My mom quoted by Poorna!!!
THREE BOYS AND THE BABE
‘I was holding my breath for
She’s arguably the best thing about Delhi Belly, which has a lot of very good things. And not just because of that fake hump or the passionate smooch. New York lady Poorna Jagannathan was simply irresistible in every frame.
Reason enough for t2 to track down the girl whose father grew up on Lake Road (and pretended he was a Bengali all his life) and whose aunt Skinny Alley’s Jayshree Singh was present on the sets of her big Bollywood movie. Okay okay, in DBspeak we’ll shut the f*** up and let Poorna do the talking now!
First things first, explain your Bong connection...
Okay, I’ve been dying to talk about it. My father had a lot of heartaches in his life, but the biggest one came from the fact that he was a south Indian and not a Bengali. My grandparents raised him on Lake Road in Calcutta and we spent most of our summers there. Whenever my father met a Bengali, his whole personality changed: he went from a recalcitrant grouch to the most charming man ever. I still have family in Calcutta. In fact my aunt is Jayshree Singh who has the band Skinny Alley. She’s the only one who came on set and would you believe it, it was the day I was shooting the fake humping scene! Just my luck! Also, my two best friends are Sarita Choudhury (Kama Sutra) and Samrat Chakrabarti (The Bong Connection) — both immensely talented, NYC-based Bengali actors.
Next, why is your brand consulting company called Cowgirls & Indians?
For the obvious reasons. It’s a twist on Cowboys & Indians. Which is a twist on Indian.
Now tell us a little bit about the American TV shows that you have done. Are they widely watched there?
Some are and some aren’t. I’ve been on shows like Law & Order and that’s a staple for the American public. Burgers, fries and L&. Then I’ve been on shows like Rescue Me that have a much smaller but a fervent audience. My experiences have been all over the map. Law & Order is a machine — it’s a little formulaic and you’re just a cog in the wheel. Smaller shows like Royal Pains and Rescue Me just feel more intimate and spontaneous.
Before Delhi Belly, what was your take on Bollywood sitting there in New York?
I purposely unplugged from Bollywood for the longest time. I kept encountering one unrelatable movie after another. Set in the Swiss Alps or underwater, they simply didn’t speak to me. Then I watched Dev D, and I was taken aback at how it dealt with material, how natural the acting seemed, how smooth the directing was. And since then, I’ve plugged back into Indian cinema in a big way. In fact, I’m a juror for the New York Indian Film Festival and get to see some path-breaking movies and documentaries coming out of India.
Okay, how did you land the role of Menaka?
I was at a fundraiser in San Francisco and there was a “James Bondy Casino Royal” theme going on. So to avoid the overly-friendly uncles and the diamond-decked-out aunties, I drifted over to the blackjack table with $20 in my pocket; 45 minutes later I’ve upped it to $600. Now this is all fake money and truth be told, I was probably the only one gambling and not socialising, but the prize for winning the most amount of money was 2 round trip tickets to India!
So a couple of months later, I find myself in Mumbai at a cousin’s wedding. My traditional south Indian nine-yard sari needed a hip and happening blouse, so I called up my old friend from New York, Arjun Bhasin. While he’s getting my blouse made for me, he has an epiphany. He’s just signed on to do the costumes for this movie called Delhi Belly, he’s just read the script two days ago, and he thinks there might be a role for me in it. He calls up Jim Furgele, the producer and says: “I think I’ve found your Menaka.”
Sounds just like the kind of Bollywood films you unplugged from! How did the auditions go?
I had a great first audition. The scenes I auditioned with were the “party” scene where Imran meets my husband and breaks a pot on his head, the “car chase” scene and then the “hotel room” scene (with the fake humping). The writing felt so smooth and natural I felt I could really play and be spontaneous with the scenes.
Then, of course, there were a bunch of other auditions after that. There were chemistry checks, the director got replaced halfway through the process and I had to fly down to meet Abhinay (Deo). Then I had to meet Aamir (Khan) and do a chemistry check with him as well. It was a long-drawn-out process.
Were you given special treatment on the sets as a so-called NRI or did the producer’s nephew get all the attention?
I wish I was given some bhav; it all went to Imran (Khan)!
So much brouhaha is made out of a kiss here. What’s your take on screen kisses? Was it easy with Imran?
An on-screen kiss is just that — a kiss and nothing more. I just saw the “making of Delhi Belly” video and something that will strike you immediately is how mechanical everything is. Comedy is about timing. If you’re off even a second, you lose the joke. We actually had to time the kiss perfectly and that meant we had to get the mechanics of the kiss right.
The film was kept on hold for such a long time and even a straight-to-DVD release was planned at one time. Was it a frustrating wait?
Oh god it was. The recession hit and it was a really hard time to be in the movie business. I’d go on auditions and in the waiting room there would be these huge stars auditioning as well. There simply wasn’t enough work going around.
