Piaa Bajpai is an India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 actress and model, who has appeared in Tamil

Tamil cinema

Tamil cinema is the film industry based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, dedicated to the production of films in the Tamil language. It is based in Chennai's Kodambakkam district, where several South Indian film production companies are headquartered...

 and Telugu films. She is best known for her performances as Roshini in Venkat Prabhu

Venkat Prabhu

Venkat Kumar Gangai Amaren , better known by his stage name Venkat Prabhu is an Indian filmmaker, who has worked as an actor, director and playback singer in the Tamil film industry...

's comedy Goa

Goa (film)

Goa is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu, who with the project, directed his third film following two previous successes...

and Saro in K. V. Anand

K. V. Anand

K. V. Anand is an Indian cinematographer, film director and former photo journalist. After working for a short period as a journalist, he became a cinematographer in the early 1990s, working for about fifteen films in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu...

's political thriller Ko

Ko (film)

Ko is a 2011 Indian Tamil political thriller film directed by K. V. Anand starring Jeeva, Ajmal Ameer, newcomer Karthika Nair and Piaa Bajpai. The film was released on 22 April 2011 to mostly positive reviews, and was dubbed into Telugu as Rangam as well. The film's plot outline is inspired by the...

. Piaa, with the motive of acting in films, earlier had been a model in commercials.

Early life

Piaa Bajpai was born on January 4, 1986 in Etawah

Etawah

Etawah is a city on the Yamuna River in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Etawah District. The city was an important center for the Revolt of 1857 . Also is the place of sangam or confluence between Yamuna and Chambal...

, Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and resettled in Delhi

Delhi

Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...

 at 18 to attend a computer course and hope to gain a break in films. Though her parents opposed her decision, she enrolled for a diploma in computer science

Computer science

Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...

, 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

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

 on her own money. Piaa 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. Most notably, she went on to feature in adverts for Cadbury

Cadbury

-Businesses:*Cadbury Adams, the company's North American subsidiary*Cadbury Ireland, the company's Irish subsidiary*Cadbury UK, the company's UK subsidiary*Cadbury India, the company's Indian subsidiary*Cadbury New Zealand, the company's New Zealand subsidiary...

 alongside veteran actor, Amitabh Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan

Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...

 and Sonata with cricketer, Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is an Indian cricketer and the current captain of the Indian national cricket team. He made his One Day International debut in December 2004 against Bangladesh, and a year later played his first Test, this time against Sri Lanka.Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC...

. She was eventually signed on by noted film-maker Priyadarshan

Priyadarshan

Priyadarshan is an Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter. In a career spanning over two decades, Priyadarshan has directed over 80 films in several Indian languages including Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu...

 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 Piaa accepted the offer after an audition. The comedy film, Poi Solla Porom

Poi Solla Porom

Poi Solla Porom is a Tamil comedy film starring Nedumudi Venu, Karthik Kumar and Piaa Bajpai released in 2008. The film is a remake of the Bollywood cult film, Khosla Ka Ghosla.-Plot:...

, was directed by A. L. Vijay

A. L. Vijay

A. L. Vijay is a Tamil film director. Earlier he worked as an assistant and close associate of director Priyadarshan. His father A. L. Azhagappan was the president of Tamilnadu Producers Council and appeared in the film Eesan. His brother, Udhaya, has also starred in Tamil films. Presently A. L...

 and featured Karthik Kumar

Karthik Kumar

Karthik Kumar is a noted theatre and Kollywood actor. He is popularly known as 'Evam' Karthik, due to his theater connections.He studied chemical engineering in sri venkateshwara college of engineering,chennai.He is married to playback singer Suchitra Ramadurai.-Filmography:-External links:...

 and Nassar

Nassar

Nassar is a Tamil actor, producer, writer, director, lyricist, and singer. He has appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi and English films. He is often cited as part of India's specialist character actors, along with the likes of Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Nana Patekar...

 in pivotal roles. Upon release the film won critical acclaim and favourable reviews, with Piaa's performance labelled as "bubbly and cheery". She went on to feature in Raju Sundaram

Raju Sundaram

Raju Sundaram is a Kollywood cine artiste who acts, directs, and choreographs for films. He is an eldest son of dance master Mugur Sundar, and elder brother to Prabhu Deva and Nagendra Prasad.-Birth:...

's Aegan

Aegan

Aegan is a 2008 Tamil action and comedy film directed and co-written by Raju Sundaram and produced by Ayngaran International based on the 2004 Shahrukh Khan starrer Main Hoon Na...

as a college student, with the film featuring her alongside Ajith Kumar

Ajith Kumar

Ajith Kumar is an Indian film actor who works mainly in Tamil cinema. He began his career as a supporting actor in a Telugu film before gaining critical recognition in the Tamil thriller Aasai . A succession of high-grossing films followed where Ajith was usually depicted as a romantic hero, with...

, Nayantara

Nayantara

Nayantara , is an Indian film actress. She made her acting debut in 2003 in the Malayalam film Manassinakkare. She debuted in Tamil cinema with Ayya and in Telugu cinema with Lakshmi , following which she starred alongside popular lead actors...

 and Navdeep

Navdeep

Navdeep is a regional Indian actor.Navdeep has appeared in both Telugu and Tamil films in his career, portraying diverse characters.Navdeep's first major film appearance was in the 2004 Telugu romantic film, Jai, in which he played an Indian boxer fighting against Laskar-E-Taiba terrorists...

