Nisha Kothari, now known as Priyanka Kothari, belongs to the new breed of Bollywood actors confident of their body and mind. A Ram Gopal Varma discovery, Nisha did all that is required to be a successful actor — learnt dance and acting, attended grooming workshops, etc. Brimming with confidence with a few films under her belt, Nisha believes, “If you believe in yourself and luck is by your side, you will succeed. It is our own doubts which bring difficulties to our lives.”
Under an oath of secrecy, Nisha aka Priyanka is not ready to talk about her future films. She is, however, ready to share everything else with media persons including what made her change her name. “I got christened as Nisha in the film industry as that was the name of my character in my first Hindi film James . My father, however, was very upset and wanted me to retain my real name Priyanka and that is how I am Priyanka Kothari today.”
The actress, in Noida to grace the Global Festival of Documentary Films 2009 at Marwah Studio, says she wanted to be an actor since childhood. “To become an actress I learnt kathak for six years, then I attended acting classes with Kishore Namit Kapoor.”
Born in Kolkata, she spent her early years there and shifted to Delhi after her class 10th. “I got my bachelor's degree in chemistry from Dyal Singh College,” she says. Priyanka chose chemistry as her subject as her father, a businessman, deals in chemicals. But acting was always at the back of her mind.
First break
Shestarted with some modelling assignments while at college and after completing her studies she moved to Mumbai to chase her real dream — Bollywood. She started by distributing her photographs to film directors. One of her portfolio snaps caught the eye of South Indian actor Madhavan who at that time was in Mumbai shooting for an ad film. He called his director back in the South to audition Nisha and she soon bagged her first film role. This also brought her to the notice of Ram Gopal Varma and she went on to become a part of Ramu's films like James,Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag,Sarkar , etc. The films gave her the status of Bollywood sex symbol. Priyanka today proudly announces that she has done item numbers in nearly each of her films.
