Any project that has Gulshan Devaiah's name attached to it comes with the tag of quality and the promise that it will be worth your time. Any conversation with the actor, as I have learnt over the course of more than a decade, also comes with the guarantee of honesty and humour.
Bursting into the scene with Shaitaan about 13 years ago, Gulshan's career is now experiencing a purple patch, with consistent winners on screens big and small. With his spy thriller Ulajh — that also stars Janhvi Kapoor and Roshan Mathew among a strong ensemble — in cinemas this Friday, t2 chatted with the actor.
In a recent interview, you said that you and Janhvi Kapoor didn't 'vibe' on the set of Ulajh. That went crazily viral over Instagram Reels and sensationalist news grabs...
Yes, that blew up. It is just that sometimes we don't vibe with people. But we find other ways to make it work. Professionals will get together and do what they are professionally obligated to do. You don't have to necessarily vibe. That is the point.
Whenever we have spoken in the past, you have said that it is good if co-stars get along, but it is not necessary...
Thank you for remembering that. That this recent remark of mine became quite an issue is something I found very, very amusing. I also found it a little irritating because I think people just go after Janhvi venomously. It is okay to not like somebody or have an opinion about their skills, but to gang up and say nasty things is not appreciated at all.
People will say anything anyway. I think a lot of content creators cut promos a certain way to get some attention. I do have reasonably thick skin, so I am not particularly bothered by such things.
We are a few days away from the release of Ulajh. What is the feel like?
The audience is liking the song Shaukan. I think we (Janhvi and he) have good chemistry in the song, considering we are people who don't 'vibe'.
The ultimate test will be when the film is released and how people feel about the whole story and whether it is interesting to them. I haven't watched the film yet.
Gulshan with Janhvi Kapoor in Ulajh, releasing in cinemas this Friday
What spoke to you about Ulajh and your role?
I have to have a genuine interest in wanting to do that part. I may not connect with it or I may not have any idea about it. In fact, it is better if I don't know how to do it. Because that will push me to come up with solutions on how to do it. I like that challenge.
I liked the role that was offered to me in Ulajh. It is quite complex and I had no idea how to approach it. I had to figure that out for myself as well as with the director (Sudhanshu Saria) and I thought that doing this project would be good for my career at this point.
I was intrigued by the project from the get-go on the basis of its eclectic cast. From Janhvi to you, Roshan Mathew to Meiyang Chang, Adil Hussain to Rajesh Tailang... this is not a bunch who will get together easily for just any film. Did that play a part in you wanting to do Ulajh?
Yes, that was a major point of interest later. When I signed on, I wasn't aware who else was in the film. It is an important criterion, but then you get a sense of where the film is going from the meeting with the director and their sensibilities. When I met Sudhanshu, it took the two of us some time to collaborate, but it was enjoyable. It was a fun project.
I am very happy that Adil Hussain is in Ulajh. Unfortunately, I had no scenes with him. He is one of my heroes who had a profound impact on me as an actor. I have had the good fortune of having seen him perform live and he is an absolute God on stage. People know him mostly from his film work but those who have seen him on stage have very different things to say about him. I am one of those lucky ones. I have also got to know him a little bit outside work. I am so happy that I am in a film with him, but I am also a little unhappy that we don't have any scenes together.
What did Sudhanshu Saria bring to Ulajh that is uniquely his?
He had a good idea of the aesthetics, and by that I mean, how things are going to be shot, how things will be blocked... and there is a sensibility that he brought to it, which was fun and entertaining, but also had some nuance to it.
In Ulajh, there are layers beneath layers. I think the fun of a spy thriller is that there is more to it than meets the eye. In Ulajh, there was more to it than what met the eye in terms of how we even shot it. I liked that he didn't go in for a straightforward approach with the characters or with the filming process.
We would sit for hours and discuss what my character was like. I am someone who likes to discuss, dissect and analyse my characters and when you do that with a director like him, there is also scope for a two-way dialogue. He has a good perspective.
When you discuss and dissect your characters beforehand in so much detail, doesn't that take away the element of spontaneity when you film a scene?
I do like to prepare as much as I can and yes, sometimes that can be a lot. But that is in the pre-production stage. Once I am on set, my approach to acting is very technical. I know who I am playing, so I need to sort of adjust to those changes. The script gives you an idea of where to go and then I mostly use my imagination to build a sense of the character, build a vision of the person I am playing. That creates an environment to be spontaneous.
Once you are on set, it is very technical because the light is here, the camera is there, this is the lens, this is your playing area. So you have to serve that. You can't do whatever you want because it is not captured on camera and if it is not in the correct light, then there is no point. This is my approach and this has served me well so far.
Are you still nervous on Day One of shoot?
I am usually nervous when I am getting ready. But once I am on set, I give a take to the camera and the nervousness immediately goes away. I also tend to trick myself out of it. I keep singing songs to calm myself. I tend to use humour and joke around on set and that really calms the environment around me. On the first day, everyone on set is usually nervous and if I can sort of change that energy a little bit then that helps.
I also remind myself that I have been working for 13 years now, I have the experience and my experience will come handy.
It has been a quite a few good few years for you in your career. What kind of a mind space are you in now as far as your acting goals are concerned?
I am good regarding work, I am quite secure. It is a really interesting space and I am looking forward to more things in the future. Since 2022, I really don't have much to complain as to how my career has panned out.
The one complaint that I have about myself is that I am a bit lazy. I need to figure that out. I don't want to do a lot of work, I just want to do enough.
But generally, in life, I am a very lazy guy. I get very anxious and overwhelmed and I procrastinate a lot. It is something that has been bothering me for quite some time. I am 46 and it has come to a level where I have told myself that I really need to do something about my laziness.
I am not happy being a lazy guy. In my life, not in my career, I think I have underachieved because I have been lazy. I want to make some change there. I have not done shit about it, but then I am thinking about it.
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