. The film, a remake of 2004 Hindi film Main Hoon Na

Main Hoon Na

Main Hoon Na is a Bollywood masala film written and directed by Farah Khan. It was the first film of Khan production company Red Chillies Entertainment. It was released on 30 April 2004 and went on to become a box-office success...

, received average reviews whilst Piaa's portrayal of Amrita Rao

Amrita Rao

Amrita Rao is an Indian actress who appears in Bollywood films.Beginning her career as a model, Rao made her acting debut with Ab Ke Baras...

'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

Venkat Prabhu

Venkat Kumar Gangai Amaren , better known by his stage name Venkat Prabhu is an Indian filmmaker, who has worked as an actor, director and playback singer in the Tamil film industry...

, who signed her for Goa

Goa (film)

Goa is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu, who with the project, directed his third film following two previous successes...

sixth months later, to appear as the love interest of Jai

Jai (actor)

Jai is a Tamil film actor. He is best known for his performances and appearances in the films Chennai 600028, Subramaniapuram and Engeyum Eppodhum. He is the nephew of music director Deva. Srikanth Deva is his cousin....

 in the film. During the making of the film in Langkawi, the crew cited that the hotel was haunted and Piaa came out with an account of an eerie experience in her hotel room. Goa became her big break and Piaa 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

Idhu Varai

Idhu Varai is a song from the 2010 Tamil feature film Goa, composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja and performed by Andrea Jeremiah and Ajeesh, the winner of the second season of the reality-based singing competition Airtel Super Singer. The song, with lyrics by Gangai Amaran, was released as part of the...

" 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 Vishal

Vishnu Vishal is an Indian film actor who is seen mainly in Tamil films. He started his acting career as one of the main leads in the popular film Vennila Kabbadi Kuzhu. Since then he appeared in some two other movies of nearly the same genre...

, becoming her first major release as a lead heroine. The film won mixed reviews, though Piaa's role was praised with a critic from Sify

Sify

Sify Technologies Limited is an Internet service provider established in 1998, based in Chennai, India.-Company profile:...

 citing that "Piaa is improving with every film and looks cute".

Piaa's next release was K. V. Anand

K. V. Anand

K. V. Anand is an Indian cinematographer, film director and former photo journalist. After working for a short period as a journalist, he became a cinematographer in the early 1990s, working for about fifteen films in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu...

's political thriller Ko

Ko (film)

Ko is a 2011 Indian Tamil political thriller film directed by K. V. Anand starring Jeeva, Ajmal Ameer, newcomer Karthika Nair and Piaa Bajpai. The film was released on 22 April 2011 to mostly positive reviews, and was dubbed into Telugu as Rangam as well. The film's plot outline is inspired by the...

, in which she portrayed Saraswathi, a journalist, alongside Jeeva, Karthika Nair

Karthika Nair

Karthika Nair |Josh]] opposite Naga Chaitanya. She rose to fame starring in her second and her first successful tamil film Ko opposite Jeeva.-After birth:...

 and Ajmal

Ajmal Ameer

Ajmal Ameer is an Indian film actor, who works in the Malayalam and Tamil film industries.-Background:He was born in Aluva, Kerala. He studied medicine in National Pirogov Memorial Medical University in Vinnytsia, Ukraine, and had plans to open a hospital in future. Shortly after completing his...

. Prior to release Piaa 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 Piaa's performance winning particular praise. A critic cited that "Piaa is outstanding in a supporting 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". She has recently signed on to appear in her first Malayalam language film, Masters

Masters (film)

-Cast:* Prithviraj as ASP Sriramakrishnan* Sasikumar as Milan Paul* Ananya* Mithra Kurian * Parvathi Menon* Pia Bajpai* Biju Menon* Salim Kumar* Mukesh as Selvam's uncle...

opposite Prithviraj

Prithviraj Sukumaran

Prithviraj Sukumaran credited mononymously as Prithviraj, is an Indian film actor and producer best known for his work in Malayalam cinema....

.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Language	Notes
2008	Poi Solla Porom Poi Solla Porom Poi Solla Porom is a Tamil comedy film starring Nedumudi Venu, Karthik Kumar and Piaa Bajpai released in 2008. The film is a remake of the Bollywood cult film, Khosla Ka Ghosla.-Plot:...	Amritha	Tamil Tamil language Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
	Aegan Aegan Aegan is a 2008 Tamil action and comedy film directed and co-written by Raju Sundaram and produced by Ayngaran International based on the 2004 Shahrukh Khan starrer Main Hoon Na...	Pooja	Tamil
2009	Ninnu Kalisaka	Bindu	Telugu Telugu language Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
2010	Goa Goa (film) Goa is a 2010 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu, who with the project, directed his third film following two previous successes...	Roshini	Tamil
	Bale Pandiya	Vaishnavi	Tamil
2011	Ko Ko (film) Ko is a 2011 Indian Tamil political thriller film directed by K. V. Anand starring Jeeva, Ajmal Ameer, newcomer Karthika Nair and Piaa Bajpai. The film was released on 22 April 2011 to mostly positive reviews, and was dubbed into Telugu as Rangam as well. The film's plot outline is inspired by the...	Saraswathi	Tamil
2012	Masters Masters (film) -Cast:* Prithviraj as ASP Sriramakrishnan* Sasikumar as Milan Paul* Ananya* Mithra Kurian * Parvathi Menon* Pia Bajpai* Biju Menon* Salim Kumar* Mukesh as Selvam's uncle...		Malayalam	Pre-production

External links