Modern, yet restrained
Mumbai-based model Priyanka Kandwal will make her Malayalam debut through Binu’s Style.
By : shreejaya nair
Update: 2015-12-12 08:22 GMT
Mumbai-based model-turned-actor Priyanka Kandwal, who is making her Mollywood debut through the Ithihasa-fame Binu’s Style, says she couldn’t have asked for a better role for her launch as her character Diya offers her a chance to perform in modern, traditional, romantic and action sequences.
“Diya is a bubbly and modern Malayali girl. Though she doesn’t dress hot, she has these two avatars — cute and modern as well as traditional and restrained.”
“I have romantic scenes with Unni Mukundan’s character, family-oriented side when Diya is with her family and also a lot of action sequences! It’s not another heroine-for-the-sake-of-a-heroine character. My character has a strong role in the storyline and is equally important as the hero. It’s a dream debut for me,” a cheerful Priyanka says.
Action sequences were an added bonus. Priyanka, who has rarely rode bikes, had to be on a bike during a stunt sequence. When the director told her about it, she was terrified. My character had quite a few action sequences involving harnesses and since I’m somewhat familiar with how that works, I didn’t need much training. Most of the action sequences were shot with the help of a dupe. However, for the shoot of a bike jump scene where I was to ride pillion, the dupe wasn’t available that day. So I had to do it myself! By the time we finished the shoot, I was literally trembling with fear,” she laughs.
What came tougher than the action sequences was Malayalam. Prior to the shoot, she had to attend a workshop to familiarise herself with the language. “When I’m acting in a language I am not familiar with, I try to attend a workshop to learn at least the most basic words you use in almost every other sentence. This way, when dubbing is being done, the lip sync would look much more natural. Since I’m a North Indian with no familiarity with South Indian languages, learning Malayalam, even as little as I did, was a tough job,” she adds.
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