Perizaad Zorabian

What kind of a guy would you like?
Single, available, looking for a partner, intelligent (most importantly), intellectual (but not the kinds who would go around showing off their stuff), humble, down to earth, REAL, hard-working (not a lazy bum), someone with a good sense of humour. Looks are not that important. I cannot stand a vain good-looking man. That's like the biggest turn-off in the world.

How do you spell your name?
P-e-r-i-z-a-a-d Z-o-r-a-b-i-a-n

Where were you born and brought up?
I was born and brought up in Mumbai itself. So you could say, I am a hard-core Mumbayite. But I have lived in New York for four years. I did my MBA from Baruch College.

…In Gujarat?
No, not in Gujarat. In New York. It is pronounced as Barook. In fact after joining I went about telling everyone where I had joined Only after joining I realized that I had been pronouncing it wrongly all along.
I also did a year and a half at The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute.

You have done one play, one movie, one serial…
What to do no..… One thing wonder I am (laughs)
But there is one more movie happening.. Namaste

…You have trained in dance?
Yes I learnt dance for 12 years. Every year we had a public performance in school at Rishi Valley. I stopped learning six years back.

…You have been seen in music videos too?
Yes. With Lucky Ali, and Aryans, and Asha Bhosle

Would you like to do things like Veejaying?
I have been offered veejaying jobs right from day one. Acting is something that I enjoy, and I want to focus on that. As far as veejaying goes, its not like I am 18 yrs old and would stay around there for 5 years and then move onto acting. In fact before Bollywood Calling, I was supposed to VJ with Channel V. Had I signed the contract with them, I would never have been able to do Bollywood Calling. As fate would have it, it was Christmas break and I could not sign the contract. And Bollywood Calling happened soon after. So I told them, I would like them to wait for a month. They were unwilling, and I told them to 'take it or leave it'. After one month they came back to me. But they wanted me to veejay six days a week. And I thought, if I were to do that, when would I get time to act? So I had to take a call between something that I had wanted to do, and instant stardom through veejaying. Here I am, having chosen the harder path Though I am sure, I would have loved veejaying too.

You seem to be enjoying your work. What do you do to enjoy, when you are not working?
Umm… tough question! I really have no answer for that…
I enjoy dancing. I wish I could pursue it again. But, I really have no time to do anything. When this Bollywood Calling fever ends, and Hum Pardesi Ho Gaye draws to a close, I would really like to go back to dancing. I feel very good doing it.

Do you read?
Not really. Not much, which is very bad. Very very bad. I would love to, but never really have the time..

What about your musical preferences?
My music is Hindi film music right now, as I have been told it will improve my Hindi diction, if I listen to and sing them. So right now I have all the songs of Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham playing when I am driving. At the risk of sounding very non-intellectual - No, I am not the 'jazz' and 'in-the-blues' kind of a person!

Do you like travelling?
Yes I do enjoy it, but do not get the time. In fact there are lots of things I would like to just get up and do but… (Shrugs)

With your career in Hindi films, you will surely be able to travel…
Yes. To all the exotic places! Even with Hum Pardesi Ho Gaye, we went to Sydney and CapeTown.

…And people caught you trying to pass off that as the U.S…
Do you how many people have told me that. In the U.S it was more like, people calling out - Maya, Maya, Maya…(because she is more popular there) and then went on to tell me about the left-hand driving vs. right-hand driving. I could not believe it; they followed it in such detail.

What kind of food do you like?
TEEKHA! Spicy - basically any kind of Indian food. I also love Thai food. That's my current favourite.

Do you cook yourself?
Aaha! (Laughs). Not really. I can cook for myself. My cooking is very functional. In the US I would make my thing and there were friends who I would call over for 'ghar ka bana khaana'. They would be like "yummy… your food tastes so good. But why do all the things taste the same?" And I would tell them Indian food is like that only! I am a good cook - but I cook only basic food. No interest in 'labour of love' kind of cooking.

What are your favourite movies?
My all time favourite is (Bridges of ) Madison County. It's the best. I loved Astitva. and I liked Chandni Bar. And my favourite obviously is Bollywood Calling! I also liked My Fair Lady. I love that. I wish some one would pick me up and groom me like that. …like a lady.

Who is your favourite director?
I have just worked with a few till now - Nagesh Kukunoor, Viral Lakhia, Kunal Vijayakar. I would like to work with Ram Gopal Varma, Mani Ratnam, Santosh Sivan, Yash Chopra, Karan Johar, Aditya Chopra

Who are your favourite actors/actresses?
Tabu. I also like Kajol and Preity Zinta. Aamir Khan I like very much. I love Julia Roberts. She is so spunky, she's like 'there'. I love her. I just love her. I also like Meryl Streep, but she is boring. But Julia Roberts is so comfortable with her looks. She is ugly in a manner of speaking, her - when she smiles (mimics that smile) all her teeth are showing. But I just love her. She is my ideal (woman).

