Akash Wadhwa (BOMBAY TIMES; December 22, 2019)

The overnight internet sensation, Priya Prakash Varrier, better known as the ‘Wink Girl’, who shot to fame with her winking scene from the Malayalam film Oru Adaar Love, is shooting for her second Bollywood film, Love Hackers, in Lucknow. In a candid chat, Priya spoke about her sudden stardom and her journey in showbiz so far. Excerpts:

Tell us about your second Bollywood film Love Hackers.
I play a Lucknow girl in the film. When the makers approached me with the script, I was clearly told that the movie is going to be a serious one focussing on the dark side of social media. According to them, I was the perfect choice for the role. They felt I would be the best person to tell others that there can be a dark side to social media as well. The story revolves around cyber crime.

Talking about the dark side of social media, did you face any major issues after you became the ‘wink girl’ overnight?
Not really. I became an internet sensation overnight and it took me a lot of time to realise what was happening with me. I remember a night before the song released, I was anxiously waiting to watch myself as there was a little bit of me shown in the song. I was in it for just 20 to 30 seconds. I was tense as I didn’t know how it would look, finally. It was supposed to release in the evening and I was waiting to get the link and share it with my friends and family. I finally managed to get the link from a friend, watched myself in the song, shared it with all my acquaintances and then happily went off to sleep.

But the next morning, when I woke up and saw my mobile phone, it had many calls, mostly from newspapers and news channels. I got to know that I had become an overnight internet sensation. I logged on to my Instagram account and it just went boom with thousands of followers. Earlier my account was private, but I made it public a night before the release of the song. From 1,000 followers, within hours I had more than 15,000 followers and now I have 7.4 million followers. I was always very active on my social networking accounts. But earlier I used to post anything that came to my mind as it was my private space, but now I have to filter a lot of things. I have been trolled many times. But when I see memes and trolls, which are really funny, I share it myself. Yes, some of them hurt, but it’s fine. I am now used to all that. If I don’t see trolls, I wonder why people are not trolling me? (laughs)

How did your family react to your overnight stardom?
I remember my parents’ reaction very well. One question that both my mom and dad asked me was what’s in the video that it’s going viral. My parents till date are clueless about what made my video viral.

Did you always want to be an actress?
From a very young age I knew I was going to become an actress. Even my parents knew I had chosen this career for myself. They only wanted me to at least complete my graduation and then pursue my dream.

You have worked in movies down South and in Bollywood. Any striking difference that you notice in the working style of both the industries?
The only difference between the two industries is that in South, the timings for shifts are fixed. But in Bollywood, they are not.

Priya Varrier, whose wink in a Malayalam film made her an overnight sensation online, on life post-fame and upcoming B’wood stint
Hmesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 25, 2019)

Priya Varrier, who became a social media sensation as the ‘wink girl’ from the Malayalam film, Oru Adaar Love, now has her sights on Bollywood. The actress recently wrapped up her Hindi debut, Sridevi Bungalow, and has already signed a follow-up. Titled Love Hackers, the crime-thriller is directed by Mayank Prakash Srivastava and goes on the floors by May-end. It will be shot across Lucknow, Delhi, Gurgaon and Mumbai.

About her fame on the World Wide Web, the 19-year-old actress says that it was unexpected. “The wink was just a spontaneous gesture that we had in mind while shooting. Nobody thought it would get worldwide attention in such a short span. It was more of a shock than surprise. My family took some time to come to terms with it,” she admits.

While she had wanted to become an actress since childhood, Priya is determined to not let her showbiz career come in the way of education. “I recently gave my exams for the second year of B.Com, and have started the third year. I make it a point to not miss any exams,” she asserts.

She goes on to inform that her second Hindi film is a youth centric story which exposes the dark side of the cyber world. “I play the protagonist, who, with her knowledge, instinct and presence of mind emerges a winner after being trapped in an unfortunate situation. The story is based on real incidents,” she says. Mayank who is currently casting actors for other roles, reveals that casting an internet celebrity in a film on cyber-crime was the clincher. “Online security breaches have made society complex. The number of social media users in India is staggering but most are not aware of different forms of cyber-crimes. We are exploring that with the film,” he asserts.