She was taken aback when I told her about Meenal, a character she had portrayed in the wildly popular Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. This movie, which released in 2003, was her Bollywood debut and the fact that I remembered a scene vividly after over two decades, took her by surprise.
Twenty-two years later, Priya Bapat and I caught up for a virtual interview, while she promoted her recently launched film Costao, which also stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui as the titular character. Costao is currently streaming on ZEE5 Global.
Priya, who was vacationing in the US, spoke about a range of topics, including her debut, special friendships with co-stars and women in films. Most importantly, she spoke about Maria, the character from her latest project.
Maria is a wife to Nawaz, who plays an upright Customs officer. She is also a mother of three and a schoolteacher. When asked to expand on her role, Priya said the movie explores how the relationship between Costao and his wife changes and the price the family pays while supporting him through a difficult journey.
“I think that’s the journey of Maria you see in the film. It’s very important and also it is important because Costao equally loves his family, it’s not that he doesn’t. He really wants his family to support, but there is only so much a family can do when you as a person start suffering and pay the cost of what someone’s passion is. Then you start questioning why am I here, what am I doing, am I doing the right thing, this is what I want from life, it’s not what I want from life.”
She also thanked the writers of the film and the director, debutant Sejal Shah, for giving her a character with a firm voice.
To know more about the film, watch the conversation below.