Are you net savvy?
Am I net savvy? I only check my email a lot. I do not go and spend hours browsing or searching information. (She says her earlier email, taking off on her father's chicken business looked more like girlie site kind of an ID - chicks' etc!)

Sophiya Haque in Snip, Laila Rouass in Split Wide Open… is your career headed that ways?
I hope not. The way it is going it's looking that way. But I hope not. Because that'll be very sad if it happens that way. But they did not do a Hum Pardesi (Ho Gaye), and they did not do a television show in Hindi. I think I have shown a more serious side committed to acting by doing a television show in Hindi which a Sophiya or Laila would not even dream of doing. It shows that this girl is serious about acting - whichever language it is, she will work. I would love to do Hindi films…

…Including "Maut - The Death' kind of films?
(Laughs) No, I would not do a "Maut - The Death". That would be too tacky. But I would do some latka-jhatka number. And I would have a great time doing it. I would not think that it's 'not-cool', which a Sophiya or Laila might say is infra-dig for them. If I enjoy watching it, I would like to do it. And I don't need convincing - I know I will be damn good at it!

…Moreso with your dance background
Yes, the jhatkas-matkas will all come out very naturally! I know my ballet teacher would probably die! But I took Hindi dance classes for a month. And we would take up all Govinda numbers. And it was really good. I was stuck-up the first fifteen days. I was not doing it properly. Then my teacher fired me, if you can't do it properly, don't do it! "Dil khol ke karna…" And then I did it 'Dil khol ke'! So every 'jhatka' I was giving properly. I would see my teacher practicing, and he was giving it his all. And I was there like a snob, with my nose in the air, felt it was all bullshit. Till you realize - get down and dirty and just do it man! Give it your all. Not being inhibited.

That's something we realized when we went to Shiamak (Davar). I had thought we would have to do jazz or something modern. But we were to do pelvic pushes! And we were all like propah ballet girls standing perfectly straight. And expected to do pelvic pushes? That was bit too much for us. We just could not do it! And he was shouting, "Come on girls, stop being idiots". And all of us with these ballet thingies and black leotards were like, "No…We can't do it"! But it's all about letting go of it and having a good time.

Which was the first scene you shot for?
The one with Om Puri. The muhurat shot. Where I go - "No Subraji! I won't manage to do the scene with Gullu, when I have rehearsed all my lines with Manu. And he is just a junior…" Total tantrum throwing. But it was really hard. When I had read it, it looked like I was to spoof it. But Nagesh told me, it was not meant to be a spoof. I had not to make it look funny. I had to do it like I was really throwing a tantrum.

What about your character of Kajal?
There are two different sides to her personality. In the first half of the movie, she is an annoying, irritating act. But she chooses to be like that. Because as she says, she is deliberately playing dumb, "That's the way I won't threaten anybody. Being smart is the most threatening thing to anybody. Especially in the male-dominated industry." So she is very sure of what she is doing. But the good part about her is that she doesn't cry wolf. Like when she says that she slept with Manu for the part. Its not like, 'Oh, he took advantage of me'. You can't take advantage of anybody. You know what you are doing, and you are getting your returns for it. You are doing it for a purpose, so don't cry wolf. You are an idiot, if you think that by sleeping with someone you are going to get a role. Nobody is using you till you let yourself be used. New girls bitch and scream, 'oh this and oh that - I was taken advantage of, yeh hua, woh hua'. But you know what, don't get yourself into that position. Why go there?

I was giving an interview, while we were shooting. And I was asked all these things about, whether casting couch exists etc. And I gave them these big lectures about how some people are treated so badly etc. And Om Puri and Navin Nischol caught me and blasted me. "Have you had a bad experience?" I said no. But it's very different. They said, " No. Every girl who has had a bad experience had chosen that thing." Tomorrow if someone sleeps with Mr. X, thinking that she is gonna get it. Tough luck if she does not get it. After doing all that you don't cry wolf, and say someone took advantage of me.

Kajal that ways is very headstrong. I love her. She is straight and she makes no bones about speaking her mind. Which is a good thing Nagesh did, he did not make her look like a bimbette.

Isn't Kajal's perspective exactly the filmmaker's own opinion, unlike the rest of the film, which is more of a pseudo-eulogy to Bollywood?
Yes that's how it is. You know when I got the part, he told me, "She is the most difficult part to play. And I am taking a brand new person for that." When I met Om Puri on the sets the first day, I could not believe he could be so good looking. And I saw him with all the grey hair and thought, he's so cute. He congratulated me that I was a lucky girl to be playing a role like this in my first film. It is real character, not a superficial one. And Nagesh really etched it well.

