When Priyanka Achar first walked onto the stage of the reality show Mahanati, she hardly imagined it would change the course of her life. She thought she’d last “two weeks at best.” Instead, she walked away as the winner. “I was only thinking about how I needed to work on getting to the big screen, but never thought of getting into a reality show, and winning was never in my mind. But that win gave me my first wing toward cinema, and today, being part of Elumale, my first film, feels like a dream come true,” says Priyanka ahead of the film’s release on September 5.
The newcomer is soft-spoken, often measuring her words, but her ambitions are clear. “I believe in hard work,” she says. “When Tharun sir gave me Rs 500 on the Mahanati stage as a token for my career, I manifested that someday I would work under his banner. He blessed me, and now I have this opportunity through his production house, Tharun Sudhir Kreatiivez. It feels like life has come full circle.”
Elumale, directed by Punit Rangaswamy, is no small debut. It’s a cross-border romance that pairs Priyanka opposite Raanna, with a supporting cast that includes veterans like Kishore and TS Nagabharana. Priyanka plays Revathi, a Tamil Nadu girl who falls in love with Harisha, a Karnataka boy played by Raanna. “More than a role, I was looking for good cinema. I accepted this film even before hearing the script because I trusted Tharun Sudhir, the banner, and the guidance. The role turned out to be powerful, giving me equal importance alongside the hero.”
The character came with challenges. She had to learn Tamil dialogues and adapt to the dialect, while also exploring the innocence and boldness that define her part. “I had to work on language, reactions, and method acting. I had to feel the space and the environment. It pushed me to be both natural and expressive,” she says.
For Priyanka, mentorship has been the most rewarding part of the journey. Director Punit Rangaswamy urged her to “be natural", while Tharun Sudhir reminded her never to neglect the responsibilities of a big production. “He would foresee my mistakes even before I made them. That kind of treatment is what a newcomer truly needs,” she notes.
Her co-stars, too, became guides. Raanna, she says, was 'a good co-star and very supportive,' while her first encounter with Kishore remains etched in her memory. “I had to face my first shot with him, and had memorised all my lines, but in the moment, when the camera was rolling, and he shouted as part of the scene, I froze. I shivered, and I even cried. I thought I had failed, but that was exactly the reaction they wanted.”
And then there was veteran Nagabharana, who patiently coached her through night shoots. “I would fumble with the dialogues, and he would sit with me and teach me. I was a student, and everyone on set became my teacher,” she says.
Despite her quiet demeanour, Priyanka is aware she’s begun on a big note. “Even when I won Mahanati, people asked why I didn’t jump with excitement. That’s just how I am. I react with a line or a smile,” she concludes.
