A few days before the release of their film, Meri Pyaari Bindu co-actors Ayushmann Khurrana and Parineeti Chopra get chatty with Unnati Joshi
Extremely comfortable in each other’s company, actors Ayushmann Khurrana and Parineeti Chopra were glamour personified while promoting Meri Pyaari Bindu. Part of the promotional style game, both got into the skin of their “special appearance” looks with panache. They paired up in black and white, Parineeti looking gorgeous in a lace top paired with lavish Alice pants and Ayushmann rocking the black jacket over stripes and black pants.
The teaser of Akshay Roy’s romantic comedy Meri Pyaari Bindu revealed that Ayushmann and Parineeti play a writer and a singer respectively. “My character is of course of a writer who is obsessed with his neighbour Bindu. And that Bindu is sitting right next to me,” Ayushmaan said smiling, pointing towards Parineeti, who was playing with the mike.
“Apart from that, he (his character) writes pulp fiction novels with quirky titles like Awara Dhoban, Chudail ki Choli. The common factor between these two ( Bindu Shankarnarayanan and Abhimanyu Roy) is that they are music lovers and they have their best songs recorded in a cassette. Every melody, every song has a memory attached to it and is their shared history. That’s the hook of the film. One bizarre coincidence is that we started shooting on May 12 and our film is releasing on May 12,” he told us.
The actors have been touring around for a long time now, promoting the film with concerts for their fans. Apart from singing in front of the fans, the actors have been jamming together off camera as well.
“It was fun working with Ayushmann. We know each other since ages. I have done a lot of shows with him across the world; we used to host together but obviously I always wanted to be his co-star. This film turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life as I have got a great friend. Because both of us love music so much, we used to jam all the time. He understands music technically and I am trained. So I too understand bits of it. Music brought us really close and I want to do more films with him now, provided he agrees,” Parineeti said laughing. Ayushmann couldn’t agree more. And they beat the usual industry cliché of not repeating co-stars and going for fresh outings.
The film too is a bit offtrack. Bollywood has always been making love stories which often run the risk of being monotonous. “This isn’t a love story; it’s a life story of these two characters from five to 25 years, from 1983 to 2017. And they are friends since childhood. What actually happens to them by the time they start working is actually the story of the film. So it’s not really a love story,” Ayushmann emphasised.
“Also, a boy and a girl can never be friends forever, Salman Khan sir has said it in Maine Pyaar Kiya and it is true to an extent. One party has to be in love and that’s how the friendship stays. And in this case Abhimanyu (Abhimanyu Roy, his character) is in love with Bindu. He loves her selflessly while Bindu is ambitious. That is the crux of the story. It is the journey of these two characters,” he added.
Joining a long list of actor-singers, Parineeti makes her debut with Maana ke hum yaar nahi in the film. “The song talks about a journey in life and yes, I relate to it very much. Everybody’s life goes through a lot of ups and downs. So has mine which is why I had to put a lot of soul in the song. This meant a lot to me personally. I am very glad people are connecting to it. I want to sing professionally more often. Now that the journey has begun and that too so well, it has definitely given me the confidence. I was always worried about my voice, be it as a playback singer or as a popular artiste who would be accepted by the Indian audience. This laid the ground,” she told us.
Parineeti has done the arduous drill though. “I have grown up on stage, singing at competitions in school. Then I went to England to study and dropped out for a while. I returned to Mumbai, started acting in films and just like that 12 years passed by. And I hadn’t sung on stage. It’s only because I didn’t think of it as a profession. It somehow faded away from my life. I was singing everyday but I didn’t do a show. Now I am back, back with a bang,” she added.
The trailer of the film was broken down into chapters. When quizzed about it, Parineeti said, “We feel our film is also very different. The narrative demanded these chapters. We thought that one trailer isn’t enough for our film. I don’t think it would have been the correct summary or the representation of our film and hence the marketing team, Maneesh Sharma and Akshay Roy, devised this idea. The chapters have been received very well. People have appreciated it and we are glad.”
“The story is about life across ages so that’s why we have different chapters just like we have them in life. Also I play the writer in the film; I give the voice-over so chapters go with that too,” Ayushamann chipped in.
The teaser of the film was impressive because of its novelty in treatment, complemented and contrasted by old world charm. As a director, Akshay Roy is highly influenced by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Does the film have the Hrishikesh Mukherjee touchIJ “This film is nostalgia laden, it will remind you of all the beautiful things from the past. And as Indians we love living in the past. I also believe that in this particular film, there’s not just Ayushmann Khurrana or Parineeti Chopra, we have Rafi sahab, Kishoreda, Bappida, they are all part of the star cast. That’s my belief. We are using those songs so extensively that they provide a character to our film. Of course, that simplicity was started by Hrishida and Akshay Roy has taken it forward for sure,” the actor said.
How difficult was it for two North Indians to get the accent rightIJ “We were very careful about it. He has spoken a lot of Bengali than I have spoken Tamil. I play a voice-over artiste in the film, so I did these long sessions with the Tamil tutor. We were very conscious but not pressured,” Parineeti said.
Ayushmann also mentioned that he reads film reviews very diligently. “I read reviews, each and every review. Twice. Because I think the kind of films that I have done in the past, they really depend on reviews. Vicky Donor and Dum laga Ke Haisha worked because of word of mouth publicity and favourable reviews.”
Both keep their lives intensely private and do not provide fodder for gossip. Parineeti told us that she wants to keep her love life personal considering there’s a lot of curiosity around the personal life of women actors. “I am actually quite an open person. I talk about everything that I want to. The only thing I want to keep personal is my love life. Other than that I am an open book. If people are interested in any other department of me, it’s pretty much out there.”
About the changes that they as young actors want to see in the film industry, Ayushmann said, “I am happy with whatever is happening in the industry. Had I tried to become an actor in early 2000, I wouldn’t have been what I am right now. I think the doors are flung open wider. It’s less of nepotism. Now the industry is open to everyone, directors, actors, producers. Every kind of film is doing really well.”
“I think creatively it’s a great time. But if there’s any change that I would like to see, it would be the pay disparity between the boys and the girls which is huge and in some cases quite irrational. I would like to see that change,” Parineeti added.
But actor Aamir Khan in an interview said that female actors don’t bring the same crowd as male actors bringIJ Would she agree with itIJ She did. “It’s true I guess. But when the woman is a protagonist, I think there is a certain amount of business that she also brings and the pay-scale is not proportionate to that.”
Parineeti, whose last Bollywood outing was the 2014 film Kill Dill, said her break from the big screen was well-planned. Any apprehensions while she was on breakIJ “I took a ten-month break of not shooting a film and I think that’s very important to my life and career. I could work on my health and my house. I needed some time to introspect. I just needed some time to myself. Because of which I am able to do better now. The break wasn’t that long, it has been hyped too much. I was still doing events, magazines, advertisements. I was just not shooting a film. I would advise every artist to take a break whenever they can.”
How do they deal with social media trollsIJ “We have received more praises than trolls. As long as you are non-controversial and likeable on social media, it’s all fine,” Ayushmaan said.
Parineeti said that there’s always one in a million who would not like you. “I have not been trolled at all. I think generally people like me.”
Baahubali being the most talked about successful film of the year has broken all records. Are they worried about the business of their film in the face of competitionIJ “We believe that if Meri Pyaari Bindu is a good film, people will watch it despite the blockbusters or other films that are releasing this week or the next. We will work anyway,” Parineeti said confidently, signing off.
Photos: Pankaj Kumar