Exclusive! Priya Prakash Varrier fights dark-web racketeers in Russia in crime thriller Love Hackers

Actress and influencer Priya Prakash Varrier, who amassed a massive following on social media after her wink from Oru Adaar Love song went viral, will be taking on dark web racketeers in her upcoming Bollywood movie titled Love Hackers. The film, directed by Mayank Prakash Srivastava, will mark her second Hindi outing after Sridevi Bungalow.

Talking to OTTplay, Mayank, who had previously helmed Kala Sach: The Black Truth, says that the crime thriller is based on true incidents that had happened during the pandemic. “Since the pandemic, everybody has been hooked to the Internet. Starting from teens to those in their 30s and 40s, most of them do not know the consequences of showcasing everything about their lives on social media. Gradually, they get lured by the dark-web racketeers and then it becomes a nightmare for anyone involved,” he says.

The director explains to us that a case cracked by the Delhi police last year became the inspiration for the film. “We took a cue from that and researched further cases to devise the film,” says Mayank. On Priya’s character, he says, “She plays the lead role of a girl who falls into the trap of cyberhackers. But using her wits, she gives them a fight. Through her character, we also wanted to show that women can do anything if they want to.”

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The movie also has Pavan Malhotra as an investigative officer, and Brijendra Kala and Jayati Bhatia, who will be seen as the parents of Priya’s character. Rahul Mittra, Richa Mukherjee and Sunil Palwal play the other supporting characters. The team wrapped up shooting for the film last month. Lucknow, Chandigarh and Mumbai were the other locations of the film, that was shot extensively in Russia.

On the experience of filming in Russia during the pandemic, Mayank says, “It was tough. While the number of cases were under control, there were hard restrictions. Our biggest challenge, however, was the weather. We aren’t used to shooting in biting-cold conditions. One day, you might have rain and the temperature falls to -1 degree Celsius and the next day, you will have snowfall. So, we were totally thrown out of gear due to the conditions that we were totally unprepared for.”

Ask the filmmaker about the movie’s release plans and he says, “We are yet to decide on the release. If there’s a third wave of COVID-19, then it will be an OTT release but if everything goes back to normal, we will be opting for a theatrical release.”