Treating Tia Bajpai to 180 degrees

Doesn’t the title sound like torture of my dear guest? Rest assured it is but a fine gastronomic indulgence that the all-day-dining 180 Degrees of star-rated hotel Grand Sarovar Premiere (GSP) in Goregoan so lovingly meted out to my sweet guest, singer and TV/film actor Tia Bajpai. Though I had never ever spoken to Tia before approaching her in the initial stages of my column (she was away on shoot to exotic international locations for Vikram Bhatt movie), she was always approachable and cooperative, updating me with her schedules as to when she would be free to dine with me. It was more than 6 months and though I had not given up, her name had settled on the ‘pending list’ page with the month of her availability mentioned which I would have almost missed if it was not for a fleeting, last minute browsing of my ‘to do’ pages. I called her up pronto and was pleased to get her positive response for a lunch meet. When I reached the venue at the appointed hour, the dynamic and courteous GM of GSP, Ajoy Balkrishnan, joined me while I explored the elaborate lunch buffet counters. The soup, salad and starters section offered a plethora of exotic salads with a variety of dressings; pita with hummus, babaganoush, muttabal; mouth-watering Indian starters of fried idlis, dhoklas, aluwadis and vadas to the accompaniment of sambar, green, sweet-n-sour and coconut chutneys. The actor arrived a little late and apologized as she had got held up in a meeting in Bandra. Tia appeared smartly dressed in black palazzos teamed with a white full-sleeved top, her silky hair let loose and flowing; I couldn’t miss the stylish Louis Vuitton handbag. After introductions to GM Ajoy, she admired the restaurant for its interiors and I told her more was coming as I escorted her through the entire gamut of the buffet. As all actors are inclined to, Tia too went with salads on full swing and just nibbled on some of the appetizers. The heat outside dictated us to sip on delicious watermelon juice as we made little talk slowly gravitating to her career moves and a bit on the personal front (I asked her about the person she was supposed to be seeing – a hospital owner, which she understandably declined talking about). “Music and singing is my first love and I can never give that up, it’s second nature to me,” said the pretty girl, adding, “acting happened with television serial Betiyaan and then films followed.” Her original name Twinkle was changed to Tia by her filmi mentor Vikram Bhatt with whom she has done the horror flick Haunted 3D, Lanka (besides acting, she also sang for which she won Mirchi Music Award) and the sequel 1920: Evil Returns. In all, with two of her three films already released having been hits, Tia has little to worry about her career in Bollywood. Presently her new film Identity Card based on Jammu-Kashmir, which is a trilingual venture of Telugu, Kannada and Hindi, is awaiting release. As I wonder if it is about terrorism and a black film, she assured me it is about terrorism but dealt with in a humorous manner. As the actors are from the respective industry in the regional languages, she has to shoot them separately which explains the time taken for its release. I was surprised to learn Tia’s parents are disciplinarians and that her mom made sure she learnt aspects of domestic duties before venturing into the glam world, which explains her knowledge to make pickles. Her father who is into organizing events with celebs, made it clear to his daughter that she should not look back once she has opted for a career of her choice. I also learn she is keen to own a Vespa scooter and navigate around the traffic in Mumbai. Ask her about the hungry wolves in her profession, she avers, “I have been lucky to have a good and decent director in Vikram Bhatt. Otherwise I believe the casting couch does exist for beginners.” About the short career span and attitude-throwing demands of this industry, her dictum is: Sometimes you are the pigeon and other times the statue! Well said, Tia! After digging into the wide array of delectable main course of interesting gravy dishes like Paneer Makhni, Dum Aloo, Subz Handi with buttery garlic naans, we progressed to desserts. Tia loved Mung dal halwa, Phirni and Rasmalai though she just tasted them. The vegetarian actor expressed she was truly sated and appreciated the hospitality of Grand Sarovar team. With that note and a lot of good wishes, I see her off as Tia hops on to her sedan for another filmi meeting.