Priyanka Sharma (Savaari), actress with a passion to entertain

Priyanka Sharma is here to take up any challenge. Films being her passion, she plans to take on the world with a dose of hard work and a dollop of discipline. This is surely a great recipe for success, on which path she is on. Here is her story and her motivators. Read on.

A friendly family

Priyanka Sharma was born to Jagdish Sharma and Renu Sharma in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh. She considers her parents more as friends than disciplinarians. Her father serves in the Indian Air Force, while mother is a homemaker. She grew up in different states across the country, which is why Priyanka has the right balance of creativity and discipline. 

Her younger brother Abhishek and she  have been rivals through childhood, but also remain each other’s strongest support. Her father, being quite the balanced thinker, theorizes that taking them out to tourist places or forests every Sunday teaches a person life beyond school books. He kept his promise and the siblings did just that. Her mother, on the other hand, ensured that they also realised the importance of discipline and hardwork in life.

With such a combination, Priyanka says she had the best childhood she can ever ask for. Not only this, her parents have always been a constant support in everything she decides to do in life, acting included.

Performing since childhood

Priyanka was a good student, active in both academics and extra curricular activities. She did her schooling in Kendriya vidyalaya Guwahati and KV no.1 Delhi. Later she completed her intermediate from Kendriya Vidyalaya Bidar. Graduation and PG in mass communication & public relations was accomplished from Osmania University, Hyderabad.

Priyanka believes there is no substitute for education. According to her, education always helps, whichever profession one wants to pursue. Her teachers have always been very loving and kind, but one stands out in particular.

For the actress, it was Sunita Ma’am, her class teacher in class 5th, who first encouraged her to think about pursuing a career in the field of dance or acting. She still talks to her and watching her feel proud of Priyanka’s journey makes her extremely happy.

All the extra curricular activities in school helped her increase her confidence while sharpening her communication skills. Priyanka reveals she once had stage fright. Fact of matter, she started performing on stage at the age of 4, which eventually helped her with work before the camera.

Day of reckoning

Priyanka remembers the exact moment when the acting seed was planted in her mind. She remembers a family outing at old fort delhi during class 9th. “We got to know that there was some film shooting happening there that day, I and my cousins rushed to the spot. The shot was on and I saw those huge lights and of course the ‘Camera.”

For the teenager, it was absolutely fascinating. Enthralled, they entered the frame by mistake while the take was running. This made the director really angry and he started shouting at the crowd. She being naive and immature, felt really bad. Here she said to herself, “one day I’m gonna be around these lights and this camera” and vowed to probably meet this director.

Amusingly, she doesn’t remember his name. However, this incident really crushed her ambition of being an astronaut, a doctor, a teacher or may be a public servant. It actually made her realise what she really wanted to pursue.

Her brother Abhishek was the first one to know about her interest in becoming an actor and to her utmost surprise he was quite supportive, even though both of them didn’t have any idea about how to pursue it. He lives in the US and till today they share all their secrets with each other. Even though he is younger to her, his understanding and support has been unconditional. 

Combining homework with spontaneity

Priyanka opines, “I always believe in homework even though my directors say that I’m more of a spontaneous actor but even then I feel I need to do some amount of homework.” She says she has never pursued any professional training in acting but she does go through workshops before her project goes on the floor.

For Priyanka, the key to this industry is “patience and constant learning.” With no film background, this industry was completely a new world. The most important lesson she learnt during her struggle is to have patience and keep learning every single day.

For her, Cinema is a field of creativity and creativity has no boundaries. “Our industry is constantly evolving, so many experimental films are being made, so I don’t want to restrict myself from learning new dimensions of filmmaking and keep working on my craft,” she continues.

Meeting her filmy peers

Priyanka was nominated in the best actress category at SIIMA short film awards for her short film ‘Bandhan Regad.’ That was her first ever nomination and she was super excited to walk the red carpet and meet the big stars of the industry.

“Honestly I never knew how serious my job is until I actually met some really talented people who were also nominated there.” Her understanding of the work that she does actually changed after seeing such talent under the same roof.

More skills

Priyanka loves dancing though she hadn’t formally trained in it. She happily shares dancing and comes very organically to her. “Kathak is something that has fascinated me all my life, so probably very soon I will start learning this beautiful dance form.” Besides this, she loves to read, which helped her immensely during the entire lockdown period.

Taking struggles as they come

Priyanka Sharma feels the word ‘Struggle’ actually signifies something very positive. She says, ” it keeps me disciplined and constantly trying to yield the best out of any given opportunity.” The actress had her share of struggles and believes struggles never end, but simply change with the situation. She once struggled to get a break and now she struggles to find a good script to be a part of.

Our industry is very unpredictable and full of  uncertainty beside being highly competitive. Hence, the journey keeps getting tougher at every stage and struggle is always a part of it, in her words. 

She further philosophises that ups and downs are a part of life and that no journey is complete if it doesn’t have its own ups and downs. She asserts that she has had hers and still goes through such phases. And yet, all she wants to let people know is that her honesty and dedication towards work is unshakeable. 

Lessons from people in her life

Priyanka Sharma takes inspiration from the people around her and it has mostly been her family. She shares, “I have seen my dad’s commitments towards his work, my mom’s dedication and discipline towards bringing us up with the best of everything that she could manage. I have learnt how passionate someone can be towards his work from Gaurav and a never give up attitude from Abhishek.”

Nascent steps in the industry

Priyanka Sharma was spotted by a director on Facebook and had approached her. However, she was more inclined towards the Hindi TV industry during that phase. She did not feel very sure about taking up films. She was on board with a hindi prime time TV show and had already shot for two episodes for a big channel in Mumbai.

Unfortunately, it was postponed, leading to her decision to return to Hyderabad, where her family is based. “So, when I came back to hyd, that director approached me again and he convinced me and my dad. I went for the audition and that’s how I landed my first telugu project,” she surmises. After that there’s no looking back. 

Increasing work projects

Priyanka Sharma has worked in two films including ‘Savaari’ and one short film. Her favorite work so far has been the short film ‘Bandhan Regad.’ She has also recently finished shooting for her next film called ‘#Viral’ and by far this one has been her most challenging. 

The reason for it is that, for the first time she has worked in a sync sound format. Telugu is not her mother tongue and even though she manages communicating in Telugu on sets, shooting in a sync sound film is an experience that was never expected.

“I had to undergo rigorous workshops and had to work on my diction. Luckily the team was super nice to me and they really made me extremely comfortable on sets. I would say it was my urge to constantly keep evolving and getting better and better,” Priyanka expressed. #viral gave her a platform where she not only got to play a different character, but also used her own voice for it.

She is really looking forward to the final release with fingers crossed. 

On the path to success

She honestly agrees that she is so engrossed in her work that she barely realizes if she has succeeded. The overall recognition around her surely increased. The love she received after the release of ‘Savaari‘ made her really grateful. Priyanka says that she is constantly working on her craft and is choosing the kind of roles that give her a platform to perform. 

A passion worth pursuing

Priyanka Sharma is very passionate about her choice of career. She exclaims that she couldn’t be this honest towards her work had it not been Cinema.

“I enjoy shooting in double shifts because I love the vibe of the sets. My body may get tired sometimes but my soul never tires.” This is the reason why she always believes that one should always pursue their passion. It might pay them less but it fills them with a lot of happiness and satisfaction.

Upcoming projects: 

1- Bommala kolluvu

2- #Viral