His acting career in India and internationally is going from strength to strength and now Adarsh Gourav has released his first single, Bechaini. A t2 chat...

Whenever we have spoken, I have always asked you when you are debuting with your music. Bechaini is finally here. What's the buzz been like so far?

People have largely vibed to the song and many of them have texted me saying that the tune is stuck in their head, especially the chorus. It is a track that stays with you. But it is also a song that you need to listen to a couple of times before you decide what you feel about it. Most people have liked it after they have listened to it a couple of times.

I can vouch for that. It does grow on you...

It has that quality. It has done well considering that it is independently released. Considering how little money we could put into it, I think it is doing pretty well.

What was the thought behind the song?

I was sitting in my car and writing. I wrote two words — 'bechaini' and 'jaadooi' — primarily because I was thinking about my childhood and when I fell in love very intensely. OAFF (musician) and I had been discussing about making something together. He liked what I took to him. We started talking about our respective childhoods... the kind of things we would do when we thought that we were in love, of course in terms of what love meant to us at that age. I remember writing the name of the girl I liked on the window of a car on which dust had gathered... that makes its way to the second verse of our song.

You started training in music when you were very young. Did you find yourself naturally drawn to it?

Music was always part of the bloodline because my paternal grandmother used to write poetry in Telugu. She used to compose and was a good singer as well. I have a musical lineage on my maternal side too. Even my elder brother sings. When I was four or five, my parents were like: 'Music is in his blood, so how much can he go off-key anyway?!' (Laughs) I enrolled for music lessons.

I believe you didn't enjoy it initially...

I was too young to understand what I was doing. At that age, kids just want to play. I was going for classes, I would sing for programmes outside and at get-togethers at home. All of that was fun but I don't think I understood what that meant.

Does being a multi-hyphenate talent put more pressure on you?

I have never thought of life that way. Whatever I have done so far has been for myself. Obviously, I would want people to like what I do but I don't think in terms of what they are expecting from me. I feel that if you really put your heart into something and if it comes from a personal place, people connect with it automatically.

How do you plan to build your music career?

I don't have a concrete plan. Whenever there is something that I want to write about, find a potential collaborator and a potential producer, I will try and do it. I wish I was an instrumentalist and knew how to produce music. I am not very good with software, which is why I have to rely on others. But through that reliance, great friendships are made. I am writing a few songs that I can take to different people with different material and try and collaborate.

There is some interesting and diverse acting work happening. The most out-of-the-box project is Reema Kagti's Supermen of Malegaon for Prime Video. What was that experience like?

There was something so magical about working on a film that was about how to make a film. It is based on these real-life people who want to make a film but they don't have the technical expertise or resources to do it.

It was interesting to think like them. The kind of decisions and choices that Sheikh Nasir (his character) makes in life are so big and were, in a way, revolutionary because 25 years ago, Malegaon was a sleepy town which was known for its mills. But that man has given identity to the town. It took just one man and his gang of friends to change the identity of a town. It is insane if you think about it!

He brought in a different culture to the town which now has so many YouTubers. Some of them have views in billions. It was magical to be part of a story which was made where it all started. Before we started filming, we met some of the people who inspired the film. It was so interesting to be around these people and listen to their stories.

You have said recently on social media that you wish you could moonwalk and even do ballet. Is that part of the bucket list?

I do want to learn how to moonwalk and also do a bunch of dances. For a large part of my life, I was scared of dancing but when I did it in Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, I enjoyed Bosco-Caesar's choreography. It was light and cool and very Bruno Mars-esque.

Has the success of Kho Gaye Hum Kahan expanded your viewer and fan base?

I believe so. A lot of young people watched that film and some of my earlier work was not necessarily watched by that demographic. A lot more young people come up to me now and talk about this film. It has helped me reach out to a different section of people.

It was very important for me to have that. I was a bit scared that I was starting to get identified as only a serious actor. I was told that I only do intense roles, though I am the opposite of that in real life.

Stuck in the cans for over a decade, your first film named Woh Bhi Din The — which was also the first film of Rohit Saraf and Sanjana Sanghi — released on streaming recently. What was the feeling like to have your first-ever acting job finally release?

We all did that film when we were in our teens. None of us, at that point, realised our lives would change so much in a decade.

I can't explain the emotions I felt shooting for that film. We shot in the same school in Jamshedpur that I studied in. It was life coming full circle for us. Unfortunately, the film didn't come out. But when it released after so many years, we got the chance to reconnect. I couldn't make it to the screening in Bombay, but we all did a video call and it was so special.

It must have been disappointing to not have it release at the right time, given it was your first film...

It was crushing initially, I won't lie. I was aware of the fact that there were many films that didn't eventually find a release. It is not uncommon. In fact, there is a dialogue in Supermen of Malegaon which paraphrases this and says that first of all it is so difficult to get a film made, and then you have to ensure it finds a release. And when you release it, it is so hard to make sure that you get an audience to watch it. It is a struggle all the way.

When it didn't release, I adapted and told myself that these things happen. Of course it affected me but I told myself to pick up from where I had stopped and to just keep auditioning for roles. I told myself: 'Keep auditioning, keep searching'. I was lucky it happened so early for me because at 19 or 20, you have so much drive, fire and enthusiasm that roadblocks like these don't determine the end of your journey.

Now you have some credible work under your belt, international projects with Meryl Streep and Ridley Scott and even a BAFTA nomination. Looking back, what's the topmost emotion?

There is no dearth of talent in any country and in any place and for everything to come together, you need a stroke of luck. I am very fortunate.

How is the international career looking?

Filming for Alien (directed by Ridley Scott) so far has been phenomenal. Before this, I had not been on the set of a sci-fi show. I did Leila (directed by Deepa Mehta) which was more dystopian than sci-fi, a little bit of green screen was used in Leila. But Alien is a full-blown sci-fi psychological thriller-horror and they are focusing a lot on the world-building using real prosthetics and material instead of VFX. So much of it is being created inside the studio. I feel like a child in an amusement park for the first time! (Laughs)

There are Indian writers coming up, there are people like Mindy Kaling and Priyanka Chopra who are backing films and stories that speak to their roots. I am a big Dev Patel fan and I am looking forward to his (directorial debut) Monkey Man. The trailer looks sick!