Hearty conversation with Pariva Pranati at Lemon Grass

Click on the pic to view slideshow Lemon Grass, the oriental restaurant in Malad, has recently introduced Indian dishes, so when the enterprising Directors Deepti and Subhash Menon invited me to taste the new menu set up by celebrity Chef Harpal Singh Sokhi, I just couldn’t resist. And I felt it would make for a more interesting afternoon if I had with me Pariva Pranati, the TV actor who has recently debuted in filmdom with Reema Kagti and Aamir Khan’s Talaash. The actor dressed in a jumpsuit and black overcoat came on time for the lunch appointment. As a life size Thai statue and a lemony green décor welcomed us, we chose a quiet corner. After we were served soup (Jade soup was refreshing) and appetizers (Pari Kebab, melt-in-the-mouth Lemon Grass Malai Tikka and crunchy Tandoori Chicken), our conversation veered towards myriad topics. Pariva Pranati is a Bihari girl with her upbringing mostly in the north of India and she has seen many places, the reason being, “My father was in the navy hence was subject to transfers, which gave us an opportunity to travel to many places.” Recounting her Delhi experiences, she talks about how eve teasing is common and that she has been manhandled while travelling in buses. “Initially you are scared, and then you learn to put up a fight by pushing the culprit away and complaining to your co-passengers.” Just fresh from a Hindi film debut and of sharing screen space with the great Aamir Khan in the Bollywood flick Talaash, I expected my guest to throw a bit of weight around her but was pleasantly surprised to meet a young girl with her head on her shoulders who did not allow herself to be carried away by the first flush of success. Revealing more about herself, the typical Piscean says, “Basically I am a loner and have very few friends.” She has very few friends in the TV industry and Puneet Sachdev is one of them. The best thing about her is she is non-judgmental, keeps to herself and likes acting as she can essay a variety of characters which she would like to be in real life. We loved the starters and moved on to the main course – fresh cottage cheese in Paneer Tikka Masala tickled the palate while Pariva relished Chutneywala Palak Murgh, along with Burnt Garlic Spinach Rice and hot butter naans. After her stint in Aarakshan, she played a Kathiawadi girl, a very loud character in Ek Doosre Se Karte Hai Pyaar Hum on Star Plus quite convincingly. “Actually I am not a loud person at all and this role was a real challenge to me. Apart from this I had to mouth dialogues with a Gujarati accent that were like tongue twisters for me. ” What she enjoyed the most was the humour in the story line. Lemon Grass also serves some excellent One Dish meals, for single diners, like Burmese Khowsuey, Indonesian Nasi Goreng, Hainenese Chicken Rice and a choice of Sizzlers. Like they say, here is a twist of taste – from satay to tikka, Schiuan rice to biryani, Thai curry to dal makhani and naan, you can treat yourself to your choice of food which is exactly what Pariva and I did. Throwing light on sharing screen space with the distinguished Aamir Khan in Talaash, she says, “Which actor won’t consider himself/herself lucky to work with Aamir Khan. It was my dream come true and a mind-blowing experience. He puts you so much at ease that you forget you are in front a superstar like Aamir.” As for her role, she recounts, Reema Kagti was surprised for as soon as the camera rolled Pariva’s tears rolled down spontaneously on finding her screen husband Vivan Bathena murdered. The petite actor explains, “We TV actors are used to crying that forms a part and parcel of the soaps, so it is very easy for us to shed tears at the drop of a hat,” she laughs. Though she looks forward to doing more films, TV still remains her priority. She is happy driving an automatic car which makes her free of depending on a driver. Sizzling Brownie with ice cream and Gulab Jamuns brought us to the end of our genial meeting and after getting to know Pariva, the feeling of looking at a mirror image of myself crept within and both the loners had found a friend in each other.