Tara Sutaria and her twin sister Pia, who is a professional ballet dancer, on the performing arts, their differing interests and boy talk
Ankita Chaurasia (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 29, 2019)

The first thing that you notice about fraternal twins Tara and Pia Sutaria is that they are joined at the hip. We catch them mid laugh which gives way to conspiratorial whispers and then a warm welcoming smile. They don’t look exactly alike yet there is a similarity which is hard to miss. “People often point out that our smiles are identical and we also pose the same way,” admits Tara who recently made her Bollywood debut with Karan Johar’s Student Of The Year 2. While on the topic of the film, Pia waxes eloquent about how proud she is of her sister. “It didn’t sink in till I went for the trailer launch and saw her face plastered all over. We sat together, holding hands, watching the trailer of SOTY 2. It was surreal to see Tara on the big screen,” she gushes.

Prod Tara on why she thought a high school musical was the best launch and she quips, “The pros outweighed the cons, there are so few films in that space. It was great to kickstart my career with a film that made the most of my talents.” She is quick to point out that her second outing, Marjaavaan, is a complete departure from Mia Chawla. “It’s such an exciting time for women in entertainment, there’s so much I want to do.”

And any regrets about losing Kabir Singh to Kiara Advani given its box-office success? “It’s a remake of a hit film (Arjun Reddy) so it was bound to do well,” she reasons. Didn’t the misogynistic tone of the film rankle? “As a woman, a human being and an artiste, I know I have a certain social responsibility, but as artistes we also have a certain artistic freedom and the right to express as we please. It’s on the audience as to how they interpret that. Personally, I am a fan of both Arjun Reddy and Kabir Singh,” she avers.

While Tara is navigating her way through Bollywood now, Pia has been travelling around the world as a professional ballet dancer who also teaches kids. “That’s one thing I really hate, I don’t get to see her as much as I’d like to. Pia is always globetrotting,” she complains. Her twin is quick to point out that though she has been away from home since she was 18, they have always remained connected. “One day, in Poland, I woke up feeling something was amiss. I immediately called her in Mumbai and learnt that she had been upset all night. It’s creepy but it happens,” Pia laughs.

Is Bollywood on the cards for her too? Before Pia can reply, Tara does, “There are times when we are abroad and people walk up, rave about her exotic looks and offer her scripts instantly without even a look test while I am ignored. She should certainly give Bollywood a shot.”

Tara goes on to share that if she finds certain steps too hard, she turns to her sister for help. “We performed our first opera when we were six. All our weekends were at the NCPA. We’ve been performing on stage for so long, we can actually fall asleep there—that’s how comfortable we are on it,” Pia laughs.

But it’s not just their professions that connect them. They share secrets too and give each other relationship tips. “Tara is the responsible one and sets curfew timings for me. I am a free spirit while she is the voice of reason. She will stay up late, giving gyaan,” says Pia. Have they ever had a crush on the same guy? “Except for Richard Gere, we have completely different taste in men so thankfully it has never come to that,” Tara retorts with relief. And how does she deal with dating rumours now that she is a part of the industry? “It is amusing, and also a little flattering. In the beginning I used to wonder who this mystery guy is who they are talking about, now I can laugh it off,” she shrugs nonchalantly.

If there was a quality that they could have traded, what would it be, you wonder. Pia points out that Tara was always bullied and she would rush to her rescue. But after entering the industry, she has become more resilient, even though she remains a sensitive artiste. “I wish I could become just as strong,” she breathes in awe.

Her sister returns the favour, informing that Pia was a star student in school while she was always a little behind in academics as her focus was art and singing. “But now she is so worldly-wise, I’d like to be more like her,” she says appreciatively. Overriding her sister’s protests, Pia adds that she wants to learn how to faff like Tara. “She can spin five pages around a one-line while I can sum up five pages in a sentence. There are two types of Scorpios, we are the two ends of the spectrum,” Pia confides while her sister nods in agreement.

Seeing their camaraderie, one wonders if there’s any rivalry since they work so closely with each other. “We have never competed, rather we have been inspired by each other’s work and feed off the other’s energies. Our fields overlap all the time. Tara has to dance in her films while I sing sometimes. But there is no question of rivalry because we want the other to succeed,” asserts Pia. Finally, what’s the one thing that they hate about the other. “Both of us think that the other is messy and no one admits to it,” Tara signs off with a chuckle.