Successful, so naturally

As Vai Raja Vai gears up for release, Priya Anand speaks of her success on screen and her dreams for the future.

Pachai Vanna Poove... the promo of the song from the upcoming film Vai Raja Vai is a riot of colour. Actor Priya Anand appears amidst the yellow, orange and red blooms, looking beautiful as she dances to the song sung in the film by Gautham Karthik, the hero. “The lyrics written by Madan Karky inspired us to go all the way to Japan to choreograph the song,” says Priya. Vai Raja Vai is directed by Aishwarya Dhanush.

Vai Raja Vai is Priya’s third film with a woman director (others are Gauri Shinde’s English Vinglish and Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi’s Vanakkam Chennai ) and she looks forward to its release in April. “It’s been wonderful working with them. They always tell the story from a woman’s perspective. Vanakkam Chennai tells the story of Anjali and the two men in her life. Why should all the stories be about boys? Vai Raja Vai has gambling, romance… it’s going to be a commercial film, very different from Aishwarya Dhanush’s first film 3 which was an intense love story.”

All her on-screen characters command respect and Priya is happy to have made careful choices. “There is no ‘vaadi’ ‘podi’. It is not about just looking good. I invest so much in every character, I ensure that I dub for my characters… I enjoy the entire process of making films.”

Priya has made her onscreen characters always appear effortless: as Geetha the school teacher in

Ethir Neechal , Anjali, the feisty NRI photographer in Vanakkam Chennai , and Sam in Irumbu Kuthirai . She says: “Acting effortless also takes an effort. You don’t get any compliment though for being natural. A lot of thought goes into being aware of the character and yet remaining detached. You laugh and cry, but without being melodramatic. I was doing three films — Irumbu Kuthirai , VaiRaja Vai and Oru Oorla Rendu Raja — but I ensured I look different in each of them . I go in for a change in lipstick colour, curl up my hair… it is so subtle that sometimes it goes unnoticed. ”

Priya has many hits to her credit. She has also acted with sons of famous actors like Vikram Prabhu (son of actor Prabhu in Arima Nambi ), Atharva (son of late actor Murali in Irumbu Kuthirai ) and now with Gautham Karthik (son of actor Karthik) in Vai Raja Vai . “Gautham and Atharva are good friends. I am new myself, so we got to know each other and I am also learning with them. It feels good when you see people like Sivakarthikeyan (with whom she acted in Ethir Neechal ) becoming big stars.”

Speaking of Anand Shankar’s much appreciated debut film

Arima Nambi, she says,“It was a great opportunity

. Films like

Arima Nambi are the future of Indian cinema. I am working with him in his second film too. I am always energetic on the sets and newcomers exhibit the same energy. So, it works both ways,” she says.

Priya says she has cut down on Telugu and Hindi films, as she is obsessed with Chennai and the films here. “I am always the Chennai ponnu,” she says.

In five years, she has done 16 films and wants to do more and more films. “I want to find myself a lot more, explore a different kind of cinema, maybe offbeat films and evolve more as an actor. Maybe I want to do 10 amazing movies, shoot for them day and night… Movies are amazing. I would also like to do a horror movie and scare everyone,” she laughs.