You had played a police officer in the ZEE5 crime series Lalbazaar. And you play a cop in Flyover too. How do you see your character in Flyover?

Sabir Ahmed of Lalbazaar and Amit Sen of Flyover are completely different individuals. Their profession might be the same but they are very different people. Amit is very “no-nonsense” but when he realises that Bidisha (Koel Mallick, who plays a journalist working on a story revolving around a series of accidents taking place on a flyover) might not be lying, he wholeheartedly devotes himself to uncovering the truth. Even at the cost of displeasing his superiors.

How did you prep for your character?

With the two Shabor films, Dwitiyo Purush and Lalbazaar, this is the fifth time I am playing a cop. It has not been a conscious decision. But with every role I have discovered something new about portraying a police officer on screen. With Flyover I have depended on the vision of director Abhimanyu Mukherjee and the script. They have been the guiding forces.

Since this is a remake of U Turn, how closely did you observe the cop in U Turn?

I did not. I chose not to see the original. I believe that would have affected my portrayal of Amit. I wanted to do it my way.

Koel Mallick and Gaurav in Flyover Sourced by the correspondent

People have various points of view and observations on remakes. What’s your take on it?

As long as it is done well, I don’t find remakes to be problematic. There is a set notion among audiences about remakes but I believe that is entirely to do with the quality of the remade product. A remake opens up a new audience to an idea. An audience that has not been exposed to the original or an audience that would like to see a new adaptation. For example I loved Farhan Akhtar’s remake of Don but just could not bring myself to like Karan Malhotra’s version of Agneepath.

How challenging was it to shoot on the Lake Gardens flyover?

Lake Gardens flyover is a very busy thoroughfare. Shooting there during the day was quite a cumbersome affair. Negotiating traffic was a concern but the bigger concern turned out to be cars slowing down or stopping to watch the shoot! The assistant directors had a harrowing time. But night shoots on the flyover were very pleasant. It felt very comfortable to be shooting there all night.

Your birthday was on March 6. How did you celebrate it this time? Ridhima baked a special cake for you!

Oh yes! Ridhima baked a dream of a four-tier Ferrero Rocher cake. She threw a party at home to bring in my birthday. Our friends and family were there. It was quite special.

Gaurav and Ridhima at Corbett National Park Sourced by the correspondent

Then both of you travelled to Darjeeling. How important is travelling for the both of you?

Travelling is a big part of our lives. We want to see as much of the world as we possibly can. We set aside a certain portion of our earnings just to satisfy our wanderlust. I am grateful to God that he has given us the ability, both physical and financial, to be able to travel as much as we do. I think that is what refuels us!

What are the things that you like to do while travelling?

We like to explore. Be it a city or a wildlife sanctuary. Missing out on anything is not an option. We walk about a lot, we click a lot of photos and we also like making travel videos. Ridhima shoots and I edit. We have quite the collection of travel memories.

How did the visit to Corbett National Park go last year?

It was absolutely marvellous. Thankfully Ridhima shares my love for the jungle. The weather was wonderful, the sighting was ample and the stay was magnificent! We did not spot a tiger but that was not our only motive. I got some fantastic photos of elephants, jackals, langurs, hornbills, hawks-eagles and a variety of other creatures which made the trip quite memorable.

Did you get to binge-watch new web shows this year?

Yes. We’ve been watching a lot of web shows. We finished the fourth season of The Crown on Netflix and loved it. This Is Us has us hooked with some brilliant writing and fantastic performances. We absolutely adored two TVF shows, Panchayat and Gullak. We just completed watching WandaVision and have started with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. And of late we have been binging on the twelfth season of MasterChef Australia like crazy!

Apart from films, are you also working on new plays?

Our theatre group Charbak does not receive any grants and functions entirely on the love and financial help of its members. The pandemic has hit us quite hard. Our group is not staging anything as of now but we will recover and get back to entertaining audiences soon.