Anjana George (BOMBAY TIMES; February 16, 2018)

"I am confused about how to handle this overnight stardom,” is all a breathless Priya Prakash Varrier is able to say, as her song video from her upcoming film Oru Adaar Love continues to break the internet, topping all records. “I can’t express my happiness in words,” she says, as her phone beeps again. It hasn’t stopped ringing for past couple of days, apparently.

Priya, an aspiring actress, was initially given a minor role in the film, a romcom by director Omar Lulu. However, things later took a U-turn, thanks to the scene featuring her now famous wink. “The scene was shot in January and Omar sir asked me to improvise something on the spot. I did this and he said ok at the first take itself. Everyone on the film’s set loved the scene and he decided to give me the lead role,” she says, adding that for her, that itself was a stroke of luck. “I never thought that once the song is out, it will be a double treat for me,” she gushes.

A first year B.Com student of a college in Thrissur, Kerala, Priya has decided to just live in the moment and enjoy every bit of her new-found fame. “I went to college yesterday. My teachers and friends are all more excited than me. They told me they are really proud of me. So is my family.”

Priya is planning to concentrate on films now, but will also continue her studies, as well as her dance and music classes. Ask her about her views on love and she says, “Love is magical and irresistible, even in the modern era. In that scene in the movie, we have showed a school crush, which, I feel, is the cutest form of love. The eye contacts and blushes are really sweet. Moreover, I believe in true love and I am sure it is present in every generation, albeit in their own ways. Neither technology nor modernisation can extinguish the miracle of love.”