayalam film, Classmates. The movie released in 2009 was declared a super-hit at the box-office. In the same year, the actress made her Kannada film debut with K. Madesh's Raam, which was a commercial and critical success.

In 2010, the actress appeared in the satirical film, Pranchiyettan & The Saint alongside Mammootty. The film, which had the actress playing the role of a Mumbai-based interior designer was sleeper hit grossed over 4 crores INR within 2 weeks and ran in cinemas for nearly 200 days. Priyamani subsequently collaborated with director Mani Ratnam for his Tamil film, Raavanan, which was also simultaneously made in Hindi as Raavan. While the Tamil version of the movie was a hit, the latter was a box-office disaster. Following her success with Raavanan, the actress was roped in by the stalwart director, Ram Gopal Varma for his 2010 Hindi movie, Rakht Charitra. The movie, also featuring Vivek Oberoi, Suriya Sivakumar, Shatrughan Sinha in the prominent roles was critically acclaimed and was a box-office hit.

In 2012, her roles in Anna Bond and Grandmaster got critical acclaim. In the same year, she appeared in the superhit Kannada film, ChaaruLatha. Her portrayal of conjoined twins Charu and Latha won her the Kannada Filmfare Award, the SIIMA Award, and the Suvarna Film Awards for Best Actress. In her first release of the year in 2013, the actress was cast in a Telugu movie titled Chandee alongside Sarathkumar, Nagendra Babu, and Krishnam Raju. The movie went on to become a commercial and critical hit. In her first release of 2016, the actress starred in the comedy horror Kathe Chitrakathe Niredeshana Puttanna, which completed a successful run of 50 days in theaters. After the commercial success of the film, Priyamani subsequently starred in the romantic comedy Dana Kayonu, which is directed by Yograj Bhatt. Her 2017 release includes Kalpana – 3, which is directed by R Anantha Raju.