By 2010, I was broke as broke can be. So I quit acting altogether and slipped back into a full-time advertising job. I didn’t last too long — without acting, I felt like a Stepford wife: just going through the motions of life without ever being present. So my husband quit his job one morning, I quit my job that afternoon and we packed our bags and moved to New York. I wanted to plug back into theatre and we decided better to be broke and happy than be stable and miserable. Best decision to date.
I think I was holding my breath for Delhi Belly.
Which is your favourite scene from the film?
It’s the scene at the jewellers. Although pretty new to film, I have a pretty high comfort level with acting. But I had to do that scene in Hindi and it was so exciting because I was completely thrown off my game. Felt like unchartered territory. It was very special.
What is the best compliment you have received for being Menaka?
Well I’m a New Yorker and so the Village Voice’s review of me was very special: “For all this censor-board razzing, the most enjoyably subversive element is Poona Jagannathan as the self-sufficient bachelorette who waylays Tashi on his way to the altar. Rangy, corkscrew-haired, with a wry demeanour that can’t long be upset by anything, she’s a happy departure from the usual run of Xeroxed, pedestaled beauties.”
But the best compliment I received for the movie was from my friend’s 65-year-old mother. Kamal aunty said she never thought that in her lifetime she would get to see an Indian movie like this. She just loved the movie’s sensibilities and was laughing the entire time.
Have you been flooded with offers yet from Bollywood?
Thankfully things just started percolating yesterday! Otherwise there was a deathly silence. Of course I’d love to work here — there are some amazing directors here and some powerful work I’d love to be a part of.
Did you find a difference in the way work is done in India as opposed to the West?
I’ve been saying no all this time but actually I’m realising it’s a resounding yes. A couple of things: in the States, for the most part, the writer is put on a pedestal. Good writing is the spine of any film or play and the writers get their voice heard loud and clear. I didn’t think it was that different here because Akshat Verma, the brilliant writer of Delhi Belly, was knee deep into the process and greenlit every change. But in India, I have a feeling writers don’t get their rightful place at the table. Which is incomprehensible to me.
The other thing is this phrase “shelf life” which refers to the staying power of an actress. I think Bollywood suffers from a “Kingfisher syndrome”. If you’re in that calendar, you can probably get into a movie. But that has implications.
As an actress, of course, you have to look great and Indian women are gorgeous, but you have to work on your craft or else some middle-aged, fat and balding producer will think he has the right to deem you redundant by the time you hit your 30s.
In America, looks can absolutely get you in through many doors, but you have to have talent and some serious acting chops to have a career.
Pratim D. Gupta
Is Poorna the best thing about Delhi Belly? Tell t2@abp.in')+]
‘I was holding my breath for
She’s arguably the best thing about Delhi Belly, which has a lot of very good things. And not just because of that fake hump or the passionate smooch. New York lady Poorna Jagannathan was simply irresistible in every frame.
Reason enough for t2 to track down the girl whose father grew up on Lake Road (and pretended he was a Bengali all his life) and whose aunt Skinny Alley’s Jayshree Singh was present on the sets of her big Bollywood movie. Okay okay, in DBspeak we’ll shut the f*** up and let Poorna do the talking now!
First things first, explain your Bong connection...
Okay, I’ve been dying to talk about it. My father had a lot of heartaches in his life, but the biggest one came from the fact that he was a south Indian and not a Bengali. My grandparents raised him on Lake Road in Calcutta and we spent most of our summers there. Whenever my father met a Bengali, his whole personality changed: he went from a recalcitrant grouch to the most charming man ever. I still have family in Calcutta. In fact my aunt is Jayshree Singh who has the band Skinny Alley. She’s the only one who came on set and would you believe it, it was the day I was shooting the fake humping scene! Just my luck! Also, my two best friends are Sarita Choudhury (Kama Sutra) and Samrat Chakrabarti (The Bong Connection) — both immensely talented, NYC-based Bengali actors.
Next, why is your brand consulting company called Cowgirls & Indians?
For the obvious reasons. It’s a twist on Cowboys & Indians. Which is a twist on Indian.
Now tell us a little bit about the American TV shows that you have done. Are they widely watched there?
Some are and some aren’t. I’ve been on shows like Law & Order and that’s a staple for the American public. Burgers, fries and L&. Then I’ve been on shows like Rescue Me that have a much smaller but a fervent audience. My experiences have been all over the map. Law & Order is a machine — it’s a little formulaic and you’re just a cog in the wheel. Smaller shows like Royal Pains and Rescue Me just feel more intimate and spontaneous.
Before Delhi Belly, what was your take on Bollywood sitting there in New York?
I purposely unplugged from Bollywood for the longest time. I kept encountering one unrelatable movie after another. Set in the Swiss Alps or underwater, they simply didn’t speak to me. Then I watched Dev D, and I was taken aback at how it dealt with material, how natural the acting seemed, how smooth the directing was. And since then, I’ve plugged back into Indian cinema in a big way. In fact, I’m a juror for the New York Indian Film Festival and get to see some path-breaking movies and documentaries coming out of India.
Okay, how did you land the role of Menaka?
