Kalyani opens up on father Priyadarshan not watched Lokah
As of today, the name Kalyani Priyadarshan is on everyone’s lips. Her performance in Lokah – India’s first woman superhero film – has been credited as a game-changer. The film had won praises from the audiences and critics alike for bringing strength and grace to a genre long-dominated by men. Social media has been flooded with incredible reviews, and in the middle of it all, one of Bollywood’s biggest stars also took notice.
Taking to his X (formerly Twitter) he celebrated Kalyani’s accomplishment
talent runs in the family… Hearing lovely things about the brilliant acting chops of kalyanipriyan, Priyadarshan’s daughter. Here’s
wishes to her and the entire team of “Lokah” on their Hindi version release. Kalyani had met Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan on the Kochi set of Haiwaan, the remake of Priyadarshan’s Malayalam hit Oppam. and they both wished her- this was just a day following the trailer release. They were shooting in Kerala and heard the buzz of the film’s incredible success and her performance. At one point, they even asked her dad Priyadarshan if they could take the day off to go watch the film.
That request was firmly refused. Priyadarshan, as of now directing Haiwaan, chose professionalism over paternal pride. Her father, is so professional that he’s like, no, he hasn’t watched my movie yet. Nobody gets a day off. Regardless everything, he has refused to take a day off to go watch the film. He’s like, he will watch it, but not at the cost of her producer. She will finish what she has committed to him, then will go watch it she revealed.
This disciplined approach has shaped Kalyani’s career. Though she made her debut in 2017 with the Telugu film Hello, which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut – South, she has never worked on a
full-fledged project with her father. Nevertheless she did a cameo for him in one of his friends, but its her thinking that we always knew that he and she were meant to be on different paths… he’s never, ever been involved in any of the decision making in any of the scripts that she chose. He’s always allowed her to become her own actor,” she said.
The lessons passed down to her have been simple yet powerful. “Don’t try to be somebody else. Just try to be you… figure out your own path, don’t follow someone else’s. And that’s the only way you will feel happy and satisfied by yourself,” she recalled. A WhatsApp message from him that she shared summed it up: “Success should never go to your head and failure should never go to your heart.”
Meanwhile her mother Lizzy Laxmi, is “over the moon” and “speechless” with pride at daughter Kalyani’s incredible success.
News Edit KV Raman
