Priyanka Deshpande (born 28 April 1992) is an Indian
television presenter, host and
actress
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...
. She predominantly works in Tamil television and film industry especially in
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
entertainment, Priyanka is also one of the highest paid
South Indian
South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territ ...
television presenters in the industry. She is very well known for hosting numerous television shows such as ''
Super Singer Junior'', ''
Super Singer (Tamil reality show)
Super Singer is an 2006 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language reality television Music competition, singing competition, that is sponsored by Asian Paints for the nine Season. The show is Television in India, televised in India on Vijay TV, and ...
'', ''
The Wall (Tamil game show)
''The Wall'' is an American television game show airing on NBC, which premiered on December 19, 2016. The show is hosted by Chris Hardwick, who also serves as executive producer on the show along with LeBron James, Maverick Carter, and Andrew Gl ...
'', ''Start music'', ''OlliBelly'', ''Suriya Vanakkam'', ''Isai Unplugged'', ''Azhagiya Penne'', ''Glimpse'', ''
Jodi Number One
''Jodi Number One'' is an Indian Tamil-language dance competition reality television show broadcast on Star Vijay and from the year 2006. Its contestants are couples who are generally television stars in their own right, often from the televi ...
'' and ''Kings of Comedy Juniors''. She has also appeared in a few short films such as ''Raani Aattam'' (2015) and ''Unnodu Vaazhnthaal Varamallava'' (2016). Priyanka has also worked as a television host in various different
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n television networks like
Zee Tamil
Zee Tamil is an Indian Tamil language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. The channel started broadcasting on 2008 and is available internationally. The channel broadcasts from Guindy, Chennai, ...
,
Sun TV,
Chutti TV
Chutti TV is a 24-hour Tamil cartoon television channel from the Sun TV Network in India. The target audience are children aged between 3 and 17. It was launched on 29 April 2007, making it Sun TV Network's first ever television channel for k ...
,
Sun Music and
Star Vijay
Star Vijay is an Indian Tamil language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Disney Star (formerly Star India), a subsidiary of Asianet Star Communications. The channel's headquarters is in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Star Vijay change ...
. She is often referred to as ''Superstar of Television''.
Her appearance as an television anchor in the singing reality show ''
Super Singer (Tamil reality show)
Super Singer is an 2006 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language reality television Music competition, singing competition, that is sponsored by Asian Paints for the nine Season. The show is Television in India, televised in India on Vijay TV, and ...
'' earned her to bag the ''
Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards
Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards is an annual awards ceremony for people in the Tamil film industry. It is presented by the Tamil language weekly magazine ''ananda vikatan
''Ananda Vikatan'' is a Tamil-language weekly magazine published fr ...
'' for the ''Best Female Anchor'' in 2016. She later also won the ''Best Female Anchor'' award in the ''
Vijay Television Awards
The Vijay Television Awards are an awards ceremony held to honour the cast and crew of Tamil soap operas and other shows which air on Vijay TV. This is the second time in the Tamil television industry where awards are given for performances i ...
'' annual function in 2017. Priyanka also yet again won ''Best Lady Anchor'' for the third time in a row in the ''Galatta Nakshathra TV-Film Awards'' in 2018, winning the same nomination category for three years in a row. She also received the award ''Best Entertaining Star'' award by ''Blacksheep Digital Awards'' in 2021 after her success of her
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
channel. In 2021, She joined the reality TV show
Bigg Boss Tamil 5 hosted by
Kamal Haasan as a contestant and finished as the first runner up.
Her estimated total earnings exceed US$1.16 million. While some sources consider her net worth to be around as high as US$1.62 million as of late 2020.
Personal life
Priyanka Deshpande was born on 28 April 1990 in
Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
. Her parents moved from
Maharashtra to
Karnataka
Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
before she was born. She also has a younger brother called Rohit Deshpande. After Priyanka migrated to
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
she did her secondary schooling at St. Anthony School and later graduated from
Ethiraj College for Women
Ethiraj College for Women is an arts and science college for women in Chennai, India, managed by the Ethiraj College Trust. It was founded in 1948 by the barrister V. L. Ethiraj of Vellore.
History
Ethiraj College for Women is an autonomous col ...
with a college degree. Priyanka married her long-term boyfriend Praveen Kumar in 2016.
In 2022 reports alleged Priyanka and her husband Praveen Kumar had divorced. Priyanka later dismissed it as a baseless rumour.
Career
Priyanka started her career in 2009 with the channel
Zee Tamil
Zee Tamil is an Indian Tamil language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. The channel started broadcasting on 2008 and is available internationally. The channel broadcasts from Guindy, Chennai, ...
hosting the shows ''This Chirpy girl'', ''Azhagiya Penne'' and ''Isai Unplugged''. She later went on the join
Sun TV and hosted several of shows for four years straight. Priyanka was later approached by the creators of
Star Vijay
Star Vijay is an Indian Tamil language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Disney Star (formerly Star India), a subsidiary of Asianet Star Communications. The channel's headquarters is in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Star Vijay change ...
in 2015 and hosted the show ''Cinema Karam Coffee'', alongside co-anchor
Ma Ka Pa Anand; her sense of humour poured her with fame and success in the show, cementing her career therein. Priyanka went on to host many more successful shows on
Star Vijay
Star Vijay is an Indian Tamil language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Disney Star (formerly Star India), a subsidiary of Asianet Star Communications. The channel's headquarters is in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Star Vijay change ...
especially ''
Super Singer (Tamil reality show)
Super Singer is an 2006 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language reality television Music competition, singing competition, that is sponsored by Asian Paints for the nine Season. The show is Television in India, televised in India on Vijay TV, and ...
