Scents & Sensibility

In our conversation, it is inevitable that the hidden side of being so long in the spotlight comes up, and Priya tackles the topic head-on. “A lot of times, we think TV or acting just happens to people, and things look so glamorous and lovely in front of the camera. But there is a lot of hard work, a lot of effort behind it,” she candidly admits. “A lot of things can go wrong which may not appear so on the outside. With the glamour industry, given the number of people out there every single day trying to make their mark, it’s not easy at all.”

For her, what works is always giving her best. “Presenters and actors…” she tries to find the right words. “What we are in front of the camera, we really may not be in real life. Even though we’ve had a bad day, even though there may be something going on that we might not be very happy with—in our family, in our personal lives or even professionally—once the camera is on, you put on a smile, and you’re a different person.”

Doing this continuously can take its toll, notes Priya, shedding light on the mental health issues that have plagued many celebrities the world over. “When you’re off camera, you go back into your personal life. It’s something you cannot avoid, even if you want to. So many times, we try to surround ourselves with people, be as social as we can so we don’t feel lonely or upset and don’t think about our issues. But at some point, it does bother us,” she explains. “Sometimes, what appears on the surface is not so. And it’s okay, because each one of us has baggage. What is important is that we address it, and try to resolve it so we can move ahead in our lives.”

“We need to encourage every person in our lives to come out and talk. If you’re friends with that person, or their caretaker, or in any way related to them, you need to push them to talk about it.” She adds that many people have a different ‘public’ persona from their internal reality, explaining that being on social media, for someone like her, is part of her job. “But inside, I may be going through something that I probably want people to ask me about, and then I can tell them… Maybe it’s difficult for me to reach out to people. We kind of ignore this a lot of times, and that’s what we should avoid.”