Born on 17th September in Chennai, Priya was brought up in both Chennai and
Hyderabad. Priya is proficient in English, Tamil and Telugu and speaks a little
Bengali, Hindi and Spanish. Priya, who describes herself as "naturally
extremely hyperactive", became fascinated by films, developing an interest
in cinema since childhood. She moved to the U. S., where she pursued her higher
studies and returned to India in 2008 to pursue a career in films. She first
ventured into modeling, appearing in various television commercials like Nutrine
Maha Lacto, Prince Jewellery and Cadbury Dairy Milk.
She was initially supposed to make her acting debut in the
Tamil film Pugaippadam, which she signed first but since its release was delayed
until 2010, her first release became the action-thriller Vaamanan, directed
by newcomer Ahmed. She next starred in her first Telugu film, AVM Productions'
Sekhar Kammula directed political drama Leader, alongside newcomers Rana Daggubati
and Richa Gangopadhyay.