Award glory for item girl

The journey of Priyamani from obscurity to stardom

By P.Muraleedharan

What a turn around it is for Priyamani! After making her debut in the tinsel world in 2004, it took her three years to reach stardom, which fell on her lap overnight once ‘Paruthiveeran’ happened. Now, for her performance in the same film, she is honoured with the national award.
In the three years after her debut, Priyamani could act in only five films. But in just a year after ‘Paruthiveeran’ directed by Ameer Sulthan, she has done almost 8 films in Tamil and Telugu! Ah…When Lady Luck smiles, everything falls into place.
In the history of South Indian films, this is the first time that an actress, who acted mostly in glamour roles, is selected for the national award. Exception may be Tabu ( 1997, ‘Maachis’ and 2002, ‘Chandni Bar’). Anyway, Tabu was not known for her item numbers.
It is here that Priyamani stands apart. She can show off her thunder thighs in ‘Malaikottai’ soon after the rural innocence of ‘Paruthiveeran’ and an ultra-glam-role in ‘Thotta’. She had stated earlier that she did not want to be type-cast in the mould of ‘Muthazhagu’, the heroine in ‘Paruthiveeran’. May be, what she has done is good for her career, as more chances are there for ‘modern girls’.
Born in Palakkad in 1984 to Vasudeva Mani Iyer and Latha Mani Iyer, Priya made her debut in ‘Kangalal Kaithi Sei’, directed by Bharatiraaja. It flopped, followed by another flop in ‘Adhu Oru Kanaakkaalam’ directed by Balu Mahendra. In between, she acted in movies like ‘Satyam’ in Malayalam, which also failed to make a splash.
It was then that ‘Paruthiveeran’ came along. Opposite the debutant Karthi, she enacted the role of a simple village lass with such conviction and force that though the film is hero-centric, nobody could ignore her. Her spontaneity and energy were such that the audience broke into smiles when she giggled and cried when she met with her tragic end.

Source: India Syndicate

Wednesday, 11 June 2008