'My grandmother is from Kottayam': 'Varanasi' star Priyanka Chopra stuns Prithviraj Sukumaran with her Kerala roots

As we all know, the Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra has an interesting Kerala connection and the 'Varanasi' actor delved into more details about the same to her co-star Prithviraj Sukumaran in a recent interview.

Priyanka Chopra's Kottayam connection

In an interview with Screen Rant Plus, Mahesh Babu initiated an interesting conversation about Kalaripayattu. He said he had trained for six months so his running and action scenes would look natural. “Kalaripayattu is a special art, and Prithviraj will be able to talk more about it,” said Mahesh Babu.





Right after this, Chopra looked at him and said, “I know kalari too, okay? It is also the art of my land; my grandmother is from Kottayam!” Mahesh and Prithviraj looked surprised and happy when they heard her say this.

Mahesh Babu talks about his hard training

Mahesh Babu spoke more about kalari in the chat, “When you do kalari, the body becomes flexible and it becomes easier to do such poses.” He also said the director wanted him to change his running style. So he trained for six months with a track and field team. Mahesh Babu said that there are only two shots of that run in the movie, but he still wanted to work hard to get it right. 'Spyder' actor also said kalari is a kind of exercise for him.

Pictures that helped Mahesh Babu learn

Mahesh said the director gave him pictures of European sculptures that had special poses, “I stuck those pictures all around my study room. I tried to copy those poses and kept them saved on my phone.” He said it helped him understand how the body should look in certain scenes.

Food talk makes the chat fun

The host then asked them what their favourite Indian food was. Mahesh did not even wait for a second, “Hyderabadi chicken biryani is my life.” Priyanka smiled and said she also likes Hyderabadi biryani. She then added, “Hyderabadi food is amazing. I like chicken biryani too. But I am a big fan of chaats. Chaats are street food. That is my favourite.”

Prithviraj shares his view on Indian food

Prithviraj said something different about Indian food. He said India’s food is like India’s movies, very different everywhere. He said, “Indian food is like Indian cinema. There is no one thing called ‘Indian food.’ In different parts of India, the food is very, very different.”


He said he grew up in a coastal town in Kerala and ate lots of seafood. The 'Khalifa' actor said that rice and fish curry from his hometown will always be his favourite.


Meanwhile, the fans are all excited for 'Varanasi' release which is set for April 7, 2027.Get the latest entertainment updates from the Times of India, along with the latest Hindi movies, upcoming Hindi movies in 2026 , and Telugu movies.”