In April, we saw her as the supportive wife in Maidaan, and soon, we’ll see her as a contract killer. That’s quite a turnaround. Tell Priyamani that, and she grins, saying, “As an actor, you need to display versatility.” She is gearing up for the release of Quotation Gang, which offers a gritty take on the lives of contract killers.

The actor plays a ruthless gang leader in producer-director Vivek Kumar Kannan’s crime drama, also starring Jackie Shroff and Sunny Leone. It’s certainly a dark character after her positive parts in Maidaan and Article 370, but Priyamani is not one to segregate her roles.

“For me, it’s just a role and I can switch on and off, unless the director wants me to do homework on it. I am glad that with Quotation Gang, people can see another side of me after the positive characters that I played earlier.”

Black, grey, white—the National Award winner enjoys stepping into disparate roles. What she finds challenging, however, is being part of movies inspired by real-life events.

“Films that are a part of history like Article 370 and Maidaan are more challenging to do. These are incidents that have happened. So, it’s an added responsibility to tell them to the audience sensitively,” she reasons.

Last week, she began shooting The Family Man’s third season. After the second edition streamed, Priyamani —who plays Manoj Bajpayee’s on-screen wife Suchitra—reveals that she received hate mail from fans, who felt her character betrayed her husband.

“I must have done something right for them to hate me,” she smiles, before adding, “Suchitra is doing what she feels is right for her. In the second season, she balanced her family with her career while trying to save her marriage. People will relate to her more in the next edition.”

If you were surprised to see Sunny Leone’s de-glam avatar in the trailer of Quotation Gang, you’re not the only one. The actor too was surprised when filmmaker Vivek Kumar Kannan approached her for the crime drama. After all, the role was completely at odds with the glamorous image she has built over the past decade with hit numbers like Baby doll and Laila main Laila.

“When Vivek narrated the story, the first thing I asked him was what he wanted from me. He said he wanted me to play [a part] so [far removed from me] that people would not recognize me,” she states.

Also starring Jackie Shroff and Priyamani, Quotation Gang tells the story of contract killers. Leone plays Padma, a gang leader’s wife, who has a ringside view to the crimes and cruelty of the world. “I was not apprehensive about playing her. I trusted the director’s vision completely, and focused more on my performance than my look.”

After doing several look tests, the director and the actor’s make-up artist settled on an earthy look, comprising dark skin, heavily kohled eyes and unkempt hair. “It’s interesting to play characters that are outside your comfort zone. I worked with the director on all the details. While I have essayed grungier characters before, I have never played such a de-glam role.”

Such dark roles often take an emotional toll. It used to be hard to shake off the character after the day’s shoot, admits the actor. “I had a few sleepless nights. Even though you know that everything you are seeing is not real, it affects you. As soon as I would reach home and see my family, I could snap out of it. But the car ride back home, after the shoot, used to be difficult.”

Having wrapped up the shoot of Quotation Gang, filmmaker Vivek Kumar Kannan is spending hours at the edit table as the film’s post-production is underway. Through the Priyamani, Sunny Leone and Jackie Shroff-starrer that revolves around contract killers, the director intends to show how a small desire can change one’s life.

“After reading Mafia Queens Of Mumbai, I thought of some ideas revolving around those who take contracts to kill people. Quotation Gang is a dark, witty movie that is disturbing in equal measure,” he says of the film that will be released in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.

While Priyamani plays the central character, Leone’s casting comes as a surprise in the gritty drama. She plays Padma, a home-maker who has secrets of her own. Talking about her de-glam avatar in the movie, the producer-director says, “When I told her the movie’s concept, she asked me what I wanted from [the role]. I said that I wanted her [to be presented] in a different light from how she was depicted earlier. I didn’t want skin show for her. That was the first rule when we started the film.”

The project, based on a true story, has been shot across Kashmir, Chennai and Mumbai. Kannan is evidently impressed by Leone’s dedication to her work. “She doesn’t understand the language, but gives her 100 per cent to the role. She is a director’s actor, and never says no to anything. When I gave her more than five pages of dialogues, she learnt it fast. She was willing to sport a deeply tanned look.” 

The makers are currently divided between pursuing a theatrical or OTT release, and will soon finalise the release date.