Pia Bajpiee is an Indian actress and model who appears primarily in
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
and
Kollywood films. She is best known for her performances as Roshini in
Venkat Prabhu's comedy ''
Goa'' and Saro in
K. V. Anand's political thriller ''
Ko''.
Early life
Bajpiee was born in
Etawah but resettled in
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders wi ...
to attend a computer course while hoping to gain a break in films. Though her parents opposed her decision, she enrolled for a diploma in
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includin ...
, whilst undertaking small jobs such as working as a receptionist and tutoring in order to earn money to make a good portfolio. However, after a year, the office job left her restless and she relocated to
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...
on her own money. Bajpiee then began to work as a dubbing artiste for serials, but found the job depressing and moved onto modelling appearing in print-ads, commercials and music videos. She featured in adverts for
Cadbury
Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mar ...
alongside veteran actor,
Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan (; born as Amitabh Shrivastav; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the most succe ...
and Sonata with cricketer,
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (; born 7 July 1981) is an Indian former international cricketer who was captain of the Indian national cricket team in limited-overs formats from 2007 to 2017 and in Test cricket from 2008 to 2014. He is also the curre ...
. She was eventually signed on by noted film-maker
Priyadarshan to appear in a commercial he directed and it became a platform for her to break into films.
Career
After appearing in Priyadarshan's commercial, he offered her a chance to play a part in his Tamil film production, and Bajpiee accepted the offer after an audition. The comedy film, ''
Poi Solla Porom'', was directed by
A. L. Vijay and featured
Karthik Kumar and
Nassar in pivotal roles. Upon release the film won critical acclaim and favourable reviews, with Bajpiee's performance labelled as "bubbly and cheery". She went on to feature in
Raju Sundaram's ''
Aegan'' as a college student, with the film featuring her alongside
Ajith Kumar,
Nayantara
Diana Mariam Kurian, known professionally as
Nayanthara, is an Indian actress and film producer who is known for her work in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. She was in the ''Forbes India'' "Celebrity 100" 2018 list, with her total annual ...
and
Navdeep. The film, a remake of 2004 Hindi film ''
Main Hoon Na'', received average reviews whilst Bajpiee's portrayal of
Amrita Rao's character from the original also garnered a mixed response with a critic citing "she hams it", whilst another cited "she was promising" in her role. In 2009, she appeared in a low-budget Telugu film, ''Ninnu Kalisaka'' and won positive acclaim for her portrayal of her character.
On the final day of sets for ''Aegan'', Ajith Kumar introduced her to director
Venkat Prabhu, who signed her for ''
Goa'' sixth months later, to appear as the love interest of
Jai in the film. During the making of the film in Langkawi, the crew cited that the hotel was haunted and Bajpiee came out with an account of an eerie experience in her hotel room. ''Goa'' became her big break and Bajpiee won critical acclaim for her portrayal of
Goan girl Roshini with critics citing that she looked "promising" and "endearing", while the award-winning song "
Idhu Varai" was shot featuring her character.
With the help of director Vijay, she was selected to portray the lead role in Siddharth Chandrasekhar's comedy ''
Bale Pandiya'' alongside
Vishnu
Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism.
Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within ...
, becoming her first major release as a lead heroine. The film won mixed reviews, though Bajpiee's role was praised with a critic from
Sify
Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...
citing that "Piaa is improving with every film and looks cute".
Bajpiee's next release was
K. V. Anand's political thriller ''
Ko'', in which she portrayed Saraswathi, a journalist, alongside
Jeeva,
Karthika Nair and
Ajmal. Prior to release Bajpiee has revealed that the film will be a milestone in her career, citing that she is waiting for the release of the film adamantly. The film went on to win commercial and critical acclaim, with Bajpiee's performance winning particular praise. A critic wrote that "Piaa is outstanding in a lead role" and that "her natural flair in comedy brings the house down", whilst other reviewers labelled her as "effective" and that "she does the part well". Her first Malayalam language film was ''
Masters'' opposite
Prithviraj Prithviraj or Pruthviraj may refer to:
Art and entertainment
* ''Samrat Prithviraj'', a 2022 Indian Hindi film
Mononym
* Prithviraja I (r. c. 1090-1110), Indian king from the Shakambhari Chahamana dynasty
* Prithviraja II (r. c. 1165-1169), Indi ...
. She was signed as the female lead in the Tamil film ''
Nerungi Vaa Muthamidathe'' directed by
Lakshmy Ramakrishnan.
Filmography
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bajpiee, Pia
Living people
Actresses in Tamil cinema
Actresses from Uttar Pradesh
People from Etawah
Actresses in Malayalam cinema
Indian film actresses
21st-century Indian actresses
Actresses in Hindi cinema
Actresses in Telugu cinema
Year of birth missing (living people)