Bhojpuri: Actress Priyanka Maharaj reveals that people also told me that I will have to make compromises to get work.

bhojpuri: Priyanka Maharaj, a young actress of Bhojpuri films, has become the active face of films and albums. Priyanka has also shared screen space with Pawan Singh and Khesari Lal Yadav. Apart from her struggle so far, she also shared her experience about the work attitude of the Bhojpuri industry. Highlights from the conversation with Urmila Kori.

Dad didn’t want me to be an actress.

The road so far was full of difficulties and it is still going on. However, if my mother had not been there, this journey would have become more difficult for me. My father was an excise officer. His thinking was that daughters in the family should not work in films. My father did not want it, so there was no support from my father. She wanted to be an actress but her dream could not be fulfilled so she set out to fulfill my dream. She had left her job as a teacher for me. She tells dad that I am going to audition. I am going for an appearance test so I did not have to explain much. I used to go with him.

has also suffered fraud

I have suffered a lot. I have also faced a fraud. I was called to Delhi from Bihar. After that, you will have to pay 1.5 lakh. get the Thapki serial. I took it from my father and later I came to know that it was a fraud. From there, my mother and I came to Mumbai overnight. There is Amber Hotel in Jogeshwari, Mumbai, where I stayed for one and a half months. Due to lack of support from her father, she was unable to pay the money. It was almost time for the hotel staff to evict him, so my mother called my father and told him that she would give him the money only on one condition – if he came back to Bihar.

She then bagged the film Ziddi with Pawan Singh.

Before coming to Delhi, I used to do the serial Sakhi Bani Sautan. Which used to be costume in Valmiki Nagar of Nepal. There I met Bhojpuri film director Viraj Bhatt ji and he told me that Pawan ji’s film is coming and one has to lead it. On hearing Pawan ji’s name, I said yes and didn’t ask anything further. We met Virat ji and Pawan ji while we were staying in a hotel in Mumbai for a month and a half. After this I got the film Ziddi. Dad had paid the hotel bill but I had been given the film Stubborn and decided that I didn’t want to go. I shifted to Nalasopara. The room rent was around Rs 5,000. This was around 2017. Then my journey as an actress started. Well, after that my father felt that she is not going to agree anymore. Even after all this, if she doesn’t want to leave acting, then she will make her career in it. She also got tired and said, let’s do whatever we want. I’m with you. But don’t ever do anything that will make me bow my head to what I’ve done even though I’m the daughter of an inspector. Actually, I was the only daughter, so my father didn’t say much to me. Whatever he had to say, he used to say to my mother.

I wanted to be an actress since I was little.
I loved watching serials since I was a child. At that time, a serial of Pakhi Hegde ji used to come on. I will be Miss India. From then on, I used to tell my father that I want to take up acting. I want to become Pawan ji’s heroine. When I was little, even my father would say yes son, do it. We didn’t know that she stubbornly sat and did the same. Right from my school and college days, I was interested in theatre and modelling.

What people say about Pawan
Whatever people say about Pawan ji, he has been a great support. It was my first film but he helped me speak the dialogues. My childhood dream was to become Pawan Singh’s heroine and when this dream came true, I was very nervous. Many times I used to say one thing in the dialogue and I used to say something else but I will praise Pawan Singh, he was very relaxed and used to tell me to take my time.

You’ll have to give in, I’ve heard that too.
Initially, whenever I went to any office for an audition, I used to take my mother with me. At that time, people would tell me that I would not be able to become a heroine if I went everywhere with my mother. There is commitment here. You know the meaning of commitment, right? All these things I have heard at the beginning of my career. Apart from these things, I would also say that no one is forcing you to come, unless it is your wish. I have a very simple principle that whatever work comes to me, I will do it based on my ability, otherwise if the work comes, so be it. I have also had to suffer the consequences of taking my mother with me everywhere. I was there during the Muhurta of the film, but the film was shot with another actress. The story changed. I had four songs. Suddenly, two of my songs were given to another actress.

Girls believe in shortcuts
To be honest, if I talk about my experiences, I am looking around. To tell the truth, girls have become more spoiled than boys. The industry is full of such girls. Who says you do whatever you want, just give me the song? Many girls, to get work in films, say that if Pawan Singh or such and such superstar touches me, then my life will be better. Girls want to use shortcuts to get work. Then when the matter escalates, they say that this was done to me. He did that to me.

the fight begins again

My father died in 2018. After that I was completely shattered. Despite not wanting to I had to take a 2 year break because this time my mom needed me. After that came Covid. I had to start again from scratch. It spread in the industry or even after that I said goodbye to the industry forever. So again this is my beginning and I am struggling again.

The album is being shot on the budget of Bhojpuri films.
At the moment, the Bhojpuri film market is down. All my focus is on the album. Well, three or four of my films are ready for release. It is with Manoj and Pandey. There is also a film with Gunjan ji. Earlier, the demand for Bhojpuri film actresses was more than that of album actresses, but now both the markets will be almost the same. Girls are being sought from social media and cast in music videos, who have more followers. I would like to say that a Bhojpuri film has a budget, now only the songs in an album are shot on the same budget. I have a music video coming up with Khesari Lal ji.