Priyamani

After her debut film Kangalal Kaidhu Sei, her Telugu debut, Evare Atagaadu, sank without a trace. Priyamani then made her debut in the Malayalam film industry, where she starred opposite Prithviraj in Satyam, but this film also performed poorly at the box office. Despite these commercial failures, she was signed by Tamil film director and cinematographer Balu Mahendra to star opposite Dhanush in the 2005 drama Adhu Oru Kana Kaalam. She won tremendous acclaim for her performance, but the film's under-performance meant that box office success still eluded her. In 2006, Priyamani starred opposite Jagapathi Babu in Pellaina Kothalo. The film was a surprise hit given its low budget and modest star cast, and it propelled Priyamani to fame in Tollywood.

Paruthiveeran and the future

After three years in search of a film that would get her noticed, Priyamani managed to prove her acting credentials and commercial appeal with 2007's Paruthiveeran, directed by the Tamil director Ameer Sultan, in which she was paired with debutant Karthi Sivakumar. A rural subject which told the story of a notorious young villager in Madurai, the film won tremendous critical acclaim and became a surprise box-office blockbuster. Priyamani's performance was unanimously praised: Indiaglitz cited "utterly cool and convincing" while another critic said "Priya Mani steals the show with her spontaneity and authenticity." She went on to win the National Film Award, followed by a South Filmfare Award, a Tamil Nadu State Film Award and an award at the Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema. She had another blockbuster in Telugu, opposite Jr. NTR in the 2007 film Yamadonga and opposite Vishal in the Tamil film Malaikottai. She again received critical acclaim in 2008 for her role in the Malayalam film Thirakkatha, in which she played a role based on the turbulent real-life story of late film actress Srividya. She won another Filmfare Award for her performance. In Tamil, she had only single release in 2008: Thotta where she played a glamourous role for the first time.
In 2009 she had two Tamil releases, the masala film Arumugam and the remake of the Malayalam blockbuster Classmates, titled Ninaithale Inikkum, in which she was paired for the third time with Prithviraj. The former was a commercial failure, while the latter was considered a moderate success. Her Kannada debut opposite actor Puneet Rajkumar in Raam was also a commercial success. All three of her Telugu releases that year, however, did not do well at the box office. In 2010 she acted opposite Mammootty in the satirical film Pranchiyettan & the Saint which became the longest-running Malayalam film since 2005. She won a Filmfare nomination for her role as a Mumbai-based interior decorator in the film.
She was subsequently signed by director Mani Ratnam for his bilingual film, titled Raavanan and Raavan in Tamil and Hindi respectively.Soon after, she was roped in by Bollywood director-producer Ram Gopal Varma (RGV) for his big-budget trilingual film Rakht Charitra starring Vivek Oberoi and Surya Sivakumar. RGV decided to cast her after seeing her National Award-winning performance in Paruthiveeran. Her Kannada movie Only Vishnuvardhana with Sudeep became a blockbuster and later she starred in Anna Bond with Puneeth Rajkumar.

She is currently pursuing a degree in B.A. in psychology. Bollywood actress Vidya Balan is her cousin