‘I like vintage watches’
Actor Pallavi Sharda who was a guest at the recently concluded Watch World Awards on watches and her favourite city, Melbourne
Hey, Pallavi! Are you a watch person? Do you like wearing them?
I do. I like vintage watches. I have a very beautiful vintage Gucci that I love which was gifted to me by a jeweller friend. I still remember my 16th birthday when my father gifted me a watch and I have still held on to it. I do steal his watches! I love men’s watches.
How many watches do you have in your collection?
How many do I lose would be a better question! Because I have lost many of them. I probably have around 8 to 10 watches.
You end up travelling a lot between Mumbai and Melbourne. Tell us, which city do you like more and why?
That’s a really hard question. I’m biased towards Melbourne because that happens to be my hometown! I love both of them for different reasons. Right now I especially love Melbourne a lot because my dad has just retired and I get to spend more time with him. My two best friends have had babies in the last couple of years, so I go and see their little kids. I’m like a real sop at heart. Family ties are very important to me.
What do you like about Mumbai the most?
I really like the energy of Mumbai. There are so many people who come from the different parts of the world to make something of themselves. To be creative and create a creative hub. It’s something I haven’t found anywhere else. I find that really liberating.
How much time do you end up spending in Mumbai?
When I am shooting I come back, but I took a sabbatical for few months this year because I am writing a book.
You are! Tell us more about it.
It’s about a cross-cultural journey, my cross-cultural journey from being an Australian and coming to India. It’s about my upbringing and my world view. It’s a bit narcissistic (Laughs) but my publisher thinks it’s a really nice story.
When is it likely to be published?
We are still in the drafting phase, but it will take a while. Well, it shouldn’t take as long as it is taking.
How does Pallavi usually like to spend her free time? We do know that you love dancing and you’re also involved in campaigns like Full stop – which is against child sexual abuse.
In India, I try and spend as much of my spare time as possible to further social causes or working with a social enterprise that I work with in Orrisa, called eKutir. Being in its board of advisor I end up spending a lot of time in Bhubaneshwar.
But the fun stuff I guess, I like having my close friends over. I really like making Tea and Coffee. It’s really weird, I have this caffeine addiction. I am quite passionate about Coffee and seeking out place which offers me good cuppa! These days I am enjoying reading again. I hadn’t picked up a book in a long time. I am working on scripts that I am about to shoot. I have a lot of stuff that I do in Australia, but in Mumbai it gets a little tough because we don’t have access to the outdoors and can’t really do as much.
Who has been your favourite co-star on-screen and off-screen, both.
I’d say, Ayushmann khurrana, because he and I gel really well. We both have very similar stories – we both came to Bollywood with no background in Hindi Film industry and with dreams to be an actor. It was really nice to share that journey with someone like him. I have been working with people who have already been in it for a long time. I think it’s hard for people to understand where you are coming from when you are an outsider. So it was a nice camaraderie we shared on the set.
How was your experience doing a film with Ranbir Kapoor? We have heard that he is too much fun on the sets and a good person to spend time with.
Yes. I think, he is a very private person so I didn’t really get a chance to know about his deep, dark secrets. His parents were really fun and wonderful. I think three of them working together for the first time brought in different dynamics. He probably would have mucked around more if his father wasn’t around. Haha! But I think Ranbir was at his best behaviour and wasn’t poking fun at anyone. He was very quiet on the sets to be honest, but it was a lot of fun.
Lastly, are you excited about Watch World Awards?
I’m super excited about the Watch World Awards. I get to learn of new things from events like these and about the industry I don’t have too much of an insight into. It makes me happy because in this digital age people are no more wearing watches. I spoke to a young girl and asked her, “What kind of watches do you like?” And she said, “Oh, I don’t need a watch anymore.” I think watches are very important and I think it’s good that we are celebrating that.
