Happy Birthday Priya Mani. 10 Things We Know About The Family Man Female Lead

Priya Mani aka Suchi from The Family Man turns a year older today.

Mani's fans are ready to binge-watch the second season of her much-loved web series that is streaming now on Amazon Prime. They took to Twitter to wish her on her special day by trending "Priya Mani". On the occasion of her birthday, let us have a quick look at everything we know about her.

Who is Priya Mani?

Priya Mani is an Indian actor and a former model. She predominantly acts in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam-language films. Mani made her debut as an actor in the Telugu movie Evare Atagaadu. She won widespread recognition for the role of Muththazhagi, a village girl in the Tamil Romantic drama Paruthiveeran. The role helped her receive a National Film Award For Best Actress and a Filmfare Award for Best Actress in Tamil. Besides, The Family Man, some of her notable works include Raam, Raavan, Chaarulatha, Idolle Ramayana and so on.

10 Things We Know About Priya Mani

• Priya Mani started her career as a model from her school years. Born and raised in Bangalore, she modelled for Kancheepuram silks, Erode silks and Lakshmi silks. As a student, she also participated in extracurricular activities and sports. When she was in Std. XII, the Tamil director Bharathiraja introduced her to the film industry.
• Mani is the grand daughter of the Carnatic vocalist, Kamala Kailas, cousin of Vidya Balan and the niece of the playback singer Malgudi Shubha.
• Mani modelled for print advertisements after completing her schooling. She pursued a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology through correspondence.
• Mani made her debut with the Telugu film Evare Atagaadu. She then made her debut in the Malayalam film industry with Sathyam. However, the film did not do well at the box office. Tamil film director Balu Mahendra approached her to act in the 2005 drama Adhu Oru Kana Kaalam. 
• In 2006, Mani acted in the Telugu film Pellaina Kothalo, the success of which got her three Telugu films. A year later, she starred in the Ameer Sultan directorial Paruthiveeran. The movie was critically acclaimed and became a blockbuster at the box office.
• She has appeared as a judge on several dance reality shows. These include D4 Dance, Dancing Star 2, Dancing Starts Juniors, King of Dance, Dance Jodi Dance-2 etc.
• In 2014, she posed for a PETA ad campaign urging people to boycott zoos with caged tigers.
• She has won several Filmfare and other awards for her works in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi, including the Critics choice award for the Best Female actor (Filmfare OTT Awards, Drama series) for The Family Man. In this series, she plays the role of a Psychology professor, who eventually quits her job to join her colleague's startup.
• In 2017, Mani married an event manager, Mustafa Raj in a private ceremony.
• Apart from The Family Man series, Priya Mani also appeared in ALTBalaji and Zee 5 original His Story. It revolves around the lives of the characters Sakshi, Kunal and Preet. The series deals with the social issue of the acceptance of homosexuals by the family and society.

Image source: TellyChakkar