Priyanka Jawalkar speaks on ‘digesting success’
The actor is riding high on positive feedback received for both her back-to-back movie releases
Hyderabad: Like many glam girls, Priyanka Jawalkar, too, had to face a tough challenge losing weight after she was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and insulin resistance. That didn’t stop her from giving her best while balancing too many shoots.
“It was a difficult journey. Food control, high-intensity workouts, thousands of squats a day. At one point, I got used to sugar-free taste. Then keto diet. I followed it for four years. I had to restrict intake of carbs and protein. Now, I am out of it completely; weight has been balanced with a proper kitchen diet. It was a tough ask for me to get into proper shape,” says Priyanka.
Priyanka has been enjoying box office success with two hits in just a week’s gap. Both ‘Thimmarusu’ and ‘SR Kalyanamandapam’ in which she played two different roles of a matured female lawyer and a college student were praised by the audiences.
“I spent tense and sleepless nights during the release time. We weren’t sure how the crowd would turn up. Many theatres have been shut through the pandemic lockdown. Now when my movies got released in theatres, the response was amazing. Watching my movies being played in almost every theatre in Telugu States gives me so much satisfaction.”
The Taxiwala actor is happy that she got to play performance-oriented roles in ‘SR Kalyanamandapam’ and her upcoming movie ‘Gamanam’, but she is still sceptical of playing aggressive and bold roles.
“Whether bashing students in college or playing an aggressive girl student or a matured lawyer — it was difficult to portray emotions on-screen. Naturally, I am new to playing such bold characters,” she shares.
“I have frank friends who told on my face what went wrong with ‘Thimmarusu’, while they praised my role in ‘SR Kalyanamandapam’. Some felt I should have raised the metres to play more mischief. But I felt in ‘Thimmarusu’, I could have done better,” she adds.
The actor says back-to-back successes at the box office left her “so overwhelming that it was hard to digest the success”. “Sometimes, I get emotional. But it’s an everyday process to master your craft. The audience would definitely forget me. I shouldn’t keep on doing back-to-back movies to keep myself in the reckoning. Fans remember the impact of characters that they have watched on-screen,” she said.
Reading negative stories about her on the internet, says the actor, she just laughs out loud. “I feel so funny. It looks comical to hear the news about my health and career. Is life this complicated to take all this to heart? I am a chill out girl and have my space.”
