Priya Mani Raj, professionally known as Priyamani, is loved for her works in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada cinema. The 40-year-old actress is the recipient of several awards, including a National Film Award and three Filmfare Awards South. She is best loved for her role in the thriller series The Family Man, co-starring Manoj Bajpayee. The actress played the character of Bajpayee’s wife, Suchritra Tiwari, in the drama that lasted two seasons.
Although Priyamani enjoys a huge fandom for her versatile acting skills, she faced much social media wrath for her personal life. Ever since the reports about her dating her longtime boyfriend, Mustafa Raj, surfaced on social media, they faced significant backlash. Post their engagement in 2016, the actress also had to face trolls who attacked the couple’s yet-to-be born children. She opened up about the ordeal in an interview with Filmfare.
During her conversation, Priyamani recalled how her excitement about posting a joint message on Facebook with Mustafa Raj announcing their engagement turned into a controversy. She said, “People were texting me, saying, ‘Jihad, Muslim, your kids are going to be terrorists’.” She confessed how the experience took a toll on her. “It’s disheartening. Why target a single inter-caste couple? There are many top actors who have married outside their caste or religion. Not necessarily, they imbibed or adopted that religion. They just fell in love with someone irrespective of their religion. I don’t understand why there is so much hate around this,” she added.
The actress even narrated an incident from one of the Eid celebrations, during which some social media user accused her of converting to Islam. “How do you know if I’ve converted? It’s my decision. I’m a born Hindu and will always follow my faith,” she emphasised. “People questioned why I didn’t post for Navratri. I didn’t know how to respond, but I’m no longer affected by it. I choose not to pay attention to such negativity,” she shared.
Priyamani and her then-beau Mustafa Raj met at an IPL match in Bengaluru, where she was serving as a brand ambassador, and he was part of the event management team. Soon, they found a connection between them and began their whirlwind of romance. They got engaged in 2016 after dating for a couple of years. Mustafa then proposed to Priyamani on the finale of D for Dance, where the actress was a judge.
The lovebirds then decided to take the plunge to the next phase of their relationship and tied the knot in 2017 in Bengaluru. However, controversy and negativity surrounding their interfaith relationship persisted even after their marriage.
Despite the backlash, the actress keeps sharing love-filled posts with her husband on social media. Priyamani has been standing strong to maintain peace and happiness in her relationship with her husband, Mustafa Raj, amid the constant trolling on social media.
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