Sapna Pabbi plays Aarya Singh in The Reunion.
She debuted in the world of acting with Anil Kapoor’s television series 24 and went on to pave her way to the cinemas through Vikram Bhatt’s musical thriller Khamoshiyan, which starred Ali Fazal and television hunk Gurmeet Choudhary.
The film threw light on Sapna’s acting skills and brought her under spotlight. Soon, we saw her in Lisa Haydon and Shweta Tripathi’s The Trip and Amazon Prime’s web-series Breathe headlined by R Madhavan and Amit Sadh. Her up next is latest web-series The Reunion.
In an exclusive conversation with indianexpress.com, Sapna Pabbi speaks about being Aarya Singh in Zoom Studios’ original series, The Reunion and her career so far.
How was it playing Aarya, a confident and career oriented girl of today?
I relate to her in many ways. She may seem selfish sometimes as she is focussed on herself but that is how we are today. I don’t know how much we keep in touch with our loved ones as life is too handsful now (sic), even for women. We are on the same level as men now.
Unintentionally, we tend to forget about loved ones as we get more focused on where life is heading to. But Aarya is on tryst to make up some relationships. It is difficult. But she is learning.
The Reunion trailer:
Did you leave people and relationships behind to become an actor?
Oh, by the way, I am from London. I have many people commenting on my accent that its fake. And I am like… I am born and brought up in London! (Laughs) Somebody said “she is trying to be Priyanka Chopra,” I inform them I have a UK passport, my parents are from London, I have been there for 23 years of my life and Britain is still my bay.
So, coming back to your question, yes, I have done that (leaving people and relationships). I have packed up and left my life and people behind and focussed on what I always wanted to do.
Do your friends in London watch your work?
They do. There are some who don’t speak to me anymore. I don’t think I can talk about that. In life, as you grow up, your priorities change. There could be differences which friends acknowledge as normal because they are normal. Some of my friends do comment as they are watching. Some of them I am not in touch but I am sure, are going to murmur within themselves.
What about your parents?
My father is a lot like Amrish Puri from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, that is how I have grown up in London. Very strict father, very desi and Indian. I can read and write Punjabi. With my parents, initially I struggled to explain the web-series platform to them but its catching on, its a platform where good content is coming up. So, they appreciate that. With Breathe, they were quite gobsmacked. Even I did not expect the kind of response we got for the series.
Was Aarya easy to play in comparison to Ria from Breathe?
Not just in comparison to Breathe but Aarya is the lighter character I have played so far. She is very regular. In 24, I played a teenager and did what teenagers normally do, in Khamoshiyaan and The Trip I was an introvert. In Breathe, I was very grounded and mature. Here (The Reunion), she is an everyday girl, confident and unapologetically herself. I could smile a lot on screen without any inhibitions.
Did The Trip’s success make you sign The Reunion?
To some extent yes but at the same time no. The Trip was a project I really wanted to do. It was the first web-series. I genuinely feel its one of its kind and the first female comedy. The only one I can think of is Veere Di Wedding (film) that’s coming now. I would say we are still the benchmark of the category. In my entire career here, I feel we are still missing female-oriented comedies or group projects.
Was your approach different for Aarya and Ria?
I just have one approach. I use music. I create a playlist of what I feel goes with my character. I am very musically inclined person. So, I look or find music or track in which I can trace my character’s graph. I have one song for one character and different songs for the character’s equation with other relationships in the project. I have a playlist of Deva and Aarya, Aarya and Gaurav… so basically music represents the character and the relationships.
I would love to get into sound design one day.
Do you think despite web expansion, films are still the biggest platform for actors?
I think cinema is in decline right now because of the new ways to be entertained. It is still the biggest chunk in India. I finished my first Punjabi film with Gippy Grewal and the second release is Drive that will be coming in September. Whatever is fun, just do it.
As she signs off, Sapna gives a shout out to The Reunion director Karisma Kohli and shared that it makes her really happy to see women progressing in every aspect of filmmaking, be it directing, cinematography or sound designing.