Actress Priya Hassan dubs her experience of juggling umpteen roles as “different and difficult”. “Imagine acting, getting behind the camera and making sure your money is not wasted,” she says.
Her latest project, titled ‘Smuggler’, has all the trappings of a suspense thriller and Priya doesn’t want to let anybody in on the suspense just yet. She plays a double role and confesses that this is one of those rare projects in which she has managed to play contrasting roles to perfection. While one role is that of a smuggler, the other one is more traditional.
“I researched about smugglers and my director briefed me about the life of a smuggler. How they go about their operations without falling into the cop’s net and how they communicate with just their expressions and body language are what I have also tried to replicate in my character,” Priya tells Metrolife.
The story is woven around smuggling and its repercussions. The people involved in smuggling and the tactics they use to get things done have been captured in the film.
“I had to quickly change my attitude from being a smuggler with tough action sequences and expressions in one sequence to a traditional Iyengar girl in the next one. It was indeed quite challenging to pull it off but the two roles gave me a chance to explore and exploit the actor in me,” she states.
Priya’s latest project is a woman-centric film and she observes that at a time when most films are centred around the hero, films like ‘Smuggler’ send out a strong message.
“There are women in every profession who are not only on par with men but one step ahead of them. The underworld is largely male-dominated but this movie will have a female leading the gang. That should be interesting,” reasons Priya.
The many tomboyish roles that Priya has played in the past have earned her the reputation of being a rough and tough person. But she doesn’t think twice before saying, “I am not a rough person but after essaying a couple of tough characters, it’s now hard for me to easily slip into a traditional role. I hope people will accept me in this role as my future projects will depend on the response I get for this film,” she concludes.