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Entertainment

Up-Close & Personal: Purva Bedi

By: Tirusha Dave

All photos courtesy of Audie England

The future is dazzling for Purva Bedi.  Currently, Purva can be seen on stage playing celebrated Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo, in the world premiere of the play “The Rise of Dorothy Hale” at the St Luke’s Theatre in New York.  Hollywood has beckoned for Bedi with a slew of upcoming roles.  Watch for her this winter recurring on ABC’s Cashmere Mafia; dancing in the feature film Love ‘N Dancing; and filming the upcoming movie version of the play, Raisins Not Virgins.  Bedi is also the artistic director and founder of Disha Theatre, a theatre company based in New York while also juggling the role of executive producer and lead actress in Shyam Madiraju’s new feature film, Broken.

She can gracefully represent any part of the world through her British, Indian, French, Middle Eastern, Iraqi, Iranian, Afghani, Spanish, Mexican, and Puerto Rican accents.  For her role as Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, “I am embracing and learning about this extraordinary artist who suffered so much pain in her life, through polio, miscarriages, a terrible trolley car accident, a disloyal husband but channeled all of that heartache to create stunning art. I have always wanted to play a ‘real person.’ This play fulfills so many of my dreams. I am loving it!”

Bedi made her professional acting debut when she played the character of Meenah, in East is East at Manhattan Theatre Club with The New Group. From all the movies she’s worked on, her most prominent and widely known role is the character of Nina from the internationally-known film, American Desi.  It was for her role of Nina that this vivacious actress she received an Ammy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Feature Film, an award recognizing accomplishments in the Asian-American community given by A Magazine.

Recently I had the chance to catch-up with this gorgeous actress in downtown Manhattan! With our Starbucks in hands and a fresh notebook to take notes in, we sat down in a ‘quiet’ area of the city and I got to know the ins and outs of Purva Bedi!

Tirusha: Purva it’s a pleasure to finally get to sit down with you and talk about everything from American Desi, to the future ten years from now! I know you didn’t wake up one day and think, “I want to be an actress!” What was the first thing about the art of acting which intrigued you and what made you want to pursue this as a career?

Purva: I think absolute insanity made me want to pursue this as a career. I am joking of course. But the desire to be an actress came from a passion for bringing characters to life on a screen or stage.  From the age of five when I was in my first play, I got the bug and discovered the joy of pulling together all that I am, all that I have to express a moment, a truth, as fully as possible. It is one thing to love acting, it is quite another to pursue a career in a field that is so competitive and so saturated and really does not need any more actors, and that is why I am probably a little insane, but as long as I still get joy from this, I stay with it.

 

Being Indian, it’s more of the norm for someone like us to go into a medical, business or computer field. But looking at where you and I are standing, we totally broke free of that norm! How supportive was your family when you broke them the news of acting? Did they think that it was a phase or did they always know you were passionate about this art?

They always knew I was passionate about it but I don’t know if they realized quite how serious I was about making it my livelihood.  I was paralyzed in college trying to decide on a major and was “undecided” for as long as my college allowed me to be.  I knew I loved acting but the world kept telling me it was an untenable profession.  So I double-majored in Economics and Theatre and actually worked in the corporate world for a year before deciding to take the plunge and pursue acting full-time.

 

Once I went into it, my parents were supportive if a little scared on my behalf.  My paternal grandmother was an actress in India and ran a theatre company for thirty years.  My mother had been an actress as a teenager in India but left it behind to pursue academia.  So even though they worried about how much challenge I was inviting with my choice to be an actress, it was definitely on their radar as a profession that people actually chose, as opposed to just total lunacy.  As I progressed in my career as an actress, I found that the more of my work they saw, the more they understood and embraced my choice.

 

The first movie you acted in was, Vasarma’s Lovers. What enticed you most about the script and what made you want to say, “This is the right role for me,”?

Vasarma’s Lovers was a beautiful short film about love and reincarnation. Madhurika Sona Jain wrote and directed me in it. Serendipitously, I starred opposite Deep Katdare, the same actor I worked with a year later in American Desi. What I loved about Vasarma’s Lovers was that it told a story about spirituality and metaphysical concepts but it was completely felt and emotional and really about the power of love transcending time and space. It was about big and beautiful Love and I just had to be a part of it.

If anybody knows you, it’s because of American Desi! I know we discussed this on the phone, but do people really walk up to you and say, “Buy me a pizza,”?

