Priya Vasudev Mani Iyer, professionally known as Priyamani, was born on June 4, 1984, in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. She hails from a Tamil Palakkad Iyer family; her father, Vasudevan Mani Iyer, is a plantation owner, and her mother, Lathamani Iyer, is a former national-level badminton player and bank manager at Union Bank of India. Priyamani is the granddaughter of Carnatic vocalist Kamala Kailas and a cousin of actress Vidya Balan. She completed her schooling at Sri Aurobindo Memorial School and pursued higher education at Bishop Cotton Women's Christian College in Bangalore. In 2016, Priyamani announced her engagement to Mustafa Raj, an event organizer, and they married in 2017. Despite their interfaith marriage—Priyamani being Hindu and Mustafa a Muslim—she has stated that she did not convert religions and has faced online trolling due to their union.