I’m very much in the fray, assures Priyamani

Luck appears to be continually eluding Priyamani as far as Tamil films are concerned. She had not one but two releases in 2010 and both were by big directors. She had ‘Raavanan’ directed Mani ratnam and ‘Ratha Charithiram’ directed Ram Gopal Varma. Unfortunately, despite huge star cast and compelling stories, both the films didn’t fare as well as expected at the box-office.

Priyamani found her back in ‘Square One’. Despite these two films, she found herself making no headway in her mission to establish herself as an actress of substance in Tamil. Barring Tamil, she had a very promising last year. The national award winning actress Priyamani starred in as many as nine films last year (including Raavanan and Ratha Charithiram).

This year, though, Priyamani has only had a solitary release in Raaj (Telugu) in the first eight months of the year so far. This has obviously sent tongues wagging saying that Priyamani has fallen out of reckoning among the directors and producers. Dismissing all these, Priyamani says: It’s absolutely absurd. How can I be labeled ‘out of work’ when I have several films on hand and continue to get more offers?

“I have four films on hand including Kshetram, Vishnuvardhana, Lakshmi and Kho Kho; besides, I would also be playing the lead role in Bharathiraja’s ‘Annakodiyum Kodiveeranum’ in Tamil opposite Parthiban. The delay in release of some of my films and their making is because of the pitfalls in the industry. I’m very much in the reckoning and raring to go,” assures Priyamani.