Woah! Gulshan Devaiah talks about turning down offers from South, here's what he has to say

MUMBAI: Fresh off the success of Guns & Gulaabs, Gulshan Devaiah is back with the second season of his successful web series Duranga. The actor has an intense role of a man living with two different identities, one entirely opposite to the other. 

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Interestingly, Gulshan has also come a long way from playing a small role in his debut film Dum Maaro Dum to playing the lead in Duranga, both directed by Rohan Sippy. Shining in one role after another in the OTT space, Gulshan also has a sense of humour behind the camera.

In an interview with Hindustan Times, Gulshan Devaiah spoke in detail about working on Duranga season 2 and dropped a hint about his next. He also talked about teasing Vijay Varma about Tamannaah Bhatia on X and why he is just not inclined to do anything that doesn't interest him. Excerpts:

The first season of Duranga was high in suspense and thrill. What can we expect from the second season?

There is no closure where the season ends with somebody waking up from a coma. Now that he is awake, how is he going to impact the lives of people who are part of season one. Will Samit’s past have an impact on his present life now? The dark and cruel legacy his father has left behind, will the old wounds heal? What happens to the sister? What happens to the families? What happens to the child? All of those things still remain a mystery.

You share a good chemistry with Drashti Dhami in Duranga. Share your experience of working with her.

I think it's better in season two because it's an emotional journey for us. I'm really fond of her. We get along really well and she laughs at my jokes.

Your character in the show is quite into the art of cooking. Do you cook in real life as well?

Yeah, I do. Not all the time, but sometimes I do enjoy cooking. Sometimes when I have a guest staying over or when I'm in the mood, I can really go all the way. I come from a creative background, so I look at cooking as a creative thing. It's not like a stress buster, but I open my cupboard and fridge and see what I can make. Sometimes, I order a bunch of ingredients and put it together in an interesting way. I don't know any recipe. I usually make-up dishes.

Was there a day which turned out to be the hardest or the most memorable day of the shoot?

Not really. We're already well set in terms of characterization from season one, which I think was tougher. It was memorable for me to reunite with Rohan Sippy. My first release ever, Dum Maaro Dum, was his film. And to reunite with him after 13 years was a very special moment for me. I really enjoyed working with him the first time around and I enjoyed it even more the second time. The first time, I played a small character in his film, and now I was his leading man. So that's good.

Do you still tease Vijay Varma about Tamannaah Bhatia off Twitter?

No. Now that they are open about it, it doesn't really work anymore, not even off Twitter. In fact, the interesting thing, I have never met her. I'd finally like to meet her. It's been like a long time. Like more than six months now and I haven't met her.

You also have Ulajh with Janhvi Kapoor. Would you like to talk about the film?

It's a spy thriller. I can tell you more about it, but you know how spies are.

You spell fear when you come on screen in Guns & Gulaabs. Will we get a second season as well?

I hope so. I would really like season two of Guns and Gulaabs and maybe even Dahaad. At least one more season each. I don't know. Actually, I know, but I'm not going to tell you.

You play the antagonist so well. Do you have a preference among the roles you want to do?

No, I enjoy playing different characters. In Dahaad, he's not a perfect guy, but he's a good guy. In Guns & Gulaabs, you know that he is dangerous and he is not a person that you should come across ever in your life. So you would slot him as like the bad guy. Even though he is really entertaining and people loved watching my scenes and they loved all the aspects of the characters, the hair, the tattoos, the four cuts and all those things. But it is categorized as the bad guy. Now in Duranga, it is both.

Some people prefer the dark characters that I do. Some people prefer the comic villains that I do like in in Guns & Gulaabs. And some people like the naughty characters that I have played like in Hunterrr. So it is their preference. I am happy that I am able to have a variety that people can choose from and then decide. Some people like my villainous characters more. Fair enough. There is no harm in that.

We took so many years for Shahrukh's audience to accept him in anything other than a romantic role. They only wanted to see him as a romantic hero. But that doesn't mean that whenever he played other roles he was bad.

You really get to play very meaty roles in the OTT space. Do you say no to those you don't like?

Yeah, all the vegetarian roles. Things that don't interest me. Roles that I feel that I don't have anything new, I will probably be repeating myself. I want to do things that I am only genuinely interested in. One was going to be a massive movie but I was like, it's just not for me.

For example, I get calls from the South, particularly after Guns & Gulaabs, to do antagonist parts in really big commercial projects. I have nothing against those films, but I've never really been interested in being part of like…That's not really what my career is about. They pay me a lot of money and I can do financially better but that's not the only motivation for me.

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And that's the whole point. That's where it began for me because I was interested in cinema as a child and I lost myself in that world. To remain truthful to that is very important to me.

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Credits - Hindustan Times