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FILM INTERVIEW: ROSHNI CHOPRA

Popular Television Star Makes the Jump to Bollywood in Thriller Caper ‘Phhir’

By: Simran Mody
August 10, 2011

Do not call Girish Dhamija’s Phhir a horror film. In reviewing the film, Buzzine Bollywood can agree with Roshni Chopra’s assessment of the film she headlines alongside Rajneesh Duggal and Adah Sharma. Indeed, Phhir is more of a mystery thriller featuring a few supernatural elements and a psychologically scary ending, yet nothing of the film produced by Mahesh and Vikram Bhatt indicates the production is a horror flick.

 
That is exactly what Ms. Chopra, who made her name known for portraying Pia in the popular Ekta Kapoor television show Kasamh Se (on Zee TV), has been telling the media all week about Phhir. (You can check out our review of the film as well. Nowhere in our assessment of Phhir did we label it a horror).
 
“It’s a romantic thriller, and not a horror film as many are assuming, which is set in New Castle (England),” Ms. Chopra told The Times of India last week. “And my role is of a young wife, Sia, who's married to Kabir, played by Rajneesh Duggal. Though she’s born and brought up in the UK, she has Indian values. There are lots of twists and turns in the film, so you have to watch it.”
 
Specifically playing an NRI lawyer who suddenly goes missing, Ms. Chopra actually carries some of her television persona onto the big screen, which she says makes for intriguing cinema, what with the film's unpredictability.
 
“There is no love triangle in the film. And then you see that something happens that the girl goes missing. There are twists and turns,” Ms. Chopra told reporters about Phhir.
 
While Phhir may have its twists and turns, there is nothing non-linear about the latest trend of Indian thespians seamlessly transitioning from television to mainstream cinema.
 
“Now you see the biggest actors are coming on television and doing shows. And lots of TV actors are doing films, so I feel the lines are very blurry between the two mediums,” Ms. Chopra informed the press. “I want to do interesting work, whatever may be the medium...be it films or TV or theatre.”
 
Still, she is happy to be starring in Phhir, thanks to her casting by producer Vikram Bhatt, who works with his brother Mahesh on several thriller-type films.
 
“I am very much thankful to Vikram for giving me a break in Bollywood,” Ms. Chopra said. “The Bhatt camp is known for promoting new talent, and I am sure this will help me go a long way in my acting career.”
 
Being grateful to those who opened doors for her is good karma -- an issue Phhir tackles head on. Specifically, Phhir aims to tell audiences that human beings are never devoid of karma, as the spiritual theory pervades every aspect of our life, for better or for worse, whether or not we know it.
 
Accordingly, Phhir delves into the world of the supernatural, even reincarnation, which Ms. Chopra personally reflected on with the media corps.
 
“I believe in reincarnation. I am interested to know about scientific experiments, past life, revenge, and mythology,” she humbly told reporters. “I believe we do reincarnate, and I also believe in karma; whatever you do comes back to you.”
 
Does Ms. Chopra have enough positive karma in her to ensure Phhir performs well enough at the box office on opening weekend in its current form? Come Independence Day, we will found out for sure.
 
'Phhir' opens around the world on August 12, 2011.