Kalyani Priyadarshan


Kalyani Priyadarshan is an Indian film actress who appears in the 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 and Iru Mugan. She made her acting debut in the 2017 Telugu film Hello for which she won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut – South and 7th South Indian International Movie Awards.

Early life and education

Kalyani was born to an Indian filmmaker Priyadarshan and Malayalam Actress Lissy. She is the elder of two children, with a brother Sidharth. Her parents divorced in 2014. 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. 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 Bollywood film Krrish 3, and in 2016 she worked as an assistant art director in the Tamil film Iru Mugan. In the following year, she made her acting debut with the Telugu film Hello, 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 directed by Priyadarshan, although her first release in the language was the family drama Varane Avashyamund.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryFilmResult
2018Filmfare Awards SouthFilmfare Award for Best Female Debut – SouthHello
2018SIIMA AwardsBest Debut ActressHello
2018Apsara AwardsDebut Heroine of the YearHello