I'm a traumatised star!" Perizaad Zorabian cries on the telephone.
The actress has a very busy schedule. Between giving non-stop interviews for her upcoming films, Joggers' Park and Mumbai Matinee, and learning Carnatic music for five hours a day for her under-production film Morning Raaga, she is also shooting continuously. "I will be going to Rajgandhavi [near Hyderabad] to shoot for Morning Raaga," she says. "All our village scenes will be shot there. Then I'm off to New Jersey to shoot for Arranged Marriage."
But Perizaad admits the going has been very good. She shot for her first advertisement when she was only 16 years old. The Clearasil ad, directed by Shekhar Kapur, fell in her lap because Kapur's niece was her friend. "Those days, I was so shy I would not smile in front of the camera!" she laughs.
Modelling, more ads and music videos followed. Her first film, Nagesh Kukunoor's Bollywood Calling, wasn't quite her ticket to fame, but it made her a known face globally.
While Joggers' Park releases on September 12, Mumbai Matinee is scheduled for a September 26 release.
Perizaad talks to rediff.com about life and films.
Tell us about yourself.
I did my MBA [Masters in Business Management] in Baruch College, New York. I also studied Western classical ballet for 12 years. Dance is my passion. But I wanted to learn more. I had a friend in the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute. He would come home to practise his acting and ask me to recite the other person's lines. Thanks to him, I decided to try acting for the experience.
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I returned to Mumbai and joined my father in his poultry business, Zorabian Chicks Private Limited. But I did not have a creative outlet. It was just work. Later, I met a model coordinator at a wedding, Mona Irani. Through her, I did an ad for Fair And Lovely. I enjoyed it, because I met a new set of people and made a lot of money.
Then I heard Nagesh Kukunoor was looking for a girl for Bollywood Calling. Mona gave him my photos. He rejected me instantly because I was too 'Western-looking'. When Mona told him I was from Strasberg, his ears pricked up. I auditioned and got the role.
I decided I would just shoot for the film and go back to selling chicken. Which I did. But once Bollywood Calling was released, my life changed.
How did you decide to get into films?
I would have never thought of becoming an actress if it were not for Bollywood Calling. I had never thought of pursuing an acting career. I always thought of myself as a businesswoman.
When did you decide that you wanted to act and not be a businesswoman?
After Bollywood Calling, I did not want to sign everything that came my way. But I'm a workaholic and did not want to sit around. So I did both [looking after her dad's business and films]. But it was terrible because I gave neither my best.
My father told me if I did films with the security blanket of business underneath, I would never give my best. So I chose acting. Now Joggers' Park and Mumbai Matinee will decide whether I have an acting career. Otherwise, I will go back to my chickens!
How did you feel when you saw your first hoarding of Bollywood Calling?
When I saw the hoardings, I died! When I saw myself on screen, I wanted to kill myself! I thought the whole world would make fun of me. Now, because my next release is after two years, I am nervous all over again. I think I am really bad. I keep worrying, what if the audience rejects me or makes fun of me?
Bollywood Calling released in 2001. What have you been doing the last two years?
I did an NRI film in the US, Namaste. It flopped and did not release in India. Then I did a Chinese film, Bandung Sonata, where I played [the late former Indian prime minister] Indira Gandhi. Next, I shot for Mumbai Matinee and Joggers' Park.
I'm very bad at asking people for work because I fear rejection. All my films have come to me. But now I plan to meet directors and expand my spectrum of work. I want to do commercial films too. As an actor, you should not deny yourself any experience or stereotype yourself.
Can you see yourself in a commercial film?
No! But it's a challenge. You cannot do only what you can identify with. In Joggers' Park, I did a jhatka-matka song and it killed me! Maybe for a Bollywood actress to play Jenny [Perizaad's character in Joggers' Park] would have been difficult because she is so natural.
In Hindi films, expressions are slightly exaggerated. In arty films, it is toned down. Make an art film actress do these jhatkas and see how uncomfortable she gets!
[Choreographer] Shiamak Davar had once told me that the greatest artiste is one who doesn't mind when someone makes fun of him. Most people are scared of looking stupid and prefer to do what is in their comfort zone. The challenge is to do a jhatka-matka number and make it rock! Take Kajol and Tabu. They do both jhatka-matka dances and serious cinema.
