"Aditya Chopra is no Karan Johar"- Parineeti Chopra
Parineeti Chopra is on a verbal high. Filmfare tries to keep pace
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Meeting Parineeti Chopra is like being in an explosion of pure positive energy. Most of it is in the form of sound though. Spoken words come out of her mouth at 1GB per second. She’s one person you don’t need a questionnaire for. You say ‘hi’ and she spurts out a 5000 word interview. But that’s not the only dimension of this hyper-energetic girl. Her positivity extends to her work. She’s confident that she could cool off her heels for a whole year, even when the competition is on an overdrive. But don’t mistake that for Parineeti having dropped the ball. It’s just her healthy habit of not making unnecessary noise. Her untitled but eagerly awaited film with director Maneesh Sharma was delayed due to the filmmaker’s ailment. Shahid Kapoor walked out on the project. But Parineeti waited patiently for things to fall back in place. Now she has her plate full. She’s working in the big ticket Hasee Toh Phasee with Dharma Productions and Phantom Productions. She has YRF’s Kill Dill and Habib Faisal’s untitled next with Aditya Roy Kapur. And when she’s not snowed under by film commitments, Parineeti is busy shooting for TV ads and photo shoots. She’s in the fast lane and she’s soaking in the glory. If you ever thought of meeting a happy person, meet the inimitable Parineeti Chopra...
Q. Tell me more about working with ace ad filmmaker Vinil Mathews on Hasee Toh Phasee. The norm in the industry is that ad filmmakers don’t make for great filmmakers.
Raju Hirani is one of the biggest filmmakers today and he used to be an ad filmmaker. Also filmmakers today make ads. It really doesn’t matter if it’s an ad filmmaker; it depends on your mindset. Like there are some great filmmakers who make pathetic ads because they can’t deal with only three days of shoot, they’re used to a 120-day schedule. Vinil’s mindset is such that even when he makes his ads, they’re story and character based. He’s done coffee and chocolate ads that were never product heavy, they were story heavy. He doesn’t do hair, face and skin commercials. If he had only done those sorts of ads, I wouldn’t be so confident about him. So I never thought of him as an ad filmmaker. The only thing he says is “Yaar, teen din ke baad break hona chahiye film shoots mein” He’s not used to 20 days of continuous shoot and we’re like, ‘No! That happens in ad films, abhi you have to shoot for 20 days straight.’
Q. So much is known about Hasee Toh Phasee and so little is known about your untitled film with YRF. Are you in sync with the secretive attitude at Yash Raj Films?
I was a part of the marketing team at YRF so I’m aware how Yashji used to think and how Aditya Chopra thinks. If Chak De! India was releasing tomorrow the theatrical trailer could be out only a week before. There is a way to go about it and that’s to do with its CEO’s way of thinking. You have to understand Aditya Chopra is no Karan Johar. Karan and the guys at Phantom are way more media savvy than Adi, they are way more open with people. I’ve never seen Adi do an interview. That’s how YRF thinks. There used to be times when they’d be making a film and no one apart from the director would know much about it. Adi is a cool guy and a good producer. He’s also realised things need to change and is slowly moving towards that.
Q. You’re working with Sidharth Malhotra and Sushant Singh Rajput. Both are relatively quiet when compared to your talkative nature. How did you break the ice with them?
I had to ask Sidharth, ‘Can you open your mouth? Can you be normal?’ He just wouldn’t talk. The only time he would joke was just before the camera got rolling. And believe me, those are the times when you want people not to talk. So then I would be like, ‘Can you keep quiet and concentrate on the take?’ Recently, I was shooting with Varun Dhawan for an ad and I was complaining about Sid to him. I was like, ‘Listen, Sid doesn’t talk at all’. Varun said once Sid gets to know you he won’t stop talking. And I didn’t believe him. Cut to, I started spending time with Sid on the sets and I realised how much he can talk. The same story goes for Sushant. If he doesn’t know you he won’t talk at all. If you know him, he’ll just keep joking all the time. Now that I know both the boys, they are a riot.
Q. Did Sid or Sushant ever come across as arrogant?
I didn’t care or have opinions about Sid or Sushant. I just did my work and went away. I’m a people’s person so I need people to look at me but everyone can’t be like Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor. I’ve worked with them and they’re energetic. What matters the most is what you do in front of the camera. I beleive Sid and Sushant are good actors.
Q. Do you think it’s easier to work with newcomers than established stars?
I really can’t say. I haven’t worked with the superstars yet. But I guess working with big stars would be quicker because they’d know what they’re doing. It would be a more natural process. But if I need a rehearsal or need to do homework on a scene it’s easier to have Arjun or Sid or Sushant. I can prepare with them, which I guess big stars wouldn’t do. They don’t need to do it.
Q. How have things changed since you became an actress?
Everything is different. For starters you have to be politically correct. That is difficult for me. I’m the kind of person who finds it hard to say the right things. Now, I have started taking a little care of what I say. Someone asked me, ‘So how is your relationship with your sister, Priyanka Chopra?’ I replied, ‘Great! We talk and we gossip and we share clothes like any sisters would.’ He replied, ‘Oooh! Okay.’ The next day the headline read – Parineeti gets all her gossip from Priyanka. In an instant Priyanka called me and asked, ‘What have you spoken about me?’ After incidents like that I have to be careful of what I say. And with certain people you can never be too careful.
Q. Does cut-throat competition between actresses create insecurity?
No. I’m a secure person. I’m selfishly secure. I care only about my work and my films. I want to be better than what I was in my previous film. I was fat before, now I want to look thin. I concentrate on myself. I want to do a better job than what I did yesterday.
Q. Another cousin of yours Meera Chopra is being launched as an actress.
Yes. She’s in the family but not my cousin. Priyanka and I are cousins because our fathers are brothers. We’re first cousins. Meera’s the daughter of my cousin’s cousin. I don’t know her well enough. Her relative happened to marry a Chopra. But everyone thinks that she’s the third Chopra.
Q. But she’s been working and making news…
Yes she’s working and making news but I’m not in touch with her. But there’s this cousin called Barbie, she’s my aunt’s daughter… she’s our actual cousin. Our first cousin. Meera isn’t… we don’t even talk. She’s a distant relative.
Q. Have you met her?
I have met her once or twice when we were children. But the equation isn’t like Priyanka and mine’s, where we’re close and live together.
Q. You recently bought your parents a car…
I made some money and I wanted to spend it. It was last year at their anniversary and they had no idea about it. I spoke to my brother (Shivang) about gifting them a car. He thought it was a great idea. They live in Ambala but I kept my brother in the loop. I asked him to take Mom (Reena) and Dad (Pawan) out. The car was delivered to our house ribboned up like a present. When my parents saw it, they started crying. Gosh, they cried so much. It feels so good being able to make your parents so happy at such a young age.
Q. Have you bought a house in Mumbai?
Not yet. I haven’t found the time and I want to save a little more money to buy a big house.
Q. One thing that you can’t do anymore?
I’ve had to curb my eating habits. I wish there was some magical spell that would allow me to keep eating and not put on weight.
Q. How do your parents respond to the grist of the rumour mills?
They’re fine now. The first few times they got really worked up. Now even they laugh it off. I always sound them off about what article is coming in the news tomorrow so that they don’t get shocked.
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