Cutie alert! We watched Mere Dad Ki Maruti yesterday and loved Prabal Panjabi in it, so MissMalini decided to set up a quick interview for us. Prabal popped into office and settled down on our sofa to talk about all things Mere Dad Ki Maruti, like his experience working with Ram Kapoor, his off-screen friendship with Saqib Saleem, and that day he missed his call-time because he overslept! He was sweet and adorable, and by the time he left, we were all singing “I knew you were Prabal when you walked in!” to the tune of Taylor Swift‘s I Knew You Were Trouble. *lol* And while he won’t elaborate on his Goa stories just yet, we’re hoping to get it out of him some day 🙂
Team MissMalini (Team MM): Tell us a little about your character in Mere Dad Ki Maruti.
Prabal Panjabi (PP): I play this character called Gattu, he’s like this bundle of energy who’s always scared, always negative… a little pessimistic b*tch, to be honest. The entire film is a situational comedy, and something goes wrong, and this character basically tells his friend Sameer that everything’s going to go wrong from here… and it does. So my character is, basically yes, a negative little b*tch.
Team MM: What was it like working with Ram Kapoor?
PP: It was too much fun. I had seen Udaan and I had really liked his work, and of course he’s really famous for his TV show, Bade Acche Lagte Hain. When my dad got to know that I’m doing a film with him he was really excited, because I think Ram Kapoor really represents this whole uncle-aunty sort of community and they really love him. When I met him on day one, I realized that he’s a manchild. He’s like a ten-year-old in a forty-year-old’s body, and he’s too much fun.
Team MM: Can you tell us anything funny that happened while shooting?
PP: I had a really bad habit… when we were shooting in Chandigarh, we had separate call times, all of us. We were shooting nights and days alternatively, and I had to reach sets by 7pm. I remember waking up at 8 with the assistant director knocking on the door, and my face… my hair… my eyes… [laughs]. I thought I was going to get thrashed on sets that day, but our director, she’s fantastic. I really love her, Ashima Chibber. The entire film, whatever the film is, everyone’s performances, everything, it’s because of the director. She’s insane.
Team MM: You and Saqib Saleem share great on-screen chemistry. Does this stem from an off-screen friendship?
PP: Saqib and I actually did our first ad together, our first film together… this is our second film together, so I don’t know, there’s some sort of connection. The first ad that we did together was the DoCoMo train ad, that was the first time I met him, around three years ago, and since then we’ve just been really good friends. Irrespective of whether we had done this film or not, we would have still been as great friends. Actually, in real life we’re much more crazy and wild than the film, because it’s a family film.
Team MM: Can you share some of those off-screen moments?
PP: [laughs] In the last two years, he’s the one person I’ve chilled with the most. Like, the most. Before New Years we all went to Goa together, and it was wild… I don’t know how much I can elaborate on that, but it was fun.
Team MM: What’s your favourite dialogue from the film?
PP: My favourite dialogue is actually a Ram Kapoor one. He says, “Isko dekh kar pata chalta hai ki kuch jaanwar apne bachche ko kyun kha jaate hai.” I think that’s crazy.
Team MM: Did you always know you wanted to get into acting?
PP: When I was 13, I did my first school play and I was like, this is awesome. This is bloody brilliant. I did theatre in school. I came to Bombay because I was sick of Delhi and said I wanted to do my college in Bombay. I continued doing theatre, I did a couple of ads, I did a TV show for kids… and then I said, if it happens, it’s great. Even if doesn’t happen for me as a career, I’ll do something to do with films because I just love films.
Team MM: What’s next from you?
PP: I actually did this indie film called Shahid, which is doing the festival rounds. It’s got Raj Kumar Yadav, and Hansal Mehta has directed it. That is completely different from these two films that I did. I play a 22-year-old version of a terrorist who’s in a jail, so my beard is long, I’ve got specs and I’m in convict clothes. So that’s fun… it’s a small role, but it’s different, it’s fun.
And if you’re wondering, we also asked him about his Bollywood favourites:
Favourite Bollywood actor: Boman Irani.
Favourite Bollywood actress: Huma Qureshi and Vidya Balan.
Favourite Bollywood movies of 2012: Gangs of Wasseypur II and English Vinglish.