I am my favourite: Payal Ghosh - TeluguPeople.com News

Hyderabad: Payal Ghosh is her name but as far as Tollywood goes she's known as Harika. That was the name of her character in the film Prayanam. 'I never changed my name. It's just something that stuck with me ever since Prayanam released,' she says laughing.

Prayanam was a coming of age romance directed by Chandra Sekhar Eleti. Payal, though, is only too pleased with her new name. 'It's great that people associate me with the character. It means people have accepted me, I feel very fortunate,' she beams.

Prayanam was her debut film in Telugu but she's acted in a couple of international productions before. She starred in Sharpe's Peril, a British television drama about the East India Company.

'I played the role of the daughter of the first Bengali man to revolt against the British Empire,' she explains. Then she acted in an Indo-Canadian production, Good Friday.

'I played the role of a schoolgirl who falls in love with the neighbour's servant. It was a great experience, the film was screened at many international film festivals,' she shares.

How she ended up being an actress makes for a very interesting story. 'I love Mumbai. So I decided to move there soon after completing my graduation in Political Science,' she says. That seemed to be the turning point. She soon started to work as a model to support herself.

One day she decided to enrol herself in Kishore Namit Kapoor's acting academy, just like that. 'It was incredible. I was adjudged the best actress in many skits that we did there. It filled me with confidence. That's where I got selected to be a part of Sharpe's Peril,' she explains, adding, 'I think it was my destiny.'

Her decision to take up acting did not go down well with her dad, a civil engineer in Kolkata. He did not speak to me for six months,' she says. Things have changed for the better now.

'Now everything is fine. He even came down to watch my film Prayanam,' she explains. Payal has acted in seven films in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada till date.

She is currently playing the lead in Mr Rascal being directed by Uday Kumar. 'The film deals with the issue of how a child's psyche gets affected when growing up in a corrupted society,' she shares. Ravi, a newcomer is playing the lead in the film.

'Mine is a performance-oriented role. I play the role of a girl who comes in the hero's life and turns him into a good person,' says Payal. Besides, she's also playing the second lead in NTR's next film, Oosaravelli.

Legendary Bollywood actress Smita Patil is her role model. 'I would love to do a role like the one Smita Patil did in Arth,' she remarks. Her big dream though is to act in a Bollywood film. 'I've been a Bollywood buff ever since my childhood and it has been my dream to act in Hindi films,' she confesses.

Payal doesn't mind admitting that she realised she was pretty very early in life. 'I have been the winner of beauty pageants all through my school and college,' she quips.

The boys of Kolkata played their part as well. 'I have always been at the receiving end of attention from boys during my teenage years. I've had my share of being wooed,' she shares smiling. Ask her how pretty she thinks she is, 'I am my favourite,' she says cracking up.

Well, that's confidence for you, not many will disagree. As an actress though, her goals are pretty sorted. 'I would like to make a name for myself as an actress of reckoning,' she says signing.