Ask Kalyani Priyadarshan about her closest pals and pat comes the reply: Pranav Mohanlal and Ani Sasi. The daughter of actor Lissy and director Priyadarshan said that she was excited at the possibility of teaming up with Mohanlal's son Pranav for a Malayalam movie to be helmed by I V Sasi's son Ani Sasi.
Kalyani, who made her debut in Telugu along with Akhil Akkineni, said that she was waiting for her childhood friend Ani to launch his directorial debut in Malayalam.
"My parents were celebrities but they brought us up as normal kids. I was never considered a celebrity in my school in Chennai. I was close to the families of Mohanlal uncle, Sasi uncle and Suresh uncle (husband of yesteryear actress Menaka). Appu (Pranav), Ani and Keerthi (Keerthi Suresh, daughter of Suresh and Menaka) are my best friends," Kalyani said.
"Appu was studying in a school in Ooty those days. We would travel together during holidays. My album is full of photos with Appu. He is like my brother. I have more photos with him than with my younger brother Chandu.
"When Appu shifted to Chennai after school, I used to introduce him as my cousin everywhere. It was much easier than explaining that he was the son of my dad’s best friend," she added.
Kalyani said that she could not wait for Ani to launch his project. "Ani is the senior among us. He is hugely talented. He has worked as an assistant director in eight movies directed by my father. Now he is about to direct his own project. I'm sure that the movie would be marvellous."