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'I come from a very small town. I never had my own house in Bombay.'
'Today, that experience helps me as actor.'
When you are a celebrity, the fame is a byproduct.
This is especially true for actors.
But Adarsh Gourav likes to maintain a low-key life.
After his star performance in The White Tiger and winning act in the Netflix show Guns And Gulaabs, Adarsh is steadily garnering his fandom.
But the actor insists on being anonymous.
"It's nice to be anonymous because you can go about your day more peacefully. When you are preparing for parts, you can do your process the way you want to. Once you start getting recognised, you can't do the things that normal people can," Adarsh tells Mayur Sanap/Rediff.com.
How did Guns And Gulaabs happen to you?
I got a call from the casting director and they asked me to meet Raj & DK.
They narrated the story briefly, told me about my character and asked me whether I would be interested in playing it.
I was quite stunned because, for the first time, I was being offered a character without auditioning.
I said yes because I was equally excited about working with Raj & DK.
What was your brief for this character?
They told me the beginning, middle and end of my character arc.
After reading the script and many discussions with Raj & DK, I started realising that Jugnu (his character) was born into so much privilege that he doesn't know what boundaries are.
What also struck me about him was the fact that there are no female figures in his immediate environment.
No mother, no sisters.
That sort of sensitivity and empathy that he comes with is completely different.
What did you discover about Raj & DK's film-making style?
They are very different from each other and yet make such great partners.
What makes them stand out from anybody else is their willingness and knack for humour in the most uncanny cases.
They don't take themselves too seriously.
They don't take their stories too seriously.
The moment you have a serious moment, the tension gets instantly defused by what a character would do there.
This never really makes you feel the weight of the story, and still keeps you engaged.
You played the late Satish Kaushik's son in this show. What are your memories from the shoot?
I used to love hearing stories from him about Bombay in the '70s and '80s.
I would ask him about his life experiences and so many different things.
He was a born storyteller, a born leader, a thorough gentleman.
He was very, very, sensitive towards everybody on sets. It is such an irreparable loss for all of us.
The White Tiger put you on the international map. How much has the success of that film shaped up your ambition as an actor?
It just made my greed of being a global actor more realistic.
It has given me access to the kind of people that I always dreamt of working with.
These are the people we watch on our TV and laptop screens.
It's changed my life completely.
I owe everything to Ramin Bahrani, my director. He trusted me to play such a complex character and put so much faith in me.
Do you believe you are getting typecast in rustic roles?
I don't think I'm getting typecast at all.
In fact, I am playing a very urban character in Kho Gaye Hum Kahan.
It depends on the choices you make as an actor.
I come from a very small town and have a middle class family.
I never had my own house in Bombay. I lived in areas from Juhu (northwest Mumbai) to Dahisar (north Mumbai).
I got to interact with different strata of society with this.
When I was going through all of that, I never understood the advantage. But today, that experience helps me as actor.
Given a choice between critically acclaimed role and a blockbuster film, what would you choose?
I want a blockbuster film that is also critically acclaimed. I would love for that to happen. (Laughs)
Rang De Basanti was like that.
You once said that you prefer to be anonymous, but how does it work for a mainstream actor like you?
I don't really know.
It's nice to be anonymous because you can go about your day more peacefully.
When you're preparing for parts, you can do your process the way you want to. Once you start getting recognised, you can't do the things that normal people can.
Thankfully, I'm not famous yet. So, it's still nice.
As an outsider who made his way through for 10 years, what changes do you like to see happening in the industry?
I wish there was more importance on writing because I feel the writing is the backbone for any script.
I also feel people give more attention to individuality. All our lives are so unique.
We should draw out of our own lives and personal experiences rather than making something that already exists out there. It will help us make amazing stories instead of trying to make what other people are making.
Who are the film-makers on your wish list?
I would love to work with Zoya Akhtar, Vikramaditya Motwane, Bejoy Nambiar, Vasan Bala, Konkona Sen Sharma...
I do reach out to these film-makers and tell them about it.
How's Kho Gaye Hum Kahan shaping up?
It's on the edit table right now. I'm guessing it will be out in the next few months.
I am sharing screen space with Ananya (Panday) and Siddhant (Chaturvedi).
Both are wonderful people, extremely talented, and good human beings.
It is always great to have co-actors who are interested in making the scene better. I had a great experience working with them as they are very gifted actors.
