Kalyani Priyadarshan is ready to take over

To say it’s been a whirlwind year for Kalyani Priyadarshan would be an understatement. After leading the genre blending, crowd-pleasing Malayalam film Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra (2025), the actor garnered a bevy of awards, including the Kerala Film Critics Association Award. Magazine covers, endorsements, and landing on multiple ‘Best of...’ lists, was punctuated by appearances at the Cannes Film Festival and Wimbledon. She was being propelled into the public eye at the speed of light, and her IG account reflected this. “It felt like everything I was posting was really glammed up,” explains the actor. In a bid to reclaim the narrative, her post for Holi was captioned: ‘Interrupting what’s becoming an overly poised and curated page with some raw footage of me looking (and behaving) a lot more like my real self—in my chaotic life’. The 20-photo carousel included awkward selfies, meals with friends, and late-night dance sessions that suggested nobody agonised over picking the right angle. “It was just a way to tell people that the version of me that they’ve always known is still there. My life is not all red carpets and photo shoots.”

On a call from her apartment in Mumbai, she tells me this very matter-of-factly. Through the interview, she’s warm and funny but there’s no performance of modesty, or nervous giggles. There’s a self-assuredness that doesn’t feel fake. It’s a Sunday morning, which means she’s got the day off from shooting her first Bollywood film, Pralay, along with Ranveer Singh. Directed by Jai Mehta, this post-apocalyptic zombie action thriller went on floors in August and will keep the actor busy until the end of the year. “It’s a very intense film and will take a lot of out me,” is all she’s allowed to say about the film.

Long, gruelling shoots and equally intense training sessions mean that off-days are spent doing nothing. And, it’s an art the 33-year-old Kalyani has perfected. “If I am not shooting, I just lie on my couch and do absolutely nothing. I know it sounds boring but it really is an underrated self-care ritual; everyone should do it.” On this particular Sunday, though, she has plans with her father, prolific filmmaker Priyadarshan.

Her own cinematic universe

As the oldest child of actor Lizzy and Priyadarshan, Kalyani’s introduction to the world of movies started when she was very young. “Dad was always shooting so the only way we could spend time with him was to be on set during our holidays.” Over the years, I’ve heard many star kids talk about their childhoods on set. Their experiences oscillated between being bored to being utterly fascinated by the process. What got Kalyani hooked, though, was seeing her father transform at work. “Dad is a quiet person but when he’s on set he is just so jovial and outgoing. He normally works with the same group of people. Despite the crazy work hours and tough working conditions, he genuinely enjoys every minute on set.”

While Kalyani knew films were where she wanted to build a career, finding the exact discipline within filmmaking took a little longer. Inspired by her father’s long time collaborator and celebrated art director Sabu Cyril, Kalyani studied Architectural Design at Parson’s School of Design in New York. She spent the next two years working in the art department of Krrish (2013) and Iru Mugan (2016). It was a casual brainstorming session with close friend and filmmaker Ani IV Sasi that got her thinking about acting. “Before he made his first film, he’d often bounce ideas off me. One day he came with a story about a character called Ammu. This is a name that everyone calls me. Through the narration, I kept imagining myself playing that character. I started wondering whether seeing myself in someone else’s story meant that I could see myself acting.” Once the seed took hold, the idea kept growing.

Though Lizzy always had an inkling that her daughter would face the camera, both parents actively discouraged Kalyani and her younger brother Sidharth from a career in films. “Their biggest concern was around the working conditions. People only see the glamour of this industry but very few actually understand what it really takes to make movies. Lokah was almost completely shot at night, and doing that for a long period takes a toll. Recently, I was unwell but I still had to shoot. Dad wasn’t happy about that.” That both siblings have ended up in the industry [Sidharth is a VFX artist] is a testament to their passion for the craft. “In my books there is no other reason to do what we do.”

Kalyani made her big screen debut with the romantic Telugu film Hello (2017) but it was her attention-grabbing roles in Varane Avashyamund (2020) and Hridayam (2022) that cemented her space in Malayalam cinema. But, it was her outing as the no-nonsense, ball-busting Yakshi (a mythical female spirit) in Lokah that took the country by storm. India’s first female-led superhero film is the second highest-grossing Malayalam film of all-time, a pan-India success and had the Amul girl dressed as Chandra in a tribute ad. So much for her fears that the film’s producer Dulquer Salmaan might lose money. “He just let us do all kinds of crazy things with this film that possibly no other producer would have allowed. The night before the release, all I wanted for him was to make his money back. There was no question of even imagining this kind of success.”

Director Dominic Arun, who also wrote Lokah, designed this to be a five-film franchise. The second film, which will focus on Tovino Thomas in a dual role, is in the works. It might be a while before Kalyani is called to wear Chandra’s now-iconic red-and-black jacket but she knows it’ll come with added responsibility. And, she gets it. What she can’t wrap her head around is the 24 x 7 scrutiny that social media places actors under. “There seems to be no space to make mistakes anymore. If you do, it immediately goes viral. How is one supposed to grow if not by learning from one’s mistakes? Even if you look at the filmography of someone like Mohanlal, who I consider to be the GOAT, he’s been allowed to make mistakes. Unfortunately today, even a good scene performed by an actor is taken out of context, cut up and posted on social media, and trolled.”

The only solution to living under a microscope is to smash the lens. Or, in Kalyani’s case, differentiate between healthy criticism and trolling. And, of course, taking control over a now-ubiquitous aspect of our daily lives—social media. Posting her own content and writing captions for her seven million plus followers means showing the world the truest version of herself, whether it’s doing ‘magic tricks’ with her rescue French Bulldog Coco or an uber glam photoshoot on the French Riviera.

Editor: Snigdha Ahuja (@snigdha.ahuja)
Interview: Ananya Rai (@anniiiiiiiee)
Photographer: Aastha Manchanda (@manchandaa)
Stylist: Nishtha Parwani (@nishthaparwani)
Cover Design: Mandeep Singh Khokhar (@mandy_khokhar19)
Makeup Artist: Savleen Kaur Manchanda (@savleenmanchanda)
Hair Artist: Sourav Roy (@souravv_roy_)
Editorial Coordinator: Shalini Kanojia (@shalinikanojia)
Fashion Assistants: Maitri Desai (@maitriidesaii) and Ria Kothari (@ria.kothari)
Fashion Intern: Siddhi Goswami (@styledbysiddhig)

On Kalyani: Outfit, Falguni Shane Peacock (@falgunishanepeacock); jewellery, Golden Gazelle (@goldengazellegems)