Actor Sri Gouri Priya recently starred in the Telugu film Chennai Love Story alongside Kiran Abbavaram and received praise for her performance. She’s no stranger to Tamil cinema either, as the 2024 film Lover made her a household name. “As a child, I was too young to understand the difference between Telugu and Tamil films as many dubbed films would release here,” the Secunderabadi native tells Hindustan Times, adding, “A lot of my childhood favourite films are Tamil dub.”
Learning Tamil to work in Kollywood
Gouri says that learning Tamil as a Telugu girl was initially quite difficult. “When I was younger, I would sing a lot of Telugu songs that were actually dubbed from Tamil. Later, I used to listen to them in the original language to understand the meaning. It would intrigue me to hear how different they would sound, even though the tune and meaning are the same,” she explains, adding, “During the pandemic, I started watching films in the original language too. That brought me closer to Tamil cinema.”
However, the actor says that she never expected to be a part of the Tamil film industry someday, let alone find fame there. “It’s not my mother tongue, and I wouldn’t understand the language when they saw me in one of my Telugu films and approached me. But soon, I started using my dialogue to converse in real life, and I would talk to people in Tamil while shooting. By my second film (Happy Raj), I was fully versed in the language, to the point that I could understand and speak my lines,” adds Gouri.
Kollywood thinks she’s one of their own
Gouri says there has been no looking back since she learnt Tamil and states that Kollywood has also made her feel one of their own. “A lot of Telugu people actually think I’m a Tamilian who came to Tollywood, but that’s not the case. I’m just a Telugu girl who did a little well in Tamil. The Tamilians have also equally accepted me and are surprised by my speaking skills. It all just grounds me and pushes me to do better,” she says.
Gouri now has her third Tamil film, Bro Club (initially titled Bro Code), lined up. Directed by Karthik Yogi, the film is produced by and stars Ravi Mohan, along with SJ Suryah, Arjun Ashokan, Shraddha Srinath, and Malavika Manoj. “I’m listening to scripts and taking a small break now because the last year and a half has been rough and overwhelming,” says the actor, adding, “I shot for Bro Club last year and am waiting to go back on set for that.”
Chennai Love Story is streaming on SonyLIV.