Hehe! They did that a lot for a while after the movie came out.  It doesn’t happen as much now but once in a while I still get it.  Makes me giggle!

 

I’m sure what most readers want to know if when you take a roll, such as “Nina,” from American Desi, do you sometimes see a connection between the person you’re playing and who you really are?

Always.  Actually, I see it as my job to find a personal connection between who I really am and all the characters I play.  Right now I am playing the legendary Mexican artist Frida Kahlo in “The Rise of Dorothy Hale” at the St Luke’s Theatre in New York.  www.DorothyHale.com  Frida lived a life of tremendous emotional and physical pain and created stunning,  unforgettable art.  She was an extraordinary woman and while my life is quite different from hers, I strive to understand her by finding the points of connection we share and articulating the differences.

 

Of all the movies you’ve acted in, which one has been the most memorable movie?

I think the most memorable is American Desi. It was the first feature film I ever worked on and I had the lead role. It was a first for so many of us on so many levels: first feature, first lead role, first time working with so many other young South Asian American actors.  That thrill of the first time is memorable.  I have been privileged to work on a number of other films, tv shows, and plays and had rich and delicious experiences on so many projects, but none of us were prepared for the surprising success of American Desi.

Besides movies, you’ve also been on hit television shows such as ABC’s House, FOX’s Law & Order: Criminal Intent, NBC’s Alias, and The Drew Carey Show to name a few. Are you currently working on any television-based shows right now?

I am having so much fun working as a recurring character on ABC’s “Cashmere Mafia.”  My character’s name is Purva, isn’t that funny?! Darren Starr, who created Sex and the City, is the show’s creator. And the costume designer is the same person who designed Sex & the City so I am having fun wearing absolutely beautiful designer clothes! I think the show is so smart and funny and takes these hilarious risks. It is about these high-powered yet sensitive women who went to business school together and RULE New York. I play the role of Miranda Otto’s assistant and we work in a super-fancy boutique hotel.

 

Do you ever think there’ll be a point in American cinema where there’ll be an Indian James Bond or a lead character on a television show who’s of Indian decent?

There a ton of us on TV: Sendhil on Heroes. Ravi on Crossing Jordan, Kal and Meera on House, Parminder on ER, Navi on Numbers, and Naveen on Lost. I know there are more on the newer TV shows. It has taken time but I do believe it is happening slowly but surely.

How soon do you see something like this happening?

I would love that and keep my fingers crossed.  I think it is happening but it takes time and I trust that the work of many of us South Asian actors on Broadway and Hollywood is paving the way for younger actors to benefit from the pavement pounding we have been doing for the last few decades.

 

If you had the chance to make your “dream movie,” who would you cast as the lead male role and who would you have as the director?

Funny, I am executive producer on a feature film about human trafficking called “Broken” written and directed by Shyam Madiraju. That is my dream movie and we are in the process of raising the financing. I would love to work with Ben Kingsley as the male lead!  I will also be working on the film version of Sharbari Ahmed’s “Raisins Not Virgins” and eager to work with her as a director. She is such a talent: I am betting she’ll be a dream!

 

Do you think you would ever step behind the camera and direct a film of your own?

I would love to try to direct one day.  I think it is a wonderful challenge.  As an actress, I focus on my individual character as part of the whole.  I try to discover: What is the vision of the entire story?  What part do I play in telling that story?  I find it so exciting when a director has a strong vision and can talk to actors about what that is.  I would be thrilled to take on the challenge of starting form the macro level with the vision and getting down to the nitty gritty of bringing that vision to life.

 

Okay Purva, it’s time for the rapid fire questions! Get ready! Who’s your favorite American actor?

Cate Blanchett, but she is Australian—does that count?

 

Bollywood actor?

I liked Abhishek Bachchan in Guru which was the last Bollywood film I saw with my grandmother.  I am a little behind!

What’s on rotation in your iPod right now?

Coldplay, Meniskus, Elliott Smith, Norah Jones, Guided By Voices

 

If you could be anywhere right now, where would you want to be?

Scuba Diving in Hawaii!

 

If you could live in another person’s shoes for an entire 24 hours, who would you want to live the life of?

Frida Kahlo who I have the honor of playing on stage right now.  What an intriguing life she led of great pain coupled with an indomitable will to live.

