Priya Mani Raj
When The Family Man premiered in 2019, it changed things for Priya Mani Raj. The National Award-winning actress, already a familiar name in South Indian cinema, found herself connecting with a whole new audience across India. “Definitely, 200%,” she laughs when asked how much of a gamechanger it was. “I’m so happy, so fortunate that I got to be part of such a wonderful series,” says Priya Mani, who will soon be seen in season 3 of the web series featuring Manoj Bajpayee and created by Raj & DK.In an industry where auditions were the norm, the opportunity to work on the show came to Priya Mani in the most unexpected manner. “It all began when Mukesh Chhabra (casting director) called me and said there’s a project he wanted to talk about,” she recalls. “The next day, I met Raj and DK and they narrated the story to me for about half an hour. At that point, I wasn’t even sure if I was part of it. That’s because in Mumbai, the norm is that you have to audition and I was ready for that. After the narration, my husband said, ‘You idiot, they’ve spent 45 minutes explaining the whole thing to you — that means you’re doing it!’” she laughs. “And that’s how it happened.”
Talking about the audition process, Priya Mani points out that this culture didn’t exist in the South earlier. “Of late, they’ve started auditions, but not to the level of what happens here,” she explains. “Casting directors and agencies are just coming into the picture now. Until about five years ago, I don’t think there was anything like that in the South.”She sees it as a positive change. “There’s nothing wrong in auditioning and proving your mettle. Sometimes people might know of you but not really know what you can do. It’s just showing them, ‘Look, I can also do this.’ There’s absolutely nothing wrong in that,” the actress adds.‘You can’t expect everything to click’Despite her long career, though, Priya Mani reveals that she has barely auditioned. “I have never really been called for any auditions. I went for an audition once for a John Abraham film, but I don’t know what happened to that. Maybe it didn’t work out and that’s okay. It’s a part and parcel of life. You can’t expect everything to click. I was just glad I went and gave it a shot.”
