Kalyani Priyadarshan (born 5 April 1993) is an Indian actress who appears in Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil films.
After taking B.F.A. in architecture designing from Parsons School of Design, New York City, she worked as an assistant in the production design of Krrish 3 (2013) and Iru Mugan (2016). She made her acting debut in the 2017 Telugu film Hello for which she won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut – South at 65th Filmfare Awards South and SIIMA Award for Best Telugu Female Debut at 7th South Indian International Movie Awards.
Early life and education
Kalyani was born in a Malayali family to Indian filmmaker Priyadarshan and actress Lissy. She is the elder of two children, with a brother Sidharth. She did her early schooling in Lady Andal, Chennai and later studied in Singapore, where she also worked in theatre groups. After completing her schooling, she got her bachelor’s degree in architecture designing from Parsons School of Design, New York City. During this time she also interned in theatre at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Returning to India, she has attended an acting workshop in Adishakti Theatre, Pondicherry.
Career
Kalyani began her film career in 2013 as an assistant production designer under Sabu Cyril in the Hindi film Krrish 3 (2013), and in 2016 she worked as an assistant art director in the Tamil film Iru Mugan (2016). In the following year, she made her acting debut with the Telugu film Hello (2017), opposite Akhil Akkineni. It was directed by Vikram Kumar, a former assistant to Priyadarshan, and produced by actor Akkineni Nagarjuna. The film released worldwide on 22 December 2017, and she had received positive response for her performance from critics. Her debut work in Malayalam was with the period war film Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham (2020) directed by Priyadarshan, although her first release in the language was the family drama Varane Avashyamund (2020).
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Language | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Hello | Priya / Junnu | Telugu | Telugu debut | |
| 2019 | Chitralahari | Lahari | Telugu | ||
| Ranarangam | Geetha | Telugu | |||
| Hero | Meera | Tamil | Tamil debut | ||
| 2020 | Varane Avashyamund | Nikhita | Malayalam | Malayalam debut | |
| Putham Pudhu Kaalai | Younger Lakshmi Krishnan | Tamil | Segment: Ilamai Idho Idho | ||
| 2021 | Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham  |
Aisha | Malayalam | Post-production | |
| Hridayam |
TBA | Malayalam | Filming | ||
| Maanaadu |
Seetha Lakshmi | Tamil | Filming |
Awards and nominations
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| Totals | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins | 3 | ||||
| Nominations | 0 | ||||
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show Note
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| Year | Award | Category | Film | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 65th Filmfare Awards South | Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut – South | Hello | Won | |
| 7th SIIMA | SIIMA Award for Best Female Debut (Telugu) | Won | |||
| Apsara Awards | Debut Heroine of the Year | Won |