You have seen the hilarious side of Apoorva Gupta during his stand-up comedy sets, but he is all set to broaden his creative horizons with Sudhir Mishra’s upcoming film Afwah starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Bhumi Pednekar. With over 500 million views on social media, Apoorva Gupta, who has performed across the country and received love from his fans, plays an integral role in the drama film, which is set for a theatrical release on 5th May. Is.
In an exclusive interview with News18 Shosha, Apoorva Gupta talks about his transformation from a stand-up comic to an actor, his experience working with the big guns, his role in Rumor and much more. Here are excerpts from the conversation.
Apoorva Gupta on wearing actor’s hat in rumor
It was very organic. I have been in the industry for the last 10 years and I keep getting auditions for some commercials or some role. But to be honest, initially I was not very keen on doing such ads or roles. For the last two years, I thought that I should try my hand at acting. And the moment I got the opportunity to audition for the film Rumor, that’s when I came to know that the director is Sudhir Mishra. I was overjoyed. And I think the role that I am playing is very important in the film. So I was very happy and satisfied that I am playing a good role than other filler roles in a film which the audience would love to watch as a stand up comedian. There will be a big change when I come on screen.
Apoorva Gupta gives a sneak-peek about his character in the film
My character is a bit shy, self-centred who knows a lot about social media. He is smart enough and knows when to enter and when to exit any kind of team. So he goes about his business in an out. He doesn’t care about anyone else. My role is closely related to Sumeet Vyas who plays the lead role. I knew him before the film as well but he made me comfortable on the sets. Like I have done a lot of shows but acting is something that I am doing for the first time. So there was definitely some concern there. But the production team made sure that I didn’t feel uncomfortable. I was quite happy with the experience. I thought it might be in a different direction but everyone was focused, made sure I got the vibes too in the next few minutes and after 30-40 minutes, it became smooth.
Apoorva Gupta reveals Rumor explores themes of rumour-mongering
As the title says, I think nowadays because of social media no one knows what is actually true or what is rumour. This is one film that apart from definitely entertaining, also shares a great message. Because nowadays you tend to believe whatever you see on WhatsApp or social media. I guess relevancy would be the factor because at some point of time, you would surely have been caught in a web of rumors where you thought this was something I should pursue but after some time, you realize it was fake.
In such a situation, this film will add value and give a lesson. After this movie, people will start paying more attention to what they are sharing with their friends and family. It will serve the purpose.
Apoorva Gupta told what interested him in this film
Since the character is very strong and defines how the film will proceed after a point of time, it is again an important part. And I wanted to play something which was not as fun as my debut. Because whenever we think of a stand-up comedian, they usually think of funny roles or timepass roles. I don’t want to talk like that. Because standup comedy is evolving so why do things that most of us have seen in the past. I thought let’s do something which is for my face and which justifies the bigger picture. There were many points, one is Sudhir Mishra who is a legend, the other is the subject is quite interesting and something that gives a bigger picture. And third, the character will change the story at some point. The best part of the preparation was Mukesh Chhabra and the casting team as they chose an actor who can do it naturally rather than preparing for it. Something that matches with the vision of the director and the actor. I am not a trained actor.
Apoorva Gupta on the preparation of this film
It doesn’t matter how much preparation you do, the same goes for standup comedy. It doesn’t matter how much you prepare, the moment you walk on the stage, it all depends on that particular point. The lead part was with Sumeet Vyas and he is a great, professional actor who has been doing this for 10 years. The best thing about professional actors is that they can change their persona in a split second. Like he’s chilling with me in between takes and as the camera rolls, the character pops out of them. As a stand-up comedian, this is a quality that doesn’t come to us because we are the same on and off stage. Stand up comedy is about how natural you are or how transparent you are. This is something I want to learn in acting. I think if I spend some more time with these professional actors, I would learn it over time.
Apoorva Gupta didn’t get a chance to show his funny side on the sets
I wanted to but the moment I went to my shooting location, unfortunately it was raining heavily in that city. It was torrential and things were flooding. Due to all these things, we could not get much time because when it comes to this kind of setup, everyone wants to focus and complete the schedule that is made for them. So we didn’t get time to have fun because things were moving at the speed of consolidated time. To be honest, this was the first time I was doing this, I was conscious not to overdo things as this is not my home ground. I wanted to stay as focused as possible.
Apoorva Gupta called Sudhir Mishra a magician
I think he is a magician. I have been his fan since Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, when I came to know that he wrote the script and Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro was one of the cult films. But I feel he also knew that this is my first film and since he is a senior director, he knew that I would falter a bit, I would be scared and would not be able to act naturally at first. He was calm and patient and he kept doing certain things so that I could open up to that environment. As a director he knew what he wanted and he made sure I was able to deliver. We both kept trying and I am lucky to have worked with him.
Apoorva Gupta quips about any reservations or other considerations he may have had before embarking on this trip
I didn’t think that it could affect my professional career. This is just a character and I am not like that in real life. It’s a film and a character that I wanted to play and it just happened. Because of the image of a stand-up comedian, I wanted to play a different role so that people can differentiate that it’s a different life where I’m funny and make people laugh and it’s a totally different character, a different side of the character. . The key is to choose very specifically one role that I should play and one role that I should avoid. The problem can come when you start playing all the roles. That’s why my major bread and butter will be stand up comedy, so I’m okay with saying no to roles.
Apoorva Gupta shares, what is more challenging, acting or stand-up?
To be honest, there is nothing challenging in any field as stand up comedy was the most difficult thing I have been doing. It was a really tough job to go on stage and make people laugh but with time I realized it was something I wanted to do. Same thing with acting, I felt it was tough on the first day and the first shot that acting was tough but eventually I realized it was something I could do. But yeah, the difference between stand-up comedy and acting is that in stand-up comedy, you’re very abrupt, you finish talking in an hour. In acting, you have to shoot a scene in 5-6 different ways. I didn’t know there was so much movement in cinema. In stand-up comedy, if a joke fails, you can’t do it again. You move on to another joke. Standup comedy is for max 500 people or 5000 people, a film is for 10 lakh 20 lakh crores. Because when you’re creating a bigger picture, creating content for a bigger audience, you don’t need to fuss about the little things. You want everything to be perfect.
Apoorva Gupta’s answer to If stand up comedy will satisfy the audience in times to come
Right now in India you can say that 15-20 crore people are watching standup comedy and these are the people who are also watching everyone’s content. Let me give you a simple example that in the United States, standup comedy started in the 1950s and there has been no saturation till now. The problem will come in your second question because since it is a growing market and everyone thinks there is a lot of money, popularity. People will come and some will do desperate things, deliver bad content that shouldn’t be there or low quality content. As will happen and happen with any high budget industry like Bollywood, Music, Cricket, where big bucks are involved, the quality will surely suffer.
Apoorva Gupta has no recent plans to launch a comedy special
Right now I feel like I am not ready. I can do it any time, it’s just that I’m not ready for it because you’re uploading 75 minutes or 90 minutes of content, it has to have a message, it has to have a purpose. It cannot happen that you are uploading YouTube videos in a bundle. I can’t do it unless I feel like it.
Apoorva Gupta on juggling stand-up comedy, startup and acting
At the end of the day, we are using our face whether we are doing stand up comedy or whether we are acting. Everything will run on distribution channels only. I don’t think it will be a problem because whatever I am doing will eventually reach people. You just have to prioritise. My first love is YouTube and standup comedy but if I find something very unique, I’ll take it.
read all latest movie news And Entertainment News Here