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Priyal Gor

Priyal Gor on twirling her way into the film industry with Anarkali

Priyal Gor sashayed into the hearts of the Malayali audience as the beautiful Nadira inAnarkali, starring opposite Prithviraj, and quickly became the talk of tinsel town. The heart-warming love story, directed by scenarist-turned-director Sachy and set in exotic locales in the Lakshadweep islands, has already scored big at the box office. No wonder Priyal is in a state of euphoria when we catch up with her over the phone from Mumbai, where she is based.

“I am so happy to get so much love and appreciation from the audience. My inbox is flooded with congratulatory messages. It’s truly amazing,” trills Priyal, in a lovely mix of Hindi and English.

Priyal is a familiar face to television audiences. She first faced the camera at the age of 15 with a series on Disney channel. A lead role in the serialRam Milaayi Jodi on Zee TV came next and it was followed by popular serials such as Baat Hamaari Pakki Hai (Sony TV), Ammaji Ki Galli (SAB TV) and Dekha Ek Khwab (Sony TV).

“I came on board Anarkali through its producer Rajeev Nair, who lives in Mumbai. He contacted me after watching one of my serials. Other than that I have very little idea about Kerala and Malayalam cinema. I do have a handful of Malayali friends and my manager is also a Malayali,” she says.

Priya is actually more known to the Malayali audiences through television ads, such as those for Johns Umbrella, Cuticura powder, Chungath Jewellery and Indulekha hair oil (incidentally, with Prithviraj).

Also, not many people know that she essayed the role played by Isha Talwar in the Telugu remake of Thattathin Marayathu, Saheba Subramanyam.

In Anarkali, though, Priyal doesn’t play a Malayali. Her character, Nadira, is the daughter of the character played by veteran actor Kabir Bedi. The story takes place in Lakshadweep, where her father is posted as a top official in the Indian Naval base there.

There she falls in love with Shantanu (Prithviraj), a Naval officer, and how their romance stands the test of time forms the narrative. “The best part was that most of my dialogues were in Urdu and so I didn’t have to learn much of Malayalam,” she says, with a giggle.

However, the role was a learning experience, says Priyal, who debuted in cinema with a Punjabi movie. “Anarkali is only my third movie and the role was an opportunity to showcase my acting skills. Nadira is first shown as a 15-year-old and then as a 25-year-old and essaying these two phases in the life of the character gave me enough scope to perform,” says Priyal.

And she can’t thank her co-star enough. “Prithviraj was extremely supportive. I think our chemistry has come out very well in the movie,” says Priyal.

Floored by the beauty of Lakshadweep, Priyal regrets that she couldn’t explore much of Kerala.

“I have heard so much about it and whatever little I could see was because of the movie. I had come down alone for the shoot and didn’t want to travel on my own,” she says.

Meanwhile, she says is not on a signing spree. She has acted in ‘episodics’ for television shows such asYeh Hai Aashiqui, Gumrah, Savdhaan India and very recently MTV Big F and is happy to do more.

“Different storylines and variety in the roles make episodics interesting. I am not doing any daily soaps as of now,” she explains.

Also, she is waiting for a good role to come her way in Malayalam or Bollywood or in any language, for that matter.

A die-hard fan of romantic flicks and thrillers, she is a little averse to comedy films. Ask her about her favourite movie or actors, she says that there aren’t any.

“Actually I wouldn’t have become an actress at all but for my mother, Vandana. She took the initiative because she had wanted to be an actress. So, I am actually living her dream. I haven’t planned my career and I am taking things as they come. Kya pata mere kismet mein kya likha hain…? (Who knows what’s written in my fate),” she says, signing off.