`1920 Evil Returns` took a toll on me: Tia Bajpai

New Delhi: Playing a possessed girl in `1920 Evil Returns` had such an effect on actress Tia Bajpai that she took her onscreen persona home even after the day`s shoot was over. The 24-year-old actress found it tough to switch back to real life after filming was over and her family members freaked out. "After a gruelling shoot on the sets where I was playing this tormented girl, it wasn`t easy to get into a switch on and switch off mode. Hats off to those who can do that, I can`t for sure. "The film took such a toll on me that I carried the spirit with me to the dinner table as well. There were animalistic traits in me and I started speaking in a heavy bass voice at home as well," Tia told PTI. Her family wasn`t amused and after a while and when Tia`s behaviour started freaking them out, they had a stern word with her that it was about time she drew a line between real and reel life. "After a while they didn`t find it funny at all. My mom used to worry about what was wrong with me. When my brother said something, I started giving those weird looks to him, just like my character would in the film," said Tia, who had gone through a similar routine during her debut film `Haunted` as well. "It became a little too much for them after a while and they started wondering if I had indeed gone mad. Today when we remember that time period, we find it funny but trust me, back then it was weird," she said. The title of the film, which released last Friday, brings back the memories of Vikram Bhatt`s first film in the `1920` franchise that had starred Rajneish Duggall and Adah Sharma. "The storyline and characters in `1920 - Evil Returns` are completely different though. Only the name is same because the story is based in that era. Yet again, we have gone back in time by close to 100 years. "But the film is not about time travel. Though in `Haunted`, Mahakshay`s (Chakraborty) character had gone back and forth in time, there isn`t anything of that sort here. Aftab as well as I are seen in the year 1920 itself," said Tia. Tia`s characterisation required over the top traits and quite some effort and time went into ensuring that prosthetics were pretty much in order. "We had to take a balanced approach because if you get into too much of prosthetics, sometimes the ends results can look funny. We wanted to keep them in control so that expressions were not hidden," said Tia. "It used to be a daily exercise of around two hours to just put the prosthetics in place for me. My hair had to be back combed in a way that it seemed as if it had never been combed. Moreover we had to be extra careful about every shade put on my face since continuity matching was of utmost importance as well," she added. PTI