Luck by chance

Pramod Payyanur’s 'Balya­kalasakhi' has garnered a lot of attention for his peculiar casting. Especia­l­ly so for zeroing in on Bengali actor Priam. “Believe me, I actually dreamt of doing a Malayalam film. So I can say, the opportunity to work in 'Balyak­a­lasakhi' is my dream come true. My stint in acting started in 2013 with serials. Then I did a couple of movies in Bengali. During th­at time, I came to know about this mo­v­ie through the exe­c­utive producer Ve­nu Kolkata. I met the crew and discu­s­s­ed the character and here I am in the movie,” says the ha­p­py go lucky Priam.

Incidentally, the character played by Priam in the movie was supposed to be done by 'Kahaani' fame Parambrata Chat­t­e­rjee. When Parambrata opted out due to his busy schedule Priam was only too happy to step in. “My character, the young Bengali freedom fighter Prafula Cha­n­dra Chatterjee, is a close friend of Majeed, the character pla­yed by Mammootty. Ho­n­estly, I was excited to know th­at my character is based on a novel. I knew then that the ch­a­racter would be a powerful one.”

Reminiscing about his shooting experience, he says, “We Bengalis know a little bit about Mammootty and his movies. Mammootty is an amazing actor and a great personality. During the shooting, I had difficulty in communicating with the crew. But Mammooty made me comfortable and helped me develop my character. Since this is my first film, I asked the director to give me one dialogue in Malayalam, it was a short sentence 'Ningalude Kadha'.”

To be an actor was Priam’s childhood passion and his biggest inspiration is Shahr­ukh Khan. “Both Sha­h­rukh and I have some similarities in our lives. He started his acting career with TV serials, so did I. His acting has inspired me in many ways and if I get a ch­ance to work with him that would be one of my greatest moments.”

Ask if he would like to do more movies in Malayalam, he says, “Of course, I would love to do more Malayalam films. I will be visiting Kerala soon for the promotional activities of the movie and I would like to meet the talented actors here!”