Actress Priya Kansara was named Best Newcomer at the 2023 Asian Media Awards.
The stars of radio, TV and broadcasting gathered at the 11th AMA ceremony at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate.
The awards, which are supported by the University of Salford, celebrated winners in a range of categories in journalism, stage, online and creative media and were hosted by Magic FM’s Neev Spencer.
Those honoured on the night included broadcaster Tina Daheley, LBC presenter Sangita Myska and Mihir Bose who received the Outstanding Contribution to Media Award.
Priya Kansara has featured in some of the most critically acclaimed films and series of recent times.
Priya trained at The Identity School of Acting, London and landed the lead role in the action-comedy Polite Society which has been commended for smashing open stereotypes.
The film, written by Nida Manzoor, debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and has already garnered a burgeoning cult following.
In interviews Priya, who plays Ria Khan in the film, a British Pakistani who dreams of being a professional stunt performer, admits to learning a whole variety of new skills during filming itself.
Uniquely, the film does not explore the familiar plotlines that tend to be played out for leading Asian characters and instead focusses on a teenager’s determination to protect her sister, played by Ritu Arya, at any costs.
Priya also comes from a background with no experience in the film industry and worked in the health and pharmaceutical industry. A graduate of University College London (UCL) in Molecular Biology, Priya took up evening acting classes to pursue her interest in film and TV.
Her first major role came in series two of the Netflix hit, Bridgerton, where she played Miss Eaton.
She also featured in the new Netflix series The Bastard Son and the Devil Himself, a British fantasy drama television series created by Joe Barton.
Priya was named one of Screen International Stars of Tomorrow 2022.
This year’s Asian Media Awards winners were announced at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate on Friday October 27.
Previous recipients of an Asian Media Award include Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Waris Hussein, Art Malik, Mehdi Hasan, Nina Wadia, Anita Rani, Shobna Gulati, Faisal Islam, Adil Ray & Lisa Aziz.
The University of Salford are Premier Partners to the Asian Media Awards.
Partners to the awards include ITV, EssenceMediaCom, Reach PLC & Women In Journalism.
The awards are also supported by Manchester Metropolitan University, AMT Lawyers, DKR Accountants, Opus Broadband, Hilton Manchester Deansgate, Fritz AV, Payal Events & Cleartwo.
