Movies

Kalyani Priyadarshan (born 5 April 1993) is an Indian actress who primarily appears in Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil- language films. She began her film career as an assistant production designer, and made her acting debut in the Telugu film Hello (2017), for which she won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut – South and the SIIMA Award for Best Female Debut – Telugu.

Kalyani made her Malayalam film debut with Varane Avashyamund (2020), for which she won SIIMA Award for Best Female Debut – Malayalam. Kalyani has been part of successful films including the Telugu film Chitralahari (2019), Tamil film Maanaadu (2021), and the Malayalam films Hridayam, Bro Daddy and Thallumaala, all (2022).

Early life and education
Kalyani was born on 5 April 1993 in Chennai, 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 attended an acting workshop in Adishakti Theatre, Pondicherry.

Career
Debut and early work (2013-2020)
Kalyani began her film career in 2013 as an assistant production designer under Sabu Cyril in the Hindi film Krrish 3 (2013). 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. The film released worldwide on 22 December 2017, and she had received positive response for her performance from critics. Her first release in Malayalam was Varane Avashyamund, directed by Anoop Sathyan.

Career progression (2021-present)
In 2021, she appeared in Tamil-language science fiction action thriller film Maanaadu alongside actor Silambarasan. Her next release in the same year was Malayalam film Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham. The film received mixed to negative reviews and failed at the box office. In 2022, she appeared in Hridayam, opposite Pranav Mohanlal. She next appeared in Bro Daddy directed by and starring Prithviraj Sukumaran, which released directly on Disney Hotstar, and also appeared in Thallumaala (2022) directed by Khalid Rahman, opposite Tovino Thomas.