‘My character in Kalyanam Kamaneeyam was like I was playing myself’

Kalyanam Kamaneeyam marks the Telugu debut of actress Priya Bhavani Shankar. In a recent media interaction before the film’s release, the actress opens up about her character and working with the team.

PNS| HYDERABAD

Priya Bhavani Shankar who predominantly starred in popular Tamil movies like Mafia: Chapter 1, Oh Manapenne and Thiruchitrambalam is here to charm the Telugu audience for the first time ever with Kalyanam Kamaneeyam starring city boy Santosh Shoban. Kalyanam Kamaneeyam is a clean rom-com backed by UV Concepts and directed by first timer Anil Kumar Aalla.

Ahead of the film’s release, Priya Bhavani Shankar interacted with film journalists and schmoozed on her entry into Tollywood, her character in the film, working with a debut director and how anxious she is about the release.

Like most of us film lovers, the actress is a fan of feel good movies. As someone who’s programmed to think that a production house is really important, she green lit the project when she was approached by the makers a couple of years ago. “I liked the script and the team. At the very beginning itself, the director told me that Kalyanam Kamaneeyam would be musically very strong. Coincidentally, my first Tamil film also had wonderful music by Santosh Narayan. So, that gave me the push to be a part of the project. It is a simple script that everyone can relate to,” informed the actress about her debut project.

When the media asked the Thiruchitrambalam actress regarding her character in the film, she replied, “I wouldn’t say I’m a perfectionist but I could relate to Shruthi. Playing Shurthi was like – You’re home, everyone is getting you nice clothes, make up and everything. You just have to look good(haha). It was like playing myself on screen. It wasn’t really that challenging for me to be honest. Shruthi is a loving wife and her husband being unemployed doesn’t bother her at all. What really bugs her is what the world thinks about her husband. There’s no ego between both of them, it’s just the miscommunication and that’s what the film is all about.”

No matter how talented the actors are, it all comes down to the director of the film. When you hear someone saying, ‘The director didn’t use the actor’s potential’, that means there’s something off with the director. “It is the director who decides the metre of the artist. There are good actors who looked miserable in some projects and there are average actors who turned out amazing in a few films. The credit always goes to the director of the film. Whether you feel I’ve overdone something or underperformed somewhere, it’s on Anil,” quipped the debutant.

With a long history of having worked with a lot of debut directors, Priya said, “Anil is very sorted and he’s very clear with what he wants. There was no inhibition in my head that he was a debut director. Again, I believed in the production because they were supporting the ideas. Which means they trust the director. He sounds sensible and he doesn’t sound like a desperate person who wants to make films. He is very clear with what he wants from the actors. Even Santosh is a sorted person . I am lucky to be launched with somebody whom I could relate to. It was such a warm team to work with.”

We might fall in love a thousand times but the first time is always going to be special. Likewise, our first time experiences when it comes to anything in this world are the most cherished. “I was pretty chilled out when my first project was released and I wasn’t anxious at all,” expressed the Hostel actress. “I might be laughing here, but for this project I’m very much anxious and tense as to how people would receive me. Back in Tamil, I knew people liked me and here the thing is people don’t know me here. I am really anxious to know what people are going to think of me as an actor. I hope my brief experience helps me here.”

Kalyanam Kamaneeyam is playing in theatres and Priya is set to star in a string of Telugu films. Very soon, she’ll be seen in Vikram Kumar’s Dootha starring opposite Naga Chaitanya. She even signed a project with popular actor SatyaDev who recently donned the role of an antagonist in Megastar’s Godfather.