I had manifested to be a part of Aniruddha Chowdhury’s films one day - Pia Bajpaiee

Actor Pia Bajpaiee has been a part of the industry for a while now having done an array of films but most of them have been down South.

When it comes to the Hindi film industry, she continues to be a part of interesting projects as well and one of them is the upcoming Yami Gautam starrer.

In an interview with us, we asked her multiple questions from being a part of this alluring ensemble to her role and other things.

Being surrounded by talented actors like Yami Gautam Dhar, Pankaj Kapur, Neil Bhoopalam, Rahul Khanna, and Tushar Pandey did you feel a sense of performance pressure?

With all humbleness, LOST is my 19th film. I have done 17-18 films in south, and all these films were with big cast, and big directors. There is no way I feel the pressure, in fact its good when you work with such talented actors, you perform better. 

Women led stories are coming to the forefront, your thoughts on the same.

Yes, now people are making a lot of women centric stories. And I believe, good films should be made irrespective of it being women or men centric. As an audience, I want to watch good content, irrespective of who the protagonist is.

Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury has directed the film. How was your experience working with him?

I remember when PINK released in theatres, I had manifested to be a part of Aniruddha Chowdhury’s films one day. His filmography has always featured strong, opinionated, versatile and empowering female protagonists. When I was approached by his team for LOST, I flipped. My excitement had no bounds. Tony ji is someone who gives you complete independence to act your way. He is one of those rare directors who doesn’t control your creative expression. As an actor, it’s important to feel that sense of freedom in front of the camera. Many directors complicate simple processes and confuse actors, but Tony ji is the opposite. 

Even during workshops, he used to explain each dialogue with such amazing references. His style of narration and dialogue comparison with real life instances will blow your mind. It is very smooth working alongside Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury. He is my well-wisher and my support-system. I was going through a traumatic phase when we shot for LOST. The death of a closed one had shaken me to the core. I remember breaking down in the middle of the shoot as I couldn’t cope up with the demise of this close person. 

Tony ji helped me get through this tough phase of life. He was very considerate, and his words gave me strength to portray Ankita. It was lovely working with him. In future, whenever Aniruddha ji rings me up, I won’t even think for a second to say yes for his projects. Without listening to the story or the character, I will say yes that’s my word. He is a dream film-maker and I am glad my wish-list of working with him has been fulfilled.

Lost is all set to premiere on Zee5 16th February onwards.