Priya Prakash Varrier – The ‘Wink Girl’ who became an overnight internet sensation

Priya Prakash Varrier is a Malayalam film actress, who turned a national sensation long before her debut movie, Oru Adaar Love got released. She was seen winking flirtatiously in one scene in the video song teaser – Manikya Malaraya Poovi of the movie published on YouTube on 9 February 2018, and the 28-second edited video clip from the song where she is seen winking with her raised eyebrows went viral over net. Very soon she turned a celebrity and became the most searched Indian person over net, and earned millions of followers in Instagram within a few days of video release. By the end of 2018 she became the most searched Indian person in Indian search engines, even beating Indian celebrities.

Priya Prakash Varrier hails from Punkunnam, Thrissur main town. She is a model turned actress, who got her first break to films through Oru Adaar Love. She was supposed to play a brief role in the film, while Noorin Shereef was signed for the role. However after she turned an internet sensation with a single wink, her role was extended and the script was rewritten. Thus she played parallel lead in the film, and Noorin’s role got sidelined. The film had a delayed release in 2019 because of change of script as well as huge expectations. The movie opened to negative reviews and fared only average at box office.

Soon after her wink went viral, the whole nation went crazy over her. She was flooded with film offers and modeling offers, and she appeared in a few TV commercials as well. She received offers from Tamil, Kannada and Bollywood film industries, and accepted the lead role in Sridevi Bungalow. Soon after the trailer was released in 2019, she along with filmmakers was criticized by netizens as it took huge inspirations from the legendary actress, Sridevi. The film is yet to have a theatre release and got embroiled in controversy over the insensitive portrayal of the actress. Boney Kapoor has sent a legal notice to its filmmakers.

Priya Prakash Varrier – Some interesting and less-known facts

Priya’s famous wink from the movie teaser

1. She was doing her first graduation in Vimala Women’s college, Thrissur when she got first break to films.

2. She earned 3 million followers in Instagram in a single day.

3. She donned a swimming costume in her debut Bollywood flick, Sridevi Bungalow, which had some legal troubles.

4. Her distinct eye wink has earned her millions of fans in India as well as abroad.

5. Google translation of the Malabar song –Manikya Malaraya Poovi was so horrible that some Muslims found its lyrics offended and a few declared a fatwa against the song. A legal notice was also issued against the filmmakers and the actress.

6. Manikya Malaraya Poovi is a traditional Mappila Pattu song of Malabar revived and reused for the movie.

7. She was the most searched female celebrity in India during the Valentine’s week 2018.

8. Though she became net world’s most popular face of 2018, she also faced negative criticism and she was frequently targeted with trolls over social media for various reasons. A promotional scene of school campus film – Oru Adaar Love featuring a kiss with co-star Roshan Abdul Rauf infuriated the Internet also.

9. Thanaha (2018) is her first theatric release, as her first signed film Oru Adaar Love had a delayed release in 2019.

10. She is a trained classical dancer.