It's important to be a balanced actress. I don't want to be stereotyped. I want to do global cinema. That's why I did the Indira Gandhi film.
Do you think audiences will accept your Western looks?
Did you ever think Preity Zinta would fit in? She looks so Western. But she found her niche. I would like to find my own niche too. It's all about experimenting.
I know it will not be in my comfort zone, but I want to try it. But I'm not saying that I will make a career out of Bollywood films.
You have worked with veterans like Om Puri (Bollywood Calling), Victor Banerjee (Joggers' Park) and Shabana Azmi (Morning Raaga).
Yes, it's been fantastic! Acting is all about reacting. If you just listen to the other person, you will rock. These people are such serious actors. They are not caught up in ego hassles, whether they are better in the scene or the other person. They teach and guide you.
I have learnt so much more on the sets than in Strasberg, which is one of the best acting schools in the world.
Their experience rubbed off on me and made me better. They helped me handle a scene better and gave me tips. I'm a student on the sets. I have done theatre, but that is very different from films. Om Puri used to make me believe in myself. He would always encourage me, but never in a condescending way. He said if you feel good about yourself, it will reflect on screen.
What is the one thing you love about Hindi films?
I love the honesty of not trying to be intelligent.
There's a wonderful scene in Bollywood Calling when Pat Cusick throws a tantrum about Kajal [Perizaad's character] changing her sari five times in a song. So she makes him understand, saying that we're not a bunch of fools who don't know what we're doing. We know exactly what we're doing. We live in a country that doesn't want to see reality. They like seeing Kajal changing her sari five times in a song and we're giving them exactly what they want to see!
Look at our audiences in the villages. When they watch films after a hard day's work, they want to go to a fantasy world. Our films don't pretend to be intellectual. They are only meant for fun. Of course, nowadays, there are films that are being made only for the metros. But that does not mean that the other films are not being made.
But all your films are meant for the metros.
Yes. Because I do not look like the typical heroine, I may not appeal to the man in Bihar. But it is strange that my first two fan mails were from Jalna and Patna. I want to be exposed to that audience and then see whether they accept or reject me.
Joggers' Park is the most universal film that I have done so far. It may appeal to even my gurkha [colloquial for watchman]. The theme is different, but it is a very light film, with great music.
Why the delay in the release of Joggers' Park and Mumbai Matinee?
It is because of the [distributors'] strike in May. The release schedules have gone haywire. To release films like these, makers need an adequate number of theatres, mostly multiplexes, which are not available now.
To work with Subhash Ghai in your very second film must be a high.
Yes! Now, I'm on a three-film contract with Mukta Arts [Ghai's company].
How was the experience of working with Anant Balani?
[Note: This interview was conducted before the director passed away.]
Fabulous. It's very easy to make melodrama look dramatic, but it is very difficult to make a simple thing look magical.
Anant has that knack. He makes you underplay stuff and yet create that magic. He is a very down-to-earth and straightforward human being. No politics. His career has shot up now since he is doing Chameli with Kareena [Kapoor] and Rahul [Bose]. We have become great friends.
And Rahul Bose?
Rahul is the exact opposite of me. He is an introvert, so we didn't hit it off immediately. But we respect each other as actors. Now I'm getting to know him on a personal level because of the Mumbai Matinee publicity.
When he's working, he's more reserved and serious. But we did great scenes together. He's a great guy. His introverted nature is misunderstood at times. Even I fell prey to that.
Do you have any filmi friends?
No. All my friends are from school, college and my neighbourhood. I'm very friendly on the sets, but I haven't made any 'real' friends yet.
Tell us about Morning Raaga.
It is directed by [Bangalore-based playwright] Mahesh Dattani. The film is about Shabana Azmi, [newcomer] Prakash Rao, and me, and how our lives have been linked by death. All of us have lost a loved one through terrible accidents and we try to overcome death with Carnatic music. All of us experience anguish and redeem ourselves with music. It's a weird but lovely concept.
I play a singer who sings in English. Shabana teaches me Carnatic music. I have been learning Carnatic music four-five hours a day, every day, for a month. I have been pulling my hair out.
I will be practising right after this interview because my teacher will come home in the evening for another lesson.
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