 

You mentioned earlier that you’re going to be playing the character of Frida. The play has been running for a few weeks now. Give us a little insight on the story and your character. What did you to so that you can become one with the character? Did you have to read up on Frida in order to know what she was like so that you can define her character perfectly?

Playwright Myra Bairstow has created a truly fascinating story in “The Rise of Dorothy Hale.”  Forgive me for quoting the summary of the play, but it is such a wonderfully layered conspiracy story, that I think this is the clearest way to tell you what it is about.

“History has recorded that Dorothy Hale, the widow of American muralist Gardner Hale, died in New York City on October 21, 1938 after plunging sixteen stories from her apartment window at the Hampshire House on Central Park South. She was thirty-three years old. Dorothy’s death was ruled a suicide. The story of Dorothy Hale has never really been thoroughly examined. Until Now. The Rise of Dorothy Hale explores the life and death of Dorothy Hale through the creative process of Frida Kahlo and enables the contradictions in history to stand face to face. Did the alleged suicide note that Clare Boothe Luce claims to have received even exist? Why did Harry Hopkins involve the White House and two key players of the Roosevelt Administration to handle damage control around Dorothy’s death? What possible secrets did Dorothy know about Harry Hopkins and Clare Luce before she was found dead? Was Dorothy Hale’s death a suicide or a murder made to look like a suicide?”

 

We learn of this story through Frida’s creative process and intuitive journey.  I had LITERALLY one week of rehearsal as I came in as a replacement. I had to learn a whole lot of lines in the day, absorb the show through watching it every night, and read and research wherever I could in between.  It has been an exciting journey for me to basically have a rehearsal process ON STAGE PERFORMING instead of in the protected confines of the rehearsal room for six weeks before opening.  It has been risky and a little scary.  I have been on stage for almost ten weeks now and I am still in the middle of reading three different biographies of Frida Kahlo. I regularly watch a short cut of eight millimeter footage I found of her on Youtube for inspiration. And daily, I look at photos of Frida and reproductions of her work or remind myself of them before I step out on stage.  Every night as I put on the jewelry and costume for Frida, I am reminded of each item’s personal importance of why this ring or hairstyle was selected by Frida and the way she presented herself to the world.  And then other days, I just trust it.  The beauty of playing a character for three months onstage is that each day I can bring in a new focus for the day: something I’ve read about her relationship with Diego or her father or her miscarriages.  Something that inspires me that day.  She is a fascinating character and it is a thrill to play her every day.

 

 

What has the feedback been since you’ve started playing the role of Frida? Do you think that this is going to help in the factor of being type-casted?

It is intriguing to play a historical character who people already have strong ideas and feelings about.  I feel a pressure not to disappoint the many fans of Frida Kahlo.  Funny, huh?  Feedback has been fun and varied.  As I said, I did not have six weeks in a rehearsal room, so after the show, as I leave the theatre, I hear some of the only feedback I have gotten.  Frida fans who are waiting for me will respond warmly to things that surprise me: responding to her physicality, her sense of humor, her pain. Every person has something different to say and discovering what different audiences enjoy has been a pleasure.

 

What are some current projects which you are working on right now?

Well doing eight shows a week is pretty consuming but our play is closing soon so it is time to start looking forward.  On stage, next on my plate, I am hoping that all the stars will align and I will be able to work with Jennifer Maisel on her new play “There or Here” about outsourcing of surrogate mothers from India.  The play is hilarious and heartbreaking.  I was able to workshop this play twice at The Sundance Theatre Institute and also with the Playwright’s Theatre of New Jersey. I am also working with Target Margin Theatre and director David Herskovits on a new piece called Williams Kazan (I think that is a temporary title!) about the collaboration between the playwright Tennessee Williams and the director Elia Kazan on the play Camino Real.  We are doing workshops at Lincoln Center Theatre and New York Theatre Workshop.

 

On television, I am also playing “Purva”—yes, that is my character’s name, isn’t that funny?—who is Juliet’s assistant on the new ABC series “Cashmere Mafia.”  It’s been a thrill working on the show and I hope audiences like the show and it runs for years and years.  I find it is so smart and funny and delicious eye candy of beautiful and bold fashion!!

 

Alright Purva, so any last words for your fans and the readers of Bravura Artist?

I just want to say a huge thank you for supporting our artists: watching plays, television and movies with South Asian artists makes a difference. Your support is so appreciated! I love looking out into the audience when I play Frida and seeing brown faces.  So thank you for coming and please keep it up!!!