''. Priyanka also went on to make her debut as a judge in the program ''
Kalakka Povathu Yaaru
Kalakka Povathu Yaaru? is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language reality Stand-up comedy television show, that airs on Star Vijay and streamed on Disney+ Hotstar. Over eighteen years, Kalakka Povathu Yaaru? has rolled out nine seasons. The winners of the ...
'' along with other veteran comedians
Vaiyapuri
Vaiyapuri (born 23 October 1968 as Ramakrishnan) is an Indian actor who has worked in Tamil-language films. He rose to fame by appearing in supporting roles in the late 1990s and early 2000s, often portraying supporting comedic characters. His ...
and
Aarthi.
In 2019, Priyanka started her own show on
Star Vijay
Star Vijay is an Indian Tamil language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Disney Star (formerly Star India), a subsidiary of Asianet Star Communications. The channel's headquarters is in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Star Vijay change ...
called ''Start Music'' which only featured her as the solo host for the show after eight years. Priyanka also debuted as an actress in various different short films like ''Raani Aattam'' Directed by
J. Dharmendra and ''Unnodu Vaazhnthaal Varamallava'', both films were paired up with film actor
Vignesh Karthick. She also went on to appear in various different television commercials for
Amazon Prime and Aachi Masala. Priyanka also appeared in the music video ''So Soku'' with Pugazh which was also trending on social media.
Priyanka also hosted the international reality show ''
The Wall (Tamil game show)
''The Wall'' is an American television game show airing on NBC, which premiered on December 19, 2016. The show is hosted by Chris Hardwick, who also serves as executive producer on the show along with LeBron James, Maverick Carter, and Andrew Gl ...
'' along with
Ma Ka Pa Anand. Lyricist
Yugabharathi
Yugabharathi is a Tamil poet and lyricist. His birth name was "Santhanam Desan" and he was known as "Santhanam" by his family and friends. During the early 1990s when he began writing poems for magazines he started using the pen name "Yugabharat ...
approached Priyanka and convinced her to make her debut as a playback singer in the film ''
Devarattam
''Devarattam'' () is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by M. Muthaiah produced by K. E. Gnanavel Raja. The film stars Gautham Karthik and Manjima Mohan, while Vinodhini Vaidyanathan, Soori, and FEFSI Vijayan ...
'' for the song "Madura Palapalakkudhu", she later approved the offer and sang the song with co singers
Nivas K. Prasanna,
Vijay Sethupathi
Vijaya Gurunatha Sethupathi (born 16 January 1978), known professionally as Vijay Sethupathi, is an Indian actor and film producer who predominantly works in Tamil films. He is a recipient of several accolades including a National Film Award.
Fo ...
and Niranjana Ramanan. Since 2014, Priyanka has been hosting the annual function and award ceremony of ''
Vijay Television Awards
The Vijay Television Awards are an awards ceremony held to honour the cast and crew of Tamil soap operas and other shows which air on Vijay TV. This is the second time in the Tamil television industry where awards are given for performances i ...
''. Priyanka also received the award ''Best Entertaining Star'' award by Blacksheep Digital Awards in 2021 after her success of her
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
channel. She was also nominated for ''Best Actress'' by ''Femina Super Daughter Award''.
In 2021, Priyanka joined the reality show ''
Bigg Boss (Tamil season 5)'' as a contestant which is hosted by actor
Kamal Haasan and finished as the first runner up.
As of 2021, Priyanka is one of the highest paid
South Indian
South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territ ...
television anchors, with her net worth and total estimated earnings exceeding US$1.16 million dollars. While some sources consider her net worth to be around as high as US$1.62 million dollars, this claim makes her one of the most richest television personalities in India. Apart from hosting TV shows, Priyanka also has a YouTube channel where she entertains people in virtual coverage, with her channel currently boasting 1.38M subscribers.
Success after Bigg Boss
After her participation on ''Bigg Boss'' and eventually emerging as the runner-up as well. Priyanka announced on the Instagram feed that she received more then 10 offers from various different television networks to host different shows on different television channels. She also participated as a guest on her formerly hosted show ''Start Music'' which was hosted by
Ma Ka Pa Anand due to the absence of Priyanka during her time in ''Bigg Boss''. She also later made a appearance on the celebration and success show of ''Bigg Boss'' called ''Bigg Boss 5 Kondattam'' appearing as a guest.
Television
*
Filmography
Short Films
Discography
Playback singer
Awards and nominations
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deshpande, Priyanka
1990 births
Indian television presenters
Living people
21st-century Indian actresses
Indian women television presenters
Tamil television presenters
Indian women playback singers
Bigg Boss (Tamil TV series) contestants
Ethiraj College for Women alumni