Gulshan Devaiah’s 12-year-long career began with Anurag Kashyap’s thriller That Girl in Yellow Boots, a critically acclaimed film that was unequivocally acclaimed at film festivals around the world. After entering the cinematic field, Gulshan further honed his acting skills with several thrillers. He has worked in films like Shaitan, Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela, Hate Story, Hunterrr, Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota, Blur and latest 8 AM Metro.
The versatile actor, who celebrates his 45th birthday today, spoke exclusively with News18’s Shosha and revealed his birthday plans, revealed whether he is in love with Vijay Varma and Tamannaah Bhatia’s secret relationship, Vivek Agnihotri. They are out of sync with and much more.
Here are excerpts from the conversation:
What kind of plans do you have for your special day?
I prefer to stay in bed all day on my birthday. I don’t like being bothered at all. But this never happens. I get so many well wishes and messages, I almost feel obligated to reply to them. I usually don’t plan anything. My friends and family, they plan something and this time my ex-wife who is my best friend is planning something. Most likely, it will be a really nice meal at a very fancy restaurant.
Growing up, how did you celebrate birthdays?
My mother used to bake cakes. It was a gas stove and she used to make cakes in it. I really enjoyed it. The whole day the house smelled of cake, but you could not eat it till evening. It was excruciating when you were dying to eat that cake for hours and hours. People will send me lots of things, some nice things like gold and diamonds. In the year 2000, on my birthday, I received the best design collection of that year. It was indeed a memorable award for me. Because I have won a national level award given by the Ministry of Textiles.
You played a very caring, logical, sympathetic and understanding father in Dahad. Do you ever feel like having children at this stage of your life?
I would probably be a good father but I don’t want kids. I don’t like children very much. I am Sorry. I don’t mind other people’s kids as long as you can give them back. Once you have yours, you can’t give it back to them. And they are a disaster I tell you. I bet I was a threat when I was 2 years old.
Just a few days ago you were teasing Vijay Verma by associating him with Tamannaah. And it created a widespread media frenzy, with some even claiming that you indirectly confirmed their relationship. So how true are these rumours?
I do not know. I had seen only 2-3 pictures of them together. I haven’t met him. I don’t even know him. For all you know, she can slap my face and say ‘what the hell are you talking about me’ (laughs). I don’t know His fans trolled me quite a bit, very mildly, not too much. They tell me ‘How dare you talk about someone’s personal life’. I’m like ‘what did I do man? I didn’t even take the name. But on a serious note, I have no idea. This is his personal life. But I just got the chance to tease him.
What can you tell us about your recent film 8 AM Metro? How does it feel to see a romantic character again in a romantic setup?
It’s a lovely story that I can relate to. It is not a romantic film but a romance. A lot of the concepts that the film discusses are romantic like literature, poetry, friendship and all. But this is not a simple, romantic film where a boy meets a girl and falls in love. It is too layered and complex. The two characters come from a happily married background and perhaps in a different situation, from the audience’s point of view, they would have been a perfect fit. It is about two people who are going through grief or trauma, find each other and find comfort in each other’s company. I enjoyed working with Saiyami. We both are cricket lovers. We talked a lot about cricket. I used to tease her because she is a fan of Sachin and I am a fan of Dravid.
What can you tell us about your upcoming projects Guns N Roses, Uljh with Janhvi Kapoor and Duranga Season 2?
Guns N Roses is going to be a crazy story with crazy characters. Raj and DK have really crossed the limits with this. And Ulejh we are in preparation, it is going to be a bit difficult for me and I will have to do a lot of pre-production for it. Duranga is going to be the continuation of the story. It is going to start from where it left off. It is going to be very emotional for me and Drishti’s character. One can expect it to be even more emotional with Amit Sadh waking up last season. Now he becomes a part of the narrative and what he does is going to be a thrilling element.
You recently made headlines after you disagreed with Vivek Agnihotri over the writers’ strike in Hollywood. Some people on Twitter are confused about your equations with Vivek Agnihotri. What do you think about that?
No, I was just trolling him. I don’t have any differences with him. I just troll him. Sometimes I agree with what he says, sometimes not. This is very evident from my twitter interactions and even he does not reply to me or acknowledge my tweets. but never mind. This seems to be their strategy and it is a good strategy. I try to come from an honest place and sometimes I make a joke. Yes, I know him very well. I really had the most wonderful working relationship with him. But I find some of his methods problematic. I don’t know if I’m right or he’s right or what he’s doing. Wherever I see that he is troubled by his ways and views, I try to counter him.
Am I right every time? No, I could be wrong too. But sometimes, I’m just joking and being a troll too. I have no reason to believe that he should not be making films. you can like it or not but
He has the right to tell his story in his own way. So these are just twitter talks and then I also have WhatsApp chats with him. We disagree. We don’t talk as much now as before. It’s just that sometimes people grow apart and have different thoughts and processes. I wish him well and I think he wishes me well too. But some disagreements will remain between us.