For Vedika Pinto, Benji is not a pet but her entire world. On International Dog Day, the actor tells HT City how her four-year-old dog entered her life at an anxious time, just a week before the release of her debut film Operation Romeo in 2022. “My brother saw how anxious I was because of the release. He convinced our mother, who had been ‘strictly anti-dogs’ throughout our childhood, that I needed a stress buster. Well, the plan worked, and Benji came home.” Her mother, who was initially against having a dog, is now one of his biggest fans. “Today, there is nobody who is more obsessed with Benji than my mom. She is obsessed.”
Benji has since become an integral part of the family, with even his own favourite restaurant in BKC, where he gets to sit at the dinner table and order from a puppy menu. “So when it’s Benji’s birthday, or if Benji is being neglected because everybody is working too much, then there is a celebration for Benji,” Pinto says. While she once imagined having a dog would mostly mean cuddles and playtime, Benji has taught her about the responsibility that comes with caring for an animal. “They need to be walked, they need to be fed, they need to be looked after, especially when they are not feeling well. You get so emotionally attached to them. They are babies, and it’s a lot of hard work. But to me, he is the greatest gift that I have ever been given and he is my biggest joy.”
That experience has also made Pinto more conscious of the challenges faced by dogs in Mumbai. “It’s so sad because in Mumbai we don’t have extensive areas to walk them. We don’t have a lot of the parks and gardens that one does have access to. Dogs are not allowed there. So where do we walk them? Either you walk them on the beach or on the streets.” She adds, “I really wish that we did look after them, also for civic reasons, but also for our dogs. I think just a little compassion for these dogs on the street.”
But perhaps Benji’s biggest impact on Pinto has been teaching her to slow down. “A lot of the times we are so wound up in life. When I have a hectic day, whether I am shooting or working, you come back and you have 10,000 thoughts in your head. And he just looks at you with that sweet smile. You are forced to let everything go for two minutes and just sit with him and have that amazing, stress-free present moment. So I think what Benji taught me is that I have the ability to be present. I just need to do it a lot more.”
For the 30-year-old, who was last seen in Musafir Cafe, that bond has also made her cautious about encouraging people to get a pet without considering the commitment. “I don’t recommend getting a dog to anyone who doesn’t have the bandwidth. You need to give them that dedicated attention.” Pinto says she is fortunate to live with her family, who help care for Benji when her work keeps her away. But the dog still makes his displeasure known. “If the four of us are out of the house, when we come back, he throws a tantrum. He takes our shoes and starts biting them and running around the place. It’s like, ‘You left me. You think I didn’t notice that you left me? I did’.”
When she returned from shooting for Musafir Cafe after being away for more than a day, Pinto says she had to bring Benji gifts as an apology. “Now it’s come to a point that earlier when we used to come back, then he used to get excited to see us and we used to get the hugs and the cuddles. Now he goes straight to the suitcase, like, open it and see what’s in it for me.”
Her favourite reminder of his mischievous personality, however, remains her scrunchies. “If he finds my scrunchies anywhere, even if it’s on my hair, he will find a way to remove it and just run away. It’s a game for him. So I have a couple of scrunchies that have now become literally hardened by his saliva, which I keep washing. But those are dedicated Benji toys.”
Quick Paws ft. Vedika Pinto
Benji’s biggest quirk:
Stealing her scrunchies.
Benji’s favourite outing:
Saz in BKC, where he gets his own puppy menu.
One thing Benji has taught you:
To slow down and be present.
A thing you wish to reform for animals:
More compassion and better welfare for street dogs.
Your favourite dog movie:
I can’t watch dog movies. Any film where something bad happens to the dog, breaks my heart. Like Marley & Me, it broke my heart.