JOIN USOn screen, they seem to be made for each other, if the promos are any indication. Off-screen, they definitely are thick, like soulmates. A slim, svelte and super-chirpy Parineeti Chopra says, “Of course, I knew Ayushmann before we started doing the film — we have done so many shows together. But yes, during the making of this film and because of the hours we spent together on the sets, we have become good friends. Today, if I am in a sombre mood, he suddenly calls up from wherever he is. And if I call him at two in the night, he is surprised and says that he was just going to call me.”
Responds Ayushmann Khurrana, who is also in high spirits, “Parineeti is special — a great co-actor. Such people add to the worth of a film. A good co-actor works for me as well. I am no method actor. I go by the script and director, and I am spontaneous and intuitive. Parineeti is the same, and we complement each other.”
The ever-gregarious Parineeti and the comparatively sedate Ayushmann also play somewhat similar characters in Meri Pyaari Bindu with two more points common to them: one, that they have done most of their work for Yash Raj Films, the number one banner in Hindi films, and two, the passion they share for music and singing, with Ayushmann also being a composer and (occasionally) a lyricist.
Tryst with music
Why then has only Parineeti sung in the film and not him? “I play a non-singer, a writer of pulp fiction,” laughs Ayushmann in reply. “She is my neighbour initially, and the film traces my journey from 5 to 35 years, that is, from the 80s till today. And she is a singer in the film as well.”
Elaborating on their roles, the two add interesting bits. Ayushmann says that his character is in love with Parineeti’s and is obsessed with her. “So much so that the lead characters in my books are always modelled on her — even in books named Chudail Ki Choli (The Witch’s Blouse) and Guitarophobia, as I write only horror stories. But she does not reciprocate my love.”
Parineeti reveals that her character is fickle and irresponsible. “I leave everything half-way, from jobs to relationships. I change homes and even cities. Ayushmann is my calming influence.”
Parineeti, however, is ecstatic that her debut song ‘Maana Ke Hum Yaar Nahin’ is trending and has had over 15 lakh views on YouTube in just a few weeks. “I am overwhelmed with the appreciation and will definitely sing more in films,” she notes. Her trysts with music include shows with her musically-trained and still-dedicated father Pavan Chopra, who has also done some albums, her cousin Priyanka Chopra and her late father Ashok Chopra.
Fully trained in classical music and with a BA degree in music to boot, Parineeti is particularly thrilled that her debut song (as was her dream) has clicked so well despite being against the current. “It needs gaayaki (evolved, classical nuances-based singing) and is intensely melodious with good lyrics. Though I listen to every kind of music, including western classical, such songs are my favourites,” she declares.
Ayushmann, who says that he is likely to sing in his next film, Bareilly Ki Barfi, declares that it is the script that decides whether he sings in a film or not. “In Dum Laga Ke Haisha, which I feel was the turnaround film of my career, I played a crazy fan of Kumar Sanu. So, it was not right that I sing in the movie.” Why does he call this film the turnaround when his debut film Vicky Donor was a hit too? “I played a Punjabi boy like myself in Vicky Donor, but in Dum Laga Ke Haisha, I was a character from a different place and worked on my language and accent as well. Besides, in your debut film, especially if it is a hit, a lot of your shortcomings are overlooked or forgiven,” he smiles. In between, his films were a mixed bag, but most did not do well, including his biopic Hawaizaada on the world’s first airplane maker.
Going retro
Quite a collection for a limited repertoire, we comment — three films based in the retro era. Laughs Ayushmann, “True! But they are all new-age cinema, even if Dum…, …Bindu and Hawaizaada were set decades ago. And cinema is moving ahead so fast. Even a banner like Yash Raj Films is experimenting so much.”
We ask him what he thinks is the USP of Meri Pyaari Bindu. “It is nostalgia,” says Ayushmann, as Parineeti nods. “Indians live in the past. They have a song for each memory in their lives. So do I. The first film I ever watched in a movie hall was Tezaab at the age of five, and I have vivid memories of the song ‘Ek Do Teen Char’. This film is also titled from a hit song in Padosan as Parineeti’s name is Bindu in this movie.” Agrees Parineeti, “I love this trait of recalling a memory with a song attached to it. When I read this script, I knew that it was the right one to do after the break I took for about 10 months.”
So, why did she take this break? “This break was the best decision I ever made, and I am slim, fit and energetic now and doing my best work, like Golmaal Again,” she says. “I was working on many days, doing ad films, shows and other things. I was also travelling. And the reason was simple — I had slogged on six films back to back. I was tired and was not too healthy. I also bought a house and personally did it up.”
Describing her Golmaal Again experience as “Fabulous”, she reveals that she is missing the unit even in the four days she has been away from them, “We spend time and money on playing pranks on each other. It just shows how much we are bonding with each other, and how much we care for each other.”
Did she meet Priyanka on her short trip to India? “No, yaar,” she rues. “I was away, and I returned late on the same night that she left. We could just speak to each other on the phone.”
Both of them are confident about their work in the films to come. They also have only support for Sonakshi Sinha, who was slammed recently by three singers for possibly performing in the Justin Bieber concert. “We actors are basically entertainers and have to do everything. How would it look if comedians had issues with us as we do comedy, and designers get bugged because we wear good clothes?” asks Parineeti. And Ayushmann adds, “Actors sell more than singers. We, in fact, become the face of the singer because we lip-sync their songs in movies and sometimes, on stage. So concert organisers focus on us. I can’t say if this is right or wrong, but it’s a fact.”
And since both of them have worked both behind and in front of the ‘lip-sync’ — that is, as actors and singers — we must say that there is definite objectivity in what they say.