The daughter of popular director Priyadarshan and actress Lissy, Malayalam actress Kalyani Priyadarshan, who made her Telugu debut with Hello and subsequently went on to work in Chitralahari, is now awaiting the release of her third Telugu film, Ranarangam.
She is paired opposite Sharwanand in the action drama. “I liked director Sudheer Varma’s narration and found the screenplay to be different although the film revolves around Sharwa’s character and his life,” shares Kalyani, who reveals that she plays Geetha in the film for which she had to wear half-sarees. “I play Geetha, who lives in a village and the story is set in the early 90s. For this role, I saw many of the 90s films but my inspiration was my mother and Shobhanaji, who played these kinds of roles back then,” she says, adding that it was the first time that she wore a half-saree. “My father thought I looked completely new in that outfit, and he liked both my look and the role,” she shares. While the actress reveals that the film is the story of a don, she insists that the director has narrated it in a different way. “We have all seen many gangster films and though there is some bloodshed in this film too, the director has shown something different and interesting,” she says.
Kalyani reveals that she always dreamt of living in the 90s era. “I got to go back in time with this film and live that life through this role,” she says, admitting that she loves gangster movies. Interestingly, while the actress is fluent in both Malayalam and Tamil, she made her debut with a Telugu film. “My mom was the happiest person when I first got a Telugu offer. She told me that the people here love cinema and will also love you. I have to agree with her,” says Kalyani.
So are her parents involved in her choice of films? “No, they don’t get involved. Because I am doing the film, they leave it completely to me,” she reveals, adding that they never advise her either. “They also told me to never take advice from anybody,” says the actress.
