PremiumExclusive! Priya Anand addresses why she isn’t seen in Kannada cinema often
Priya Anand is only on her fourth film in Kannada cinema with this week's Karataka Damanaka, which comes at an almost 1 film every 2 years average. This is something she hopes to change
Last Updated: 10.46 PM, Mar 07, 2024
Priya Anand made her Kannada film debut 7 years ago, when she was paired with the late Power Star Puneeth Rajkumar in the blockbuster Raajakumara. A year later, she did Orange opposite Golden Star Ganesh and then, 4 years later, she was yet again with Puneeth, on his last commercial film ever, James. On March 8, she finally gets her fourth Kannada film outing, Karataka Damanaka, in which she is paired with Shivarajkumar.
In the Yogaraj Bhat directorial, Priya plays Kusumi, a village belle who runs a local kirana store and then falls in love with Shivarajkumar’s character. Considering that Priya’s been coming back to Sandalwood every 2 years or so, one wonders why there’s such a gap each time. “Honestly, I am not entirely sure, but my best guess is that because I have been a part of star-led movies, the assumption is that I will only do such films. I have been spoilt in Kannada by being a part of big films with stars and major production houses. But I also want to do smaller films that are story-and-character driven and are not the typical commercial cinema. In fact, Kannada is the only industry in which I have done so much of commercial film work. I hope to explore new filmmakers and actors; I’m open to all of that,” she explains.
Has it been difficult for her to reach out to new age filmmakers? “I don’t have a manager and I think that most people in the Kannada industry don’t reach out to me because they have this preconceived notion about me. The Kannada film industry is my favourite; it’s given me so much and I want to be able to explore it a lot more. I have no hang-ups about only being paired with stars or doing big-budget movies, and would more than gladly be a part of a film with a good script and team, even if they are rank newbies,” she says.
The actress elaborates, “Even in Tamil cinema, it’s not been about working with stars. When I did a film with Sivakarthikeyan, he was not the Sivakarthikeyan that everyone is celebrating now. It’s always been about picking a good story and team,” Priya adds.