Who is Lavanya Das, the teenager from Bastar who became an overnight sensation
A 16 year old girl from left wing extremism Bastar with dreams in her eyes of making it big in the acting world got her biggest thumbs up when on June 12 Priyanka Chopra made a story of her dance video and shared it on her instagram handle. The share made the performer an overnight sensation with the number of followers on instagram zooming to 1.1 million in a manner of days.Born in Jagdalpur, Lavanya Das, the daughter of a government school teacher in Jagdalpur had made a self choreographed video of herself belly dancing to the Asha Bhonsle sung Piya Tu Ab to Aaja and posted it on her instagram account on June 4. A student of class XII at the Success Convent School in the town, Lavanya had never imagined that a week later her video could have reached Priyanka Chopra and impressed her.advertisementLavanya comes from a family of actors. Her mother Neelima Das Manikpuri and maternal grandfather Bhagirathi Das Mahanandi- who incidentally was also a school teacher have been working as threatre actors. Her grandfather in fact was considered an authority on Halbi dialect spoken by the Gond community in Bastar. Lavanya has already featured in a number of Odiya and Chhattisgarhi music videos and was a child artiste in Doordarshan programs. She has not received any formal training in dance or acting but her mother Neelima is a trained Kathak dancer and tutors her. ' I want to pursue an acting course after my Class XII exams, either in Delhi or Hyderabad wherever I get admission,' Lavanya told India Today.Lavanya's father passed away in 2019 but the mother daughter duo continue with the family tradition of pursuing performing arts.advertisement
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