When 'Lokah' star Kalyani’s mother Lissy Lakshmi spoke about her split from Priyadarshan: 'A fierce, uncivilised battle'

Kalyani Priyadarshan is riding a massive wave of success as her superhero outing ‘Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra’ inches closer to rewriting box office history in Malayalam cinema. The film is reportedly chasing the benchmark set by L2: Empuraan, led by Mohanlal. For Kalyani, who had long been under scrutiny for her performances, this achievement feels like a strong comeback moment.Born to filmmaker Priyadarshan and former actor Lissy Lakshmi, Kalyani comes from one of Malayalam cinema’s most talked-about families. Once admired as a formidable duo, Priyadarshan and Lissy ended their 26-year-long marriage after filing for divorce in 2014, which was finalised in 2016. Opening up about the separation, Lissy didn’t hold back. She described the experience in stark terms, sharing with Onmanorama, “My marriage with Mr Priyadarshan officially ended today. We both signed the final papers at the Honourable Family Court here in Chennai. This has been a real ordeal. In recent times, all celebrity divorces from Hrithik Roshan and Sussane Khan, Dileep and Manju Warrier, to most recently Amala Paul and AL Vijay, have been mutually agreed divorces.”She further added, “I am sure it also must have been painful to those couples, but whatever differences they may have had, they all decided to respect each other. Ours was the only exception where it was often a fierce and uncivilised battle on and off the courts until a compromise was reached at the Honourable High Court, Chennai. Perhaps the ugliness of our divorce proceedings says all about the kind of marriage we have had.”Reflecting on the aftermath, Lissy shared a sense of closure. “Anyways, I feel relieved now. This is the end of a long and often very difficult road. All of us can now move on. I thank all my lawyers, friends and well-wishers for their unconditional support and prayers. I thank those friends in the media who have been kind with their words. I am grateful to both my children for all their love, affection and support. Above all, I thank God Almighty.”As stated by SCREEN, in a separate interaction, Priyadarshan pointed to “ego” as the root cause of their differences. He explained, “The only reason for the problem in my family was ego. I was born and brought up in a conservative family, and in my mind, the model of a woman is my mother. When we marry, we should not expect our partner to have the same nature as that of our mother because it is not possible, as she is from a different generation.”He also reflected on their shared past with a mix of nostalgia and acceptance. “All these years I was living in heaven, and now we are separated. But my house (in Chennai) still bears the same name: Priyadarshan-Lissy. I know that, irrespective of whatever has happened, she still respects me. It was just a problem of ego.”Despite everything, he acknowledged her role as a parent, stating, “She is the best mother in the world. She brought up our children in a very simple manner and instilled in them the values of life and money.”Kalyani, too, once spoke candidly about how the split impacted her. “It always takes a toll. It is not like divorce will never affect anybody. But I applaud my parents for they never really put us in hell. Whatever, emotionally, they were going through… they made sure they never took that out at home.”She admitted the news was difficult at first but added, “Obviously, the divorce was a shock, but today we are all the happiest we could be… we are at peace, and I think my relationship with my parents is much stronger now. That is the most important thing.” Kalyani began her journey in cinema with the Telugu film ‘Hello’, later appearing in Tamil projects before gaining recognition in Malayalam with ‘Varane Avashyamund’. Over the years, she has featured in films like ‘Putham Pudhu Kaalai’, ‘Maanaadu’, ‘Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea’, ‘Hridayam’, ‘Bro Daddy’, ‘Thallumaala’, ‘Antony’, and ‘Varshangalkku Shesham’. Today, with ‘Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra’ dominating headlines, she seems to have firmly carved her space in the industry.