Peeya Rai's Bong Connection
After playing a bubbly teenager in the cult television serial Hip Hip Hurray! and ruling the television as a VJ for quite a long time, Peeya Rai Chowdhary has managed to make space for her herself in the increasingly competitive Bollywood as she is remembered for her performances in Bride&Prejudice and Vaastu Shastra. Peeya talks with us about her forthcoming film The Bong Connection and other projects.
Please
enlighten
us
about
The
Bong
Connection
and
your
role
in
it.
The
Bong
Connection
is
the
story
of
two
Bengali
men-
Apu
(Parambrata
Chatterjee)
and
Andy
(Shayan
Munshi)
trying
to
find
themselves
and
achieve
their
dreams
in
a
foreign
land.
It
is
a
very
sensitive
film
directed
by
Anjan
Dutt
who
is
a
very
talented
director.
I play Rita in this film. She is a 2nd generation Indo-American girl. It was very difficult for me to enact this role because I have never come across such girls in my life. So, I had to go to the U.S and hang around with such girls to understand and adopt their mannerisms. So it was an intricate affair actually.
How
was
it
working
with
Anjan
Dutt,
Raima
Sen
and
Victor
Banerjee?
In
the
first
place,
it
was
absolute
pleasure
working
with
the
director
Anjan
Dutt.
He
is
an
extremely
talented
artist-
great
actor,
writer
and
awesome
director.
I have no scene along with Victor Banerjee but we were together in America and I came to know him then. Even along with Raima, I don't share screen space but we came to know each other during the making of the film. I must say she is a good person and a fabulous actor.
You
have
done
a
Marathi
film
called
The
Truck
of
Dreams.
How
did
you
manage
Marathi?
The
Truck
of
Dreams
is
an
extremely
sensitive
and
well
made
film
by
UK
based
director
Arun
Kumar.
Since,
I
am
from
Mumbai
I
could
speak
decent
Marathi.
But
for
the
actual
accent
of
my
character
in
the
film,
I
had
to
inherit
that
accent
in
my
speech
which
I
practiced.
Were
you
and
Shayan
supposed
to
be
a
part
of
the
film
Just
Married?
Yes,
we
were
very
much
a
part
of
it.
But
at
the
last
moment
we
had
to
back
out
from
the
project
because
my
mother
got
seriously
ill
and
we
had
to
stay
back
with
her.
How
different
is
the
experience
of
working
on
television
and
in
films?
It
is
extremely
different.
On
television,
I
did
the
young
teenage
serial
Hip
Hip
Hurray!
and
I
did
VJing.
So
in
Hip
Hip
Hurray!
,
we
were
a
group
of
friends
working
together.
So
it
was
a
blast
more
than
monotonous
work.
As
far
as
VJing
was
concerned,
I
just
had
to
connect
to
the
audience
and
communicate
with
them.
So,
it
was
not
as
tough
as
it
is
today.
Today,
the
entire
scenario
has
changed.
It
is
extremely
hectic.
Have
you
quit
television?
Not
at
all!
Yes,
it
has
been
a
long
two
and
a
half
years
since
I
am
out
of
action
on
television.
But
I
am
looking
out
for
something
spectacular.
I
don't
want
to
do
the
routine,
mediocre
thing
so
I
am
looking
for
something
really
different,
exciting
and
brilliant
to
work
on.
I
am
having
a
couple
of
talks
around.
Let
us
see
if
something
good
works
out.
What
are
your
forthcoming
projects?
I
am
doing
a
film
called
Sabko
Intezar
Hai
with
Shayan
Munshi
which
is
directed
by
Ranjit
Bahadur.
I
also
have
another
UK-based
project
about
which
I
cannot
talk
about.
Are
you
happy
with
the
way
your
career
has
shaped
up?
Honestly
I
am
happy
with
the
way
people
like
Aishwarya
Rai,
Kajol
are
married
and
yet
manage
their
professional
and
personal
lives.
I
am
glad
that
even
I
am
in
this
league
of
people
who
manage
both
work
and
home.
It
is
not
impossible
so
I
am
happy
that
I
manage
everything
and
not
allow
the
fact
that
I
am
somebody's
wife
become
a
hurdle
in
my
work.
Do
you
prefer
critical
acclaim
or
commercial
success?
Both
are
definitely
important.
But
as
far
as
commercial
success
goes,
the
audience
notices
you
and
appreciates
your
work.
You
are
recognized
by
people.
So
in
today's
times
commercial
success
is
as
important
as
critical
acclaim.
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