Panjabi seeks out films that explore cultural issues
Panjabi seeks out films that explore cultural issues
Paul Agusta, Contributor, Jakarta
A British citizen of Indian decent, Archie Panjabi delights in
exploring different cultures in both her acting career and her
personal life.
She has deliberately sought out films with cultural themes,
playing a young Indian woman from a straight-laced Hindu family
who is set on choosing her own husband, in Gurinder Chadha's Bend
it Like Beckham.
She also took on the role of a Pakistani woman who fights for
the release of her husband after he was wrongfully incarcerated
as a suspected terrorist in the wake of 9/11, in Kenneth
Glenaan's film Yasmin, currently being shown at JiFFest.
She played the lead role of a feisty Persian bride-turned-
matriarch in the popular mini-series adaptation of Zadie Smith's
award-winning novel, White Teeth (2002).
Panjabi makes the point, when she can, to involve herself in
film projects that allow her the opportunity to travel, as in the
films Yasmin and The Constant Gardener, also at JiFFest.
Currently in Jakarta for the screenings, Panjabi took a little
time to discuss her life, studies, career and her experiences in
the world of film.
"As a child I was attracted to acting. It was something I
thought I could do for the rest of my life, but my mother wanted
to make sure that I tried something else and had something to
fall back on", she said of her degree in management studies from
England's Brunel University.
Archie started her acting career at the young age of 13 with a
TV role in Cologne, Germany. Even while studying management and
later operating a tailoring business, she continued to follow her
dream.
Her first major international role came in 1999 in director
Damien O'Donnell's East is East. She then took a variety of roles
in several television series before she landed the pivotal role
as the fashionista sister, Pinky, to Parminder Nagra's soccer-
loving Jess in Bend it Like Beckham in 2002.
In 2003, she joined the cast of the television series Grease
Monkeys in a lead role, which made her somewhat of a household
name in England. Continuing to build on her past successes, she
appeared in director Michael Winterbottom's science fiction
drama, Code 46 (2003).
Then, in 2004, her reputation as a versatile actress earned
her the role of Yasmin Husseini in Yasmin. I first read the
script -- it was very soon after Sept. 11.
I asked quite a lot of questions -- as an individual, about
what happened to the Muslim community, and the hatred it (the
tragedy) had given birth to," she said.
At the time, I was working and I a received a script about
this girl who had suffered after Sept. 11. I read it and felt it
was a wonderful and important story to be told.
What made it great was that it was based entirely on real-life
situations, so it was all true. I have met quite a number of real
"Yasmins".
It's very special when you're doing an important film, an
important theme, as well as, professionally, such a big role,"
She said of her first lead in an international film.
JiFFest viewers will be able to catch this gifted and
beautiful young actress, not only in Yasmin but also in Fernando
Meirelles' film adaptation of John Le Carre's novel The Constant
Gardener.
In 2006, she will appear alongside Russell Crowe and Albert
Finney in director Ridley Scott's A Good Year.