“Dance and acting, both come naturally to me,” says the chirpy Baby Priya (Priyanka Sharma) who has been participating and winning awards for her dance performances since when she was just 4 years of age. This winning streak continued from her school days right upto her college studies and now wins her millions of fans on Social Media.
As a child artist, Baby Priya acted in her first Television Series ‘Rahul’ on DD when she was just 9 and appeared along with the great icon of Indian Cinema Shri Raza Murad. After winning one of the dance competitions as a child student in Delhi, Baby Priya was felicitated by Late Shiela Dixit, who was the CM of Delhi.
“The Indian Classical Dance form has always amazed me for its form of expressions. Storytelling with Bhaav and Ras And and Intricate Time Signature (Laya Kari) which is typical to Indian Classical Dance forms and that is what makes it unique from other international dance forms,” remarked Baby Priya who has learnt Classical Kathak Dance from Smt. Roshan Kumari, a Padmashree Classical Kathak Dancer who incidentally also tutored actress Saira Banu and later her Guru has been Dr Ina Shah.
A Style icon :-
Since her childhood, Baby Priya was fond of dressing well and had her own unique style. Originally hailing from Himachal Pradesh, people often mistake her as a European or from Middle East, she is born and brought up in Delhi.
Winner of several prizes in acting during her college days, Baby Priya was the only chosen one to have performed during 2023 in Bharat Mandapam during the G20 summit in Delhi with her Indian Classical Kathak performance and Indian folk dance at the N20 Neuroscience Summit.
She has been featured in 2 Television series Paathshala and Khel Khel Mein that were aired on Tata Sky. Baby Priya has lately been featured in the Dr VGP Talk show in Chicago that is trending online. With over 200 certificates in Dance and Acting by Baby Priya performing the Indian Classical Dance forms since her childhood, and scores of live performances in recent years.
On the threshold of International Recognition
Every time Baby Priya uploads a new look on her social media, a lot of established artists are cloning it from time to time. Both her dance style and fashion sense.
Where Dance itself is concerned, Baby Priya is the ‘Epitomy of Grace’. This can be vouched by the 3 music videos in particular in which she is the main protagonist, that have been submitted in Grammy Awards between 2018 and 2023.
One of her dance videos produced by Sweet Beats, has her performing to the song ‘Inhi logo ne Le Liya Dupatta Mera’, originally performed by legendary Meena Kumariji. This performance is hugely appreciated by various dance gurus, eminent choreographers, iconic film producers and directors and the large audience.
On asking her whether she wants to become a Style Icon or an accomplished Dancer, Baby Priya already seems to have made up her mind, “I have a single focus of acting in our Indian Cinema. The present day filmmakers in India are rapidly gaining international recognition with the art and craft that are second to none. Indian films are wowing foreign audiences with their original stories, songs, dance and depiction of Indian culture and family values.”
Because of her dancing and acting talent in equal measure, she is a prime candidate for directors and producers like Karan Johar, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Anurag Basu, Shahrukh Khan, Sooraj Barjatya and Vishal Bharadwaj. With utmost modesty and honesty, this is how I would summarise my meeting with this upcoming star of Bollywood.
Combination of talent and looks such as hers, I would say that in my experience, I have come about only after Aishwariya Rai. Alternatively in a nutshell, I would say that she is the new age Meena Kumari – with her exotic complexion, oriental looks and equal measure of dancing and acting prowess, that’s the shy and charming Priyanka Sharma aka Baby Priya for you!
