Actress Aanand Priya who comes from a strong theatre background (MA in Indian Theatre) and is best known for her work in Punjabi films such as 'Jal Wayu Enclave', 'Stupid 7', 'Ik Sandhu Hundi Si', web show 'Yaar Chale Bahar 'and many more, now has made her debut with Netflix's series ‘Kohrra’, helmed by director Randeep Jha and show runner Sudip Sharma.
The actress is currently garnering accolades for her portrayal of Veera, Paul's fiance who was murdered in the show, which features Barun Sobti, Harleen Sethi and Varun Badola among others.
Sharing about the kind of responses she is getting, she mentioned, "I'm getting a wonderful response, and my heart is full. My friends and family are so proud and happy to see me on Netflix. A lot of people have told me that they found my performance quite realistic and emotionally moving. It's a nice feeling to see your hard work pay off and receive this kind of recognition."
Giving insights about her role, she shared, "I portray Veera, Paul's fiance- who is murdered, and the entire series revolves around uncovering this murder. Veera and her ex boyfriend- Saakar are also suspects in this case. I'd seen Casting Bay's casting call on Instagram and I'd sent them an email with my profile. Casting director Vikhyat contacted me, and we even ran into each other on a short film set. There were two rounds of auditions and after a wait of a month and a half, I got the call."
Talking about how she prepared for her role, she mentioned, "I have done my Master's in Theatre, and there, we were taught various tools and methods of characterisation. I feel like different approaches work for different scenes and different characters. There were some parts of the script that felt a little new and challenging to me but I was blessed with an amazing team. Workshops with my co actors also helped a lot with the preparation."
She further added, "We had discussed our characters and their relationships quite in detail before the shoot of the show with the director. So we had a lot of clarity on what we were going to do. And on set, we had a lot of liberty to play around and add our own mannerisms to the characters. Our director Randeep Jha and our showrunner Sudip Sharma were quite encouraging and open to discussions."
Describing her working experience in the show, she said, "Working in ‘Kohrra’ has been a delightful experience throughout- be it the workshops, the shoots or even traveling for it. It was incredible working with all these talented people. I really enjoyed the process of becoming Veera. My entire appearance was changed and the moment I stepped out of the vanity, I truly felt Veera and not myself. I got along really well with all my co actors. Suvinder Vicky (who plays Balbir Singh) led a theater workshop for kids in 2004 and I was one of the kids there. It felt like a full circle. Many of my co actors are also alumni of my Theatre Department, so it felt like I was working with my family there."
Lastly, talking about her upcoming projects, she signed off by saying, "I'm working on a Punjabi film and a Hindi Web series. The shoots will start in September and November respectively. I'm also looking forward to doing some good theater in Mumbai."
