Reality remains distinct in fantasy world
It is not common for us to feature those offshore in this feature but artistes like Priya Bapat are not seen in New Zealand every day.
In a make-believe world of fantasies and dream merchants, it is hard to find a down-to-earth rising star, which was why Priya impressed us with her simplicity, beauty, intelligence, sense of humour and most important of all, humility.
Born, raised and educated in Mumbai, Priya brought to the tinsel town of Marathi films a postgraduate degree in Mass Communications with Marketing and Journalism as core subjects; thence she could have been a person behind the camera or behind the scenes. But her penchant for acting took her through seven Marathi films, the most recent of which was ‘Time Pass 2,’ shown in Auckland on June 21, 2015 (a separate report appears under Entertainmentlink).
Exploring characters
Like all other artistes, Priya loves those brilliant, character roles that would bring the best in her but is not fussy.
“I would like to explore any character that is offered to me. Films are the second best thing that happened in my life,” she said, citing her husband Umesh Kamat as ‘the single most important phenomenon’ in her life.
“I undertake to do a film only after a thorough discussion with him. He understands me better than anyone else. I have implicit trust in his opinion. The bond that we share keeps us connected and is evident in the quality of work we do. Working with him has its own set of advantages,” she said.
Priya made her film debut in ‘Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar’ as young Ramabhai and went on to do seven others, each with its own measure of success.
She appeared in a cameo role in the runaway Hindi film hit, ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai.’
New Zealand holds a special interest for Priya and Umesh since the latter’s parents live in Auckland.
“I am overwhelmed by the beauty of this country,” she said.
-Venkat Raman
