Manigandan K R (BOMBAY TIMES; February 23, 2014)

Filmmaker Priyadarshan and wife Lizzy have resolved their differences and are back together. The two had a face-to-face discussion, during which they discovered that the confusion and the misunderstanding between them were not real, but was being caused by a person pretending to be a friend.

Lissy said, “We want to thank The Times of India. It was your article that prompted us to talk to each other face-to-face. You can take the credit for uniting us. What happened is that we were not talking to each other because of a small misunderstanding and a person who was pretending to be a friend (this person is not from the film industry), kept adding fuel to the fire by telling Priyan things I hadn’t said and telling me things he hadn’t. The problem was blown out of proportion. All the confusion was cleared when we had an open discussion.” She adds, “Our friends and well-wishers were instrumental in resolving the confusion and we thank all of them for their efforts. Mohanlal Sir and his family and Kamal Sir and Gouthami and Sumathi ma’am were among our close friends who helped us resolve the confusion.” As they say, all’s well that ends well.

Vickey Lalwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 20, 2014)

Filmmaker Priyadarshan and his actress-turned-entrepreneur wife Lizzy, who have been living separately for the last few months, have decided to save their 24-year-old marriage. Reportedly, the couple was on the brink of a legal separation last week.

Priyan (as Priyadarshan is fondly called in the film industry) and Lissy buried the hatchet after their children, Siddharth and Kalyani who stay abroad, persuaded them to reunite.

Confirming this, Lakshmi (or Lizzy as she is popularly known) told Mirror, “Yes, Priyan and I are back together.”

The couple tied the knot in 1990. It was a love marriage. The two met in Thiruvananthapuram on the sets of his film, Odaruthammava Alariyam (1984). The actress went on to act in 22 films directed by Priyan.

Lissy is the co-owner of the Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) team, Kerala Strikers. According to a friend, the rift was over Priyan’s ‘friendships’ as well as financial issues revolving around the CCL and a company owned by Lizzy. Lizzy is also supposed to have demanded Rs 80 crore as remuneration for taking care of Priyan’s business.

Lissy admitted that Priyan and she did have a huge financial dispute. “Our differences revolved mainly around my company, Four Frames Sound Company (she is the Managing Director in FFSC). Matters snowballed and our egos came in the way. And the situation got out of hand. But let me clarify that I did not ask for Rs 80 crore,” she said rather emphatically.

Did things get so ugly that the two couldn’t even live under one roof? “After differences cropped up, Priyan went away to Kerala for work -- and this was misconstrued as a separation,” she clarified.

Was the director’s proximity to any actress one of the reasons behind their relationship turning bitter, we asked. “That’s a personal question. Let’s just say, all’s well that ends well,” she smiled.

On Saturday, Kerala Strikers play their semi-final match in the on-going CCL where the couple will make an appearance together. “From Saturday itself, we will start living together again,” Lizzy concluded.

Bharati Dubey (MID-DAY; February 15, 2014)

Filmmaker Priyadarshan’s marriage has hit a rough patch and we hear that the director and Lizzy, his wife of 24 years, have now filed for divorce.

While Priyadarshan was not available for comment, Lizzy replied that she didn’t want to talk about the issue. “I am not in a state of mind to say anything.Please respect my privacy,” was her text reply.

Lizzy is a former actress who first met the filmmaker in Thiruvananthapuram on the sets of his 1984 film, Odaruthammava Alariyam.

Industry watchers say that it was love at first sight for the two. The actress went on to act in 22 films directed by Priyadarshan and married him in December 1990. After her marriage, Lizzy gave up her acting career and changed her name to Lakshmi. The couple has two children — daughter Kalyani and son Siddharth — both studying abroad.

Interestingly, Lizzy — who is the managing director of Four Frames Sound Company and Four Frames Entertainment — is also the co- owner of the Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) team, Kerala Strikers. A source says, “Lizzy was missing from the cricket match held earlier this month in Kochi and the organisers were told that she isn’t keeping well. However, Priyadarshan was present at the match and he even dedicated their team’s victory to his wife Lizzy.’’ Though there is no clarity about the reason behind the couple’s separation, some sources say that a financial dispute has caused the split, while others say that the filmmaker’s liaison with an actress has fuelled the fire.