CHENNAI: Vandana Sajnani seems to love her dosas just as much as she loves theatre. Well, almost. The Mumbai-based actor who flew into the city for a crazy weekend that included everything from a performance of her popular production Fourplay at Phoenix MarketCity to idli-dosa diaries to a drive-down to Puducherry — certainly took on a full plate of action for two days. And when I’m eating she adds, “I like my South Indian food with loads of ‘gun powder’ on top!” Um... “I can’t pronounce the Tamil name,” she admits with a laugh, “but it’s read and I’ve never seen it up North.” After a little more talking, we discover, it’s milagaipodi. Go figure.
Excerpts from a fun chat with this Mumbaiite — who incidentally will be on the big screen with Dil Dhadakney Do in June this year.
Cruise Craze
Shooting for the film was amazing because for starters we went all over Europe on this cruise — Italy, Spain, France... so every day was a different port. And to do it all with a star cast that included Priya Chopra, Anil Kapoor, Farhan Akhtar... it was quite an experience.
Height Fright
As much as I love the water, I could never look down at it from the cruise, because I have a horrible fear of heights. At nearly 30 storeys up in the air, the one shot that required all the actors to look down at the water, probably has me with my eyes closed!
Chennai Lovin’
Chennai for me is the complete hub of fabulous cuisine and great shopping. My mom and I both love to get our saris from Pothys and Nalli. And I’m constantly looking for new pieces to add to my sari collection that range from places across India such as Kolkata and Gujarat, courtesy my love for travel and the plays that very often take me travelling...
Theatre Travelogue
It’s pretty amazing because Fourplay alone has me headed out to everywhere from Delhi to Dubai, Muscat and Hong Kong this year. But truth be told, I’m solo traveller. Put a map in my hand and a cup of coffee and I’m ready to go.
Debutante Director
After over a decade directing plays, I’ve been planning to up my game for awhile and have a full length feature flick in the works soon. For fans, I promise it’s going to be in my forte or comedy or rather ‘Romedy’ and hopefully we’ll start shooting this year. Fingers crossed.