I was at a fundraiser in San Francisco and there was a “James Bondy Casino Royal” theme going on. So to avoid the overly-friendly uncles and the diamond-decked-out aunties, I drifted over to the blackjack table with $20 in my pocket; 45 minutes later I’ve upped it to $600. Now this is all fake money and truth be told, I was probably the only one gambling and not socialising, but the prize for winning the most amount of money was 2 round trip tickets to India!
So a couple of months later, I find myself in Mumbai at a cousin’s wedding. My traditional south Indian nine-yard sari needed a hip and happening blouse, so I called up my old friend from New York, Arjun Bhasin. While he’s getting my blouse made for me, he has an epiphany. He’s just signed on to do the costumes for this movie called Delhi Belly, he’s just read the script two days ago, and he thinks there might be a role for me in it. He calls up Jim Furgele, the producer and says: “I think I’ve found your Menaka.”
Sounds just like the kind of Bollywood films you unplugged from! How did the auditions go?
I had a great first audition. The scenes I auditioned with were the “party” scene where Imran meets my husband and breaks a pot on his head, the “car chase” scene and then the “hotel room” scene (with the fake humping). The writing felt so smooth and natural I felt I could really play and be spontaneous with the scenes.
Then, of course, there were a bunch of other auditions after that. There were chemistry checks, the director got replaced halfway through the process and I had to fly down to meet Abhinay (Deo). Then I had to meet Aamir (Khan) and do a chemistry check with him as well. It was a long-drawn-out process.
Were you given special treatment on the sets as a so-called NRI or did the producer’s nephew get all the attention?
I wish I was given some bhav; it all went to Imran (Khan)!
So much brouhaha is made out of a kiss here. What’s your take on screen kisses? Was it easy with Imran?
An on-screen kiss is just that — a kiss and nothing more. I just saw the “making of Delhi Belly” video and something that will strike you immediately is how mechanical everything is. Comedy is about timing. If you’re off even a second, you lose the joke. We actually had to time the kiss perfectly and that meant we had to get the mechanics of the kiss right.
The film was kept on hold for such a long time and even a straight-to-DVD release was planned at one time. Was it a frustrating wait?
Oh god it was. The recession hit and it was a really hard time to be in the movie business. I’d go on auditions and in the waiting room there would be these huge stars auditioning as well. There simply wasn’t enough work going around.
By 2010, I was broke as broke can be. So I quit acting altogether and slipped back into a full-time advertising job. I didn’t last too long — without acting, I felt like a Stepford wife: just going through the motions of life without ever being present. So my husband quit his job one morning, I quit my job that afternoon and we packed our bags and moved to New York. I wanted to plug back into theatre and we decided better to be broke and happy than be stable and miserable. Best decision to date.
I think I was holding my breath for Delhi Belly.
Which is your favourite scene from the film?
It’s the scene at the jewellers. Although pretty new to film, I have a pretty high comfort level with acting. But I had to do that scene in Hindi and it was so exciting because I was completely thrown off my game. Felt like unchartered territory. It was very special.
What is the best compliment you have received for being Menaka?
Well I’m a New Yorker and so the Village Voice’s review of me was very special: “For all this censor-board razzing, the most enjoyably subversive element is Poona Jagannathan as the self-sufficient bachelorette who waylays Tashi on his way to the altar. Rangy, corkscrew-haired, with a wry demeanour that can’t long be upset by anything, she’s a happy departure from the usual run of Xeroxed, pedestaled beauties.”
But the best compliment I received for the movie was from my friend’s 65-year-old mother. Kamal aunty said she never thought that in her lifetime she would get to see an Indian movie like this. She just loved the movie’s sensibilities and was laughing the entire time.
Have you been flooded with offers yet from Bollywood?
Thankfully things just started percolating yesterday! Otherwise there was a deathly silence. Of course I’d love to work here — there are some amazing directors here and some powerful work I’d love to be a part of.
Did you find a difference in the way work is done in India as opposed to the West?
I’ve been saying no all this time but actually I’m realising it’s a resounding yes. A couple of things: in the States, for the most part, the writer is put on a pedestal. Good writing is the spine of any film or play and the writers get their voice heard loud and clear. I didn’t think it was that different here because Akshat Verma, the brilliant writer of Delhi Belly, was knee deep into the process and greenlit every change. But in India, I have a feeling writers don’t get their rightful place at the table. Which is incomprehensible to me.
The other thing is this phrase “shelf life” which refers to the staying power of an actress. I think Bollywood suffers from a “Kingfisher syndrome”. If you’re in that calendar, you can probably get into a movie. But that has implications.
As an actress, of course, you have to look great and Indian women are gorgeous, but you have to work on your craft or else some middle-aged, fat and balding producer will think he has the right to deem you redundant by the time you hit your 30s.
In America, looks can absolutely get you in through many doors, but you have to have talent and some serious acting chops to have a career.
Pratim D. Gupta
Is Poorna the best thing about Delhi Belly? Tell t2@abp.in')+]
Comments