‘I faced cyberbullying after my first film’: Priya Prakash Varrier

With Love Hackers, which is supposedly based on a true story, Priya Prakash Varrier will shortly make her acting debut in Hindi movies. The actor plays a teen who survives a cybercrime in the upcoming crime thriller. Priya discussed how, following the release of her debut movie Oru Adaar Love, she was subjected to real-life bullying and cyberbullying.

Priya became well-known overnight thanks to her song Manikya Malaraya Poovi from the 2019 Malayalam movie, which included a wink and flying kiss. In response, a lawsuit was brought against the director of the movie and Priya for offending religious sensitivities. Priya described how she became known as a “wink girl” following her film Oru Adaar Love before making her Bollywood debut. She claimed that because she was only 18 at the time, she was unable to deal with the “noise surrounding her wink.”

Priya recently discussed her experiences with “trolls, memes, and nasty remarks” in an interview with News 18. “A major blow out occurred right after I started. I had no influence or control over the noise that was made when I winked. Even the brief time I had to consider what was happening was insufficient. Trolls, memes, and hateful comments had already begun by that point.Since I was an outsider, 18, with no one directing me or instructing me on what to do or not do or how to handle the scenario, it was first a little difficult for me to get used to what was going on. There is a lot of self-doubt that comes along with having to deal with so many challenges early in your profession, according to Priya.

“It was difficult for me at first, but I eventually grew accustomed to the trolls and hateful remarks and learned to ignore them. These things are an inherent part of our line of work, and bullying and trolling are something that all performers deal with on a daily basis. People tend to forget that we are also only human. Instead of seeing us as public personas, they view us as public properties. We all put a little bit more of ourselves out there than the average person because we are performers. However, you are simply not allowed to say anything negative or dismissive about us”, Priya stated.