Actor Preity Mukundhan, recently seen in Idhayam Murali, after her critically acclaimed turn in Blast, earlier this year, opened up about how she ventured into acting in a recent interview with IMDb.

The actor, who began her career with Om Bheem Bush in Telugu and Star in Tamil, is also known for films like Kannappa and Maine Pyar Kiya, the latter of which marked her Malayalam debut. In the interview, she said that it was her parents who encouraged her to try acting.

Opening up about her family, she said, "Actually, my entire family, all of us, have always been very academically orientated. As much as they encouraged me throughout my life in academics, they have also been very particular that I follow my heart."

Preity then shared how her parents pushed her to give acting a chance, "But what's interesting is that I was modelling for a while, and I had gotten one really nice opportunity. I was 18 years old, and my parents were, in fact, the ones who pushed me to audition because when I didn't believe in myself, I felt like, 'No, I can't audition. I'm going to embarrass myself. No, I don't know how to act, and all of that.' I remember they drove down to my college hostel, and they sat me down. They were like, 'Why don't you want to try? It's okay. This is a start.' They were like, 'You should do it. You should try'."

On how her parents' support gave her confidence, she continued, "And that really struck a chord. That was when it started for me. I did give my best. I didn't get the part, but yes, it was a very new world, and my parents were also completely unaware of it. I just think that slowly I developed a real passion towards movies as well. I started to really love cinema, and I think I apply what I enjoy to my work as well."

On the work front, the actor is working on three distinct projects, Emo Emo Idi in Telugu, Dashamakan in Tamil, and Naagzilla in Hindi, marking her debut in the industry.