Actress Priyamani has been garnering a lot of attention in Bollywood. After starring in the blockbuster Jawan that featured Shah Rukh Khan, Priyamani started 2024 by featuring in Article 370. And now she is all set to be seen in Maidaan opposite Ajay Devgn. Ahead of the film’s release, Priyamani spoke to Indianexpress.com looking back at her journey, the success of her latest films, and female-centric films, and also sharing her opinion on whether Indian cinema is still male-dominated.
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Talking about how she deals with success, Priyamani shares, “I have still not dealt with success yet. I am just happy with the way my previous movies have turned out and the response and love that has been given to us. Box office numbers don’t matter to me much, somewhere down the line if a film doesn’t do well, it does matter, but if everyone else is happy that matters to me.”
Also Read: Priyamani explains how Bollywood, South film industries are different: ‘Everyone does everything in South’
Further talking about getting validation from the industry, Priyamani opines, “I don’t think I need that validity if a film is raking in the box office numbers, whether it has earned a few 100 crores. I don’t necessarily need that to validate the place I am at now. My work speaks for me. People’s love is the validation for me.”
Commenting on the male dominance in Indian cinema and how female-centric films are taking over, Priyamani said, “It was there from the time even I entered the industry, I have also done a lot of female-centric films that might not have done as much as films fronted by men. Very few female-centric films have done well in a male-dominated industry. You can hand-pick a few even if you count South films. A lot more cinema is coming up now where women are carrying the entire film on their shoulders.”
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Priyamani further adds, “In the South as well, many films have actresses in the front. Nayanthara is a classic example, she has balanced her career so beautifully that she is doing female-centric films that are doing well, then she does a film like Jawan that is also did very well. She was given as much importance as Shah Rukh Khan has in the film. There is a beautiful balance she has created. Others like Samantha are also doing quite when it comes to delivering female-centric films that do quite well.”
Though Priyamani feels her life has not changed much after the success of Jawan or Article 370, she says, “There is no complaint, people have been approaching but I am taking my time in choosing and saying yes to a project. I just don’t want to commit to anything just because it’s a Hindi film. I am very happy but still hungry to do good work.”
Sharing if her approach towards choosing work has changed now, Priyamani explains, “I am very clear right from the start that the story needs to be good. I am not saying that I am being approached for a movie where I am supposed to romance the hero, I am not being offered anything like that, though I would like to do that also. I will never say no to that. I wouldn’t want to just be a part of song and dance anymore, If the character has something important to do, I would take it up. I have been there and done that.”
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“Nowadays we are all quite secure in our space and I don’t think the length of a role matters as much. Storytelling and content is also very different right now. There is a vast amount of stories coming from all over the world. Times are changing and good stories are coming up,” Priyamani adds.
Also Read: Priyamani on working with Mohanlal in Neru: ‘I was a bit intimidated because…’
Priyamani is also quite gung-ho about Maidaan that released on Thursday. “I am waiting for people to watch the film and travel with us on the roller-coaster of emotions,” she says.
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