‘Only talented star kids have sustained in the industry’

Kalyani Priyadarshan meets us at her mom Lissy Lakshmi’s studio Le Magic Lantern. She sports a casual look ahead of the release of her Tamil debut, Hero this Friday. She begins by saying that she didn’t plan her entry into Tamil cinema after Hello and Chitralahari in Telugu. “My first two films weren’t planned either. However, it was always my dream to foray into Malayalam and Tamil films as I grew up watching them. Hello happened and I took up the project as it came to me. I started looking for films that kindled the excitement in me. When I listened to the script of Hero, I was “super excited”,” Kalyani tells us. The actress also tells us that she goes by her dad, ace director Priyadarshan’s advice when it comes to giving the nod to films. “He has always told me that it was not the screen time that mattered but the impact my role would have that counted most. Even when directors say that they would explain only my role in the film, I don’t encourage it. I listen to the entire story because it gives me an idea of what the rest of the film is all about. When I look back at the films I have done a few years later, the audience would remember only the film’s name. I want to be a part of really good films —Hero will be one such,” she explains.

Kalyani plays the role of a motivational speaker in the film. “I listened only to the first half of the film and I was convinced. There was laughing all around when Mithran narrated it to me. We both laughed until tears started rolling from my eyes. The second half of the film will be better than the first. I didn’t market myself during other promotions because I am confident about the role. I am in the film because my character has a purpose. The audience might think that this will be a typecast role, which would just be a prop for romantic purposes. That is not the case with my role in Hero. You will have to watch it,” she adds.

The actress says that she is in the industry because of her filmy background. “There will be talks of nepotism. If you look at leading actors like Dulquer, Fahad Faasil and Vineeth Srinivasan, they are here because of their lineage. However, they have sustained it only by sheer talent and not because they are star kids. They are my inspiration. No one calls Fahadh as Faasil’s son. People here know me as Priyadarshan’s daughter because they haven’t seen me in films yet. Once I prove myself as a good actor, the talk about nepotism will cease,” she clarifies.

Her parents Priyadarshan and Lissy Lakshmi decided to part their ways five years ago. Kalyani says that it hasn’t affected her career or her brother’s, who is into VFX.

“It took a toll on us for some time. They ensured that it didn’t blow us up. I laud them for that. Today, we are the happiest lot and things are at peace within the family. We went through this because we knew we’d come out happy,” she concludes.