SPOILER ALERT: This post contains mild spoilers for Prime Video‘s Picture This.
In the Prarthana Mohan-directed romantic comedy film Picture This, adapted from the Australian film Five Blind Dates by screenwriter Nikita Lalwani, the first snapshots of Simone Ashley’s lead character Pia Jaswani are quite chaotic.
Absorbed in her passion and profession of photography, Pia has forgotten she has an important appointment with her mother Laxmi (Sindhu Vee) and younger sister Sonal (Anouskha Chadha). She stumbles to change clothes and rushes out the door only to loose one of her sandals in her haste to catch the bus, making quite the impression on her mom and sister, who called that she was running late.
“I think her chaos and clumsiness [were things] that I didn’t relate to as much because I think I’m much more of an organized, grounded person,” Ashley told Deadline in an interview the day after the film launched on Prime Video. “But I also thought it was so endearing and inviting, her character journey, where she really learns a lot about herself, and she stops running and she realizes everything that she has around her and all the answers that she’s looking for are within herself.”
The film finds Pia about to turn 30 and facing social pressures from her mother and other relatives as the festivities leading up to Sonal’s wedding unfold. The appointment turns out to be a revelation of expensive family jewelry that Laxmi will gift her daughters once they get married, but Pia immediately questions the condition because she is confident she doesn’t want to get married. Her photography studio, the Ninth Mandala, which she runs with her best friend Jay (Luke Fetherston), is struggling, and she wants to put her energy into her career.
“I’m always drawn to any character that is super passionate, ambitious, has that drive. That’s what really drew me to [Pia], her hotheadedness and her frustration with where she was at,” the Bridgerton star said. “I think people who are super ambitious and passionate often do get frustrated that they find a standstill in their lives, which is kind of a good thing, and that’s what really drew me to her. There was a lot about her and that aspect I could resonate with.”
(L-R) Jay (Luke Fetherston) and Pia (Simone Ashley) in ‘Picture This’
Courtesy of Prime Video
It’s only when a mystical and somewhat eccentric spiritual guru predicts that she will meet her one true match within her next five dates in addition to boosting her career that her sister and parents scheme to set her up on blind dates ahead of Sonal’s wedding so she can bring the eventual plus one to the big day. Add her old flame Charlie (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) into the equation and a heartfelt and hilarious story follows.
In the below interview, Ashley unpacks her first time executive producing as well as starring in a project, how the five-date arc brings about transformation for Pia and the importance of the family dynamic as much as romance and photography.
DEADLINE: Congrats on the movie’s release! How was it stepping into the executive producing shoes in addition to leading the film in a romantic role and being comedic?
SIMONE ASHLEY: It’s my first time producing. Ben [Pugh] and Erica [Steinberg] at 42 MP were super passionate about me collaborating with them, and I learned so much from them, from this whole experience filling those shoes as well as leading. I really love creating a team mentality when I’m on a set, even if I’m not producing. So, to be in that position to advocate for that was really fulfilling. It allowed me to get more involvement in the creative development of the script and rehearsals and from page to filming it. It was hard work as well as leading it and being in every day. But I learned so much, and it’s given me lots more experience with my work to put into the next projects.
DEADLINE: With the first three dates, what sides of Pia did those three men bring out before she did the date with Jay (Luke Fetherston) her best friend, and then, of course, Charlie?
ASHLEY: The date with Akshay, even when we were filming it and I knew what the plot twist was, I was rooting for it, you know? Especially that date, she showed up and was very generous, and I think she proved to herself that she is strong. It’s hard to keep picking yourself up after failure, and that’s something I think we can all relate to. And sometimes you just need someone like Pia to look up to, or a figure to look up to, and prove that, “Hey, you can just keep going.” That’s something she really proved to herself. And even the date with Jay she’s kind of at rock bottom and even then it’s just trusting the test of time that things will unveil and positive things will come for her.
(L-R) Pia’s first three dates: Sid (Asim Chaudhry), Milo (Phil Dunster) and Akshay (Nikesh Patel)
Courtesy of Prime Video
DEADLINE: She does kiss Akshay (Nikesh Patel) and Milo (Phil Dunster) on her dates with them. What does that layer show about her arc through the five dates?
ASHLEY: I still think even on those dates and on her journey, her feet weren’t on the ground. There was still all of that chaos happening, which is why she was, in a moment of euphoria, kissing the yoga teacher and all of these things, because I just think that’s what one does. It’s a really human thing to act out in really crazy different ways. She’s trying, but I think her heart always belonged with Charlie, and maybe she just had to go through all these things to figure that out.
DEADLINE: I have to ask about walking on hot coals. Did you actually do that?
ASHLEY: No, I wish I could lie to you and say that we actually did that, but no. It would have just been physically impossible. One day I’d like to do it, though. It looks like a challenge.
DEADLINE: I read that Hero sent a video to Asim who plays Sid, convincing him to take this part. I was curious if you had any involvement in casting anybody as well.
ASHLEY: I actually wrote Asim a song to get him to be on the movie. I came back home and just wrote a really stupid song on the piano convincing him to be a part of the movie. And it worked. I was involved in the casting process with everyone. Chemistry reads. I loved it. It was so great to see everyone support this movie and be so enthusiastic about it.
DEADLINE: Photography is also super important to Pia. I know you trained with some photographers and camera equipment. Did you learn any special techniques? Were any used when focusing on Pia, since she’s kind of always focusing on other people with her work?
ASHLEY: That’s a part of her journey. She was so focused on her career and living up to expectations and other people, that, I think, to get to the end of her story, she had to really focus in inwards and figure out all the inhibitions she had within herself. With the photography, all the photographs you see around her studio on that set were all taken from the work of a photographer called Keerthana ‘Kee’ Kunnath, and her photography is just so amazing and so beautiful and profound. I learned a lot from her.
(L-R) Laxmi (Sindhu Vee) and Pia (Simone Ashley) in ‘Picture This’
Courtesy of Prime Video
DEADLINE: As much as romance and career are themes in the film, family is too. Pia’s parents are not together, and then her sister’s getting married. What layers do these situations add to her story?
ASHLEY: She opens her heart by the end of the movie, and she can have those moments where she sees her parents on a level, and doesn’t just see them in the uniform of a parent. That’s a really mature thing for anyone to be able to do. It’s a journey of maturity for herself. And I think she was running away from problems, you know, her parents being divorced, but keeping up with appearances, the pressure of her sister getting married. And like I said at the beginning, I think she stopped running, and that’s where she really processes everything and decides to make a change for herself.
DEADLINE: How would you say the film shines a light on culture and the wedding naturally? How does it draw people in and achieve that balance?
ASHLEY: I always say there’s two layers to it. The first layer is, this is a movie focused around a South Asian lead and family, and we celebrate the culture in such a joyful and beautiful way, but I think it goes the same for any story that the bottom layer is, this is a story about the human heart.
It’s about joy and failure and sadness, frustration, love, and that is something, universally, anyone can speak that language no matter where they come from. In a story you look at the setting and the culture and the world or the period or all those different things, but the core of it has to be, this is a story about the human heart. And I think that’s where anyone can relate to it.
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Content shared from deadline.com.