‘My man will sleep between my grandmother and me!’

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Priya Anand is a personality to reckon with. She may have debuted in Tollywood first but now with her latest flick English Vinglish, she has offers pouring in right, left and centre. “I started getting offers after directors watched my commercials on television. I debuted with Vaamanan, a Tamil venture.

Aedho saigirai, tuned by Yuvan Shankar Raja, became the rage and I got a grand reception in Tollywood. Whether or not you can give me the tag of a Southern Siren, I know not. But yes, I can assure you that I am here to do good films,” says Priya.
Clarifying about being in awe of Sridevi she adds, “I accepted the offer in English Vinglish just because I would be seeing Sri for the first time. She has been a great inspiration for me. I did not know the fate of the film but I signed it, for it had my favorite icon Sridevi. I wanted to be close to her and hence this opportunity fulfilled my dream. Now that the film has garnered the eyeballs of all the big-wigs of the Hindi film fraternity, I am getting a lot of offers from producers and directors. I am in no hurry to sign films. All I can say is that I am planning to sign a few films which I have liked.”
Speaking about being senior to Rana Daggubati she says, “My first Telugu film was directed by Sekhar Kammula. This political drama also had Rana Daggubati and Richa as newcomers. I was honoured to be a part of this film as a senior to Rana as I had a few other films to my credit. Also I am surprised that although I am not Facebook savvy, I got this film as the director had seen my pictures on my grandmother’s Facebook page and signed me for this film.”
Being an NRI, Priya may have an American accent but she is totally Indian at heart. “I am living with my grandmother here in the South. But let me tell you I am just following the footsteps of my grandmother. She is very broad-minded. I discuss every aspect of my life with her. Although I am single, she is the one who keeps telling me, ‘Why you don’t try to mingle? Life without a man is like a desert without a drop of water.’ I have my own ambitions to pursue. I love to contribute my time and services towards helping the needy. I try to get involved in certain advertisements, and whatever money I earn from that I invest for the well-being of the needy. This gives me a lot of pleasure. This aim in my life is keeping me single at the moment. I am the kind who if I get married to someone will unhesitatingly make him sleep between my grandmother and me,” she laughs.
Priya is a big fan of all the Tamilian actresses in Bollywood, “Ya, Jaya Prada, Sridevi, Rekha... all of them had made their first stint on the Southern map and then there was no looking back for them in Bollywood. So I feel good actors are welcomed with open arms all over.”
Priya goes on to add, “I am working in my second Bollywood film Rangrezz which is directed by Priyadarshan. He is a brilliant director and gives enough space to us after explaining our characters. We do rehearse our scenes. I have another film, Fukrey but I cannot talk about it. I do not know how this news was published all over and I had to swear to the producers stating that I had not revealed anything. They have strictly warned me this time, so please allow me to keep it to myself,” she concludes.