I am an army kid with floating feet: Padmapriya

Actor Padmapriya has done many regional films in her 13-year-long career, but in Bollywood, she is only two films old. And the second film is the yet-to-be-released Chef. However, when asked about the reason for the seven-year gap, she attributes it to her “floating feet” and not to her flop Bollywood debut, Striker (2010). “It wasn’t because of Striker’s bad performance that I didn’t sign any film in Bollywood. There wasn’t much to do [here], and the offers weren’t great. I’m excited to work in Bollywood, but I want to be part of meaningful projects. Chef appealed to me and that’s why I became a part of the project,” she says. The 37-year-old actor also has a Masters degree in Public Administration, which she pursued while taking a break from acting. “I’m an army kid with floating feet. I wanted to do MPA at the peak of my career. Apart from being an actor, I’m an academician. I wanted to pursue something with which I could bring about a change in society. It also helped me grow as an actor,” she says. However, acting remains Padmapriya’s first love, and she vows to never stop doing it. “I think I’ve become a better actor now. I’m going to remain an actor all my life. It’s definitely a full-time job for me. I love working in different regional films. I might take a few breaks, here and there, to bring in some freshness in life, but other than that, it will be difficult for me to not act,” she says.

This is not a good time to be Kangana Ranaut. Not only has her film Simran, sunk without a trace, but her confessions of her previous love affairs have also made her lose face. While other victims of Ranaut’s tonguelashing, namely actors Hrithik Roshan and Adhyayan Suman, have stayed mum, actor Aditya Pancholi and his wife, actor Zarina Wahab, have sent criminal and civil defamation notices to Kangana. During her promotional campaign for Simran, Kangana shared unsavoury details of her “traumatic” affair with Pancholi when she was new in Bollywood. She called him her “mentor turned tormentor”. “She crossed all limits. She should have let the past bury itself instead of flinging mud others. She should have let her work speak for her instead of digging up past affairs, compromising other families,” says Wahab. So, what do she and her husband want from Kangana? Zarina says, “Only a public apology for all the hurt and slander she has caused. Did you hear what she said [in an interview] to Barkha Dutt? She is such a capable artist. What is the point in hurting people who were important to her at some point?”

There wasn’t much to do in Bollywood, and the offers weren’t great. I’m excited to work in Bollywood [in the film Chef], but I want to be part of meaningful projects PADMAPRIYA, ACTOR

PHOTO: PRODIP GUHA/HT

PHOTO: VIRAL BHAYANI Kangana Ranaut Zarina Wahab and Aditya Pancholi