Have you seen Nagesh's previous films?
I have not seen Rockford, but I have seen Hyderabad Blues and I loved it. I watched it thrice. And I just loved him as a person. He is so chilled out and down to earth. He spoke to me and told me 'good screen test'. He told me about the kissing scene immediately. That's when I freaked out. Oh My God! I did not want it to be one where there was Navin Nischol and Om Puri and there was this girl just for the kissing scene. I asked for the script and he did not say 'Oh she is a new girl, why should I give her the script.' He gave me the full script. When I read the script, I just loved it. Other wise I would not have done it. I don't want to look like an idiot.

Why is it that a kiss in Bollywood Calling is an issue, while there are quite a few of them in Monsoon Wedding and no body is discussing?
I think the kiss in Bollywood Calling is a little hot. So it is not the fact of kissing but its execution. Pravin Dabas kissed Vasundhara and Neha kissed the other guy, but the Monsoon Wedding kisses are very 'pheeka'. In comparison, the Bollywood Calling kiss is a more real kiss. It's a big turn-on. Its been edited really well, its not done that way. The way she throws her hair, head turning and all, left the audience agape (mimics the gape). I never thought it would look like this on screen. On the other hand the other kiss was more 'normal'. This was a '7-count' kiss. However, I would turn my head at an angle. I even tried to get my hair in the way. But Nagesh caught that and told me, "Here is the guy's head, here is yours, and here is the camera. So don't bullshit me. I want no messing around. Keep your head still and count seven." A 7-count kiss and it's come out that way. The laugh... Champagne… the 'choli'… water in my mouth… The entire build-up takes it to that level.

Tell us about your character of Maya in Hum Pardesi Ho Gaye?
She is rocking! (Laughs) People would love to caricature her. She is very right and she knows what she wants. In the pathetic Indian stereotypes - when a woman is very strong, and not some one who will sit and cry and not an Indian 'bahu', people think she is a vamp. But that is total crap and Maya has broken that myth. People feel bad for Maya. People love the fact that she is so strong. She is a very sincere person, not a 'choon-chaan' kind of babe to rake in the audiences.

I like it when people come and tell me they like Maya. It's a great thing Sony is doing by not making everyone black or white. That's the best thing about Maya. She loves passionately…

…So passion is a common theme across your characters...
(Laughs) No, no I don't think so! But Maya is certainly very passionate. She is not the 'other woman'.

Had the serial started with her and then the other woman would have come in Maya would have got the audience opinion on her side?
You know, the best part is, she is still getting it even now. I just love her. I will be sad when the show ends.

Has it got something to do with the name, Maya?
I love the name Maya. At one point everyone was telling me that Perizaad is a very Iranian name, and that I should get a more Hindu name, an Indian sounding name. If at all I were to change it to anything, it would have been Maya!

You know I had second thoughts after having accepted the role. I called up Shobhna and told here I was sorry, but I could not do the serial. Then Shibani called me up and told me that they really wanted me as Maya. I did not want to talk as I had already made up my mind. But she was so persuasive and crazy about Maya as well. And I thought here was a girl I had never talked to in life and she so believed in the character and was convinced about it. I said, "Ok, I am doing it!"

Maya is not a 'gandi ladki'. The character is so strong and invigorating. It's so nice. I hate it when someone plays pathetic conventional stereotypes. I think television should just grow up and stop having black or white characters, which is just garbage!

So, what are you doing next…?
Let's see. I don't know what am I doing next. No idea at all. I definitely want to act - but good stuff. You know I have been spoilt! Even in my theatre debut with Kunal, the whole play revolved around my character of Margaret. I can't do a character where I am playing a bimbette. I am at a position right now where I have a hit film and a hit television show. I don't want to do another Maya with any body. Other television - not as of right now. And I am hoping something good comes my way. You know when you have had stuff that's worked for you the first time, you don't want to do stuff that doesn't work. I will be careful in picking what I want to do. I really have to see where I want to go. Once the Bollywood Calling hysteria subsides, I'll decide.

Please wish me luck…

From the moment you shake her hand to say hi, till the time you shake her hand to say bye, you are just mesmerized by her mega-watt smile. So much at ease with herself, she makes you feel at ease too, especially if it happens to be your first interview. Thank God, its Perizaad!
- rahul razdan

(Photos: Dabboo Ratnani)

Originally posted by: icy_devil

hehehe she likes blues clue(the pic) thx's 4 sharing

lolz😆...thanx fur sharing!!😃