Parvin Dabas and Simone Singh at Oh! Calcutta. Picture by Aranya Sen

Simone Singh and Parvin Dabas, two stars of Via Darjeeling’s huge ensemble cast, dug into mochar chop, luchi begun bhaja, chholar dal, bhaat and maachh at Oh! Calcutta before talking about Arindam Nandy’s Hindi thriller set in the hilltown.

A t2 chat...

What do you play in Via Darjeeling?

Simone: I’m not going to give away much of the story since it’s a thriller. I play Priti Sen, a housewife. Rajat Kapoor plays my husband. One fine evening there’s a gathering at our residence, like the Bengali adda. A lot of the story unfolds through this adda. Everyone has a story to tell. Sandhya (Mridul), Sonali (Kulkarni), Vinay (Pathak), Prroshant (Narayannan) are also part of this adda.

Parvin: I play Bonny, Rimli’s (Sonali) ex-boyfriend. Rimli is married to Ankur (Kay Kay Menon).

What made you take up Via Darjeeling?

Simone: Well, Via Darjeeling has a wonderful script. When Arindam (Nandy) narrated the script to me, I found it very interesting. Via Darjeeling is very different, I mean I am not saying that a film like this has never been made but the execution is very different.

Parvin: I liked the story and the way relationships keep changing in the film. A lot depends on what each character is saying and you know when there are a lot of people discussing something everyone has their own perspective, their own angle to the incident. Besides, I liked my character a lot. There’s a lot of mystery attached to Bonny; you won’t know what he is really up to. Even Bonny isn’t very sure of his next move. I liked that uncertainty in the character.

This is Arindam’s first film. Weren’t you apprehensive?

Simone: No, not all all. Let me tell you that I have worked with many first-time directors. Being Cyrus too was by debutant Homi Adajania. I look for confidence in a director. It takes a great deal of effort to debut with a thriller, but Arindam has done a wonderful job. He has written a beautiful story. There are no loose ends in the script. It’s very detailed.

Parvin: To me what really matters is the script. If that is okay, I don’t mind working with a new director. I did Khosla Ka Ghosla with Dibakar Banerjee, who was also a newcomer. Besides, I have known Arindam for a long time. I have seen his ad films. He is very passionate about films. I liked his openness and the role I was offered is very intriguing; there’s a lot of scope for performance.

Isn’t it difficult being part of an ensemble cast?

Simone: Well, it’s great fun actually if everyone gets along well! I think it’s difficult for the director and the producer. I don’t know how Joy (Ganguly, producer) and Arindam managed us. But I guess we were all friends and though we were a team of eight, there was no drama on the sets.

Parvin: It wasn’t difficult. Since there is more competition among colleagues, there’s scope for betterment too. Being part of a huge star cast certainly made me more mature as an actor, as I have learnt from everyone.

How did the shoot in Darjeeling go?

Simone: Darjeeling is not just a location for Via Darjeeling but also a character in the film. But unfortunately I did not shoot there. My portions were restricted to one room in Calcutta!

Parvin: I had gone to Darjeeling and Kalimpong along with Kay Kay and Sonali. The most important part of the story unfolds in Darjeeling when Kay Kay goes missing. I will remember Darjeeling for not just its scenic beauty but also because I broke my nose there! It was the last day of our shoot and I got up at night to go to the bathroom. I slipped and lay unconscious for 15 minutes. My clothes were all soaked in blood.

What kind of roles are coming your way?

Simone: Oh there are all kinds of offers. But I want to be associated with meaningful films. They may be commercial films but I must have something important to do in them. That’s one of the reasons why I have cut down on television work. I have said bye bye to fiction because it takes a lot of time. I have my family to look after too. But non-fiction, yes. I will soon be hosting a show, Filmfare Flashback, on Zoom.

Parvin: I am not getting too many interesting offers. I was absolutely naive when I came to Bollywood. After working with Mira Nair in Monsoon Wedding, I made a couple of wrong choices. I have been part of films that were crap. That’s because I I have no godfather. I had no good guidance. You have to be a star son or a nephew to be a star. I was just nobody. Plus, I trusted people blindly and was taken for a ride.

But thankfully, I have matured and have learnt the tricks of the trade. Now I don’t rely on people easily. When a director approaches me with a script I ask them questions, which I didn’t before.

Tell us about your forthcoming films...

Simone: I am shooting for an untitled film about which I am not supposed to talk and there are two more films which are yet to be finalised.

Parvin: I am doing Sanjay Gupta’s Alibaug, where I play a journalist on the crime beat. Then there’s an English film opposite Lisa Ray, The World Unseen, for which we will shoot in South Africa. There’s N. Chandra’s Yeh Mera India and an animation film Secrets Of The Seven Sounds, where I am lending my voice to the lead character.

But my passion is photography. I do a lot of underwater photography and have had exhibitions in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. I am waiting for an invitation from Calcutta. And I am also spending time with my wife Preeti (Jhangiani). We couldn’t be together post marriage, as she had a show in America.

(Who do you think will be the showstealer in Via Darjeeling? Tell t2@abpmail.com)