Hope to explore more work in India: Priyanka Bose

PTI, Dec 12, 2021, 5:00 PM IST

Mumbai:  Actor Priyanka Bose, best known for her appearance in Hindi films “Johnny Gaddaar”, “Love Sex Aur Dhoka” and Oscar nominated “Lion”, says the influx of OTT platforms has brought a huge change in the writers room in India.

Bose started her acting career with theatre in Delhi before joining movies. After a series of small appearances in various Hindi films, including Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaarish , her first lead role came in 2010 multilingual feature Gangor”, directed by Italian helmer Italo Spinelli.

Since then, the India-born actor has shuffled between Mumbai and Los Angeles starring in Nicole Kidman and Dev Patel’s “Lion”, Mortal opposite Nat Wolff and series The Good Karma Hospital .

Now that the storytellers in India are much more open to exploring varied ideas, the actor said she hopes to make the most of it.

I hope that I get to explore more in India. The OTT is really shining at the moment where a lot of women and interesting actors, I have never seen before, I’m suddenly paying attention to. There is great talent.

“The whole atmosphere of the writers room has changed because of Amazon, Netflix. I’m just hopeful that the producers will see that this is a great opportunity to do more business with someone like me, Bose told PTI in a Zoom interview.

As an artiste, she said her aim is to maintain a good balance between Indian and international projects.

“I want to do at least one project in India. It’s my home. It’s where I come from. I am a middle-class girl, I have a different kind of desire, I want to explore Indian stories as well,” she added.

While trying to get the best of both worlds, Bose said she also wants to steer away from getting pigeonholed.

In the West there is another kind of stereotype, in India there’s another kind of stereotype. I would always persevere to be different in everything I do because I don’t think people are coming to see me, they are coming to see the character.”

Bose’s next major project is Amazon Studios and Sony Pictures Television web series The Wheel of Time.

The show is based on Robert Jordan’s epic fantasy series of novels, which are set in a world where magic exists and only certain women are allowed to wield it.

It features international cast including Oscar nominated actor Rosamund Pike, Daniel Henney, Dutch actor Josha Stradowski, Australia’s Madeleine Madden, among others.

Bose said she landed the role of Alanna Mosvani soon after casting director Tess Joseph and showrunner Rafe Judkins saw her audition.

The actor believes the series has made her travel into uncharted territories as a performer. `

I was at a very strange crossroad with my life, where nothing I was getting was making sense because I had already done those things. And as an actor, you get hungry. I’m an older woman and I want to explore different kinds of roles. When this came, I felt I could definitely do it as it was different.

To prepare for her role, Bose said she completely relied on the script and didn’t read the book series.

The book series has a big fandom. It has a big legacy so I didn’t want to be influenced by the book to create the character. So, my discussion with Rafe Judkins was about the script and how I see Alanna.

The first three episodes of the season one of The Wheel of Time released on November 19, with new episodes premiering every Friday, leading up to the season finale on December 24.