Actress Priya Prakash Varrier, who is winning praise for her dazzling performance in Tamil film ‘Good Bad Ugly,’ was recently overcome with emotion after being shown a surprise video of superstar Vijay appreciating her work. However, what began as a heartwarming moment soon took an unexpected turn.

During a promotional appearance related to the film, the host told Priya they had something special planned for her. As the crowd watched, a video was played in which Vijay is seen saying, “Hi, you performed beautifully in ‘Good Bad Ugly.’ Please do a dance for another Simran song too.”

Clearly shocked, Priya appeared visibly moved and fought back tears. She turned to the team in disbelief and said, “Is this true? Please play it again,” wanting to hear the words once more. The clip, which seemed to capture Vijay directly complimenting her for recreating the classic Simran number ‘Thottu Thottu Pesum Sultana’ from the 1999 film ‘Ethirum Puthirum,’ left her visibly emotional.

Priya's appearance in ‘Good Bad Ugly,’ directed by Adhik Ravichandran and starring Ajith Kumar, Trisha Krishnan and Arjun Das, marks a major shift in her career. Her performance in the revamped version of the popular dance track — originally performed by actress Simran — has been well-received, especially by Tamil audiences.

Just as she was soaking in the emotional praise from one of Tamil cinema’s biggest icons, the show’s host revealed the twist — the video wasn’t what it seemed. It had been carefully edited using footage from a recent virtual meeting Vijay held with the IT wing administrators of his political party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). In that actual meeting, the actor-politician addressed his team, referring to them as “virtual warriors.” The clip was cleverly repurposed by the show’s team to prank Priya.

After the truth was revealed, Priya tried to maintain her composure. Smiling awkwardly, she said, “This is too much…it’s really wrong, it’s unfair. I was almost in tears.” The host apologised and said, “Sorry, this is not real,” admitting that it was all in good humour but acknowledging her right to be upset.

Despite being visibly taken aback, Priya laughed through the moment and later remarked that the prank “wasn’t a nice thing to do.”

Priya rose to fame in 2019 with a viral clip from her debut film ‘Oru Adaar Love,’ earning the moniker ‘wink girl’. Since then, she has worked across Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi films — including the 2023 Bollywood release ‘Yaariyan 2.’