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Dahaad has roared and how! The web series has managed to get everyone’s attention with its spine-chilling storyline revolving around a series of murders. The show has a stellar star cast of Sonakshi Sinha, Vijay Varma and Gulshan Devaiah. With its success, stars definitely have much to celebrate. Gulshan Devaiah especially has more than one reason to celebrate as his birthday is around the corner. We got into a candid conversation with the star to talk about his birthday plans, the success of Dahaad, upcoming projects and much more. Gulshan Devaiah was his candid best and shared some fun bits too. Laughingly, he also said that Rajkummar Rao is a boring person to work with and he has a reason for it. Excerpts from the interview below:

Please tell us something about your birthday plans…

Um, I’m not planning anything but my ex-wife who is my best friend now, she’s probably going to take me out for a really expensive meal. I’m looking forward to that. We both like nice food. I don’t know if there will be some nice fancy restaurant where it’s very difficult to get a reservation. Some place like that she would have known. I’m looking forward to that wonderful meal and a lovely conversation with my best friend.

Did you expect such a reaction for Dahaad?

I don’t think of such things. I’d like to not think too much about the consequences or the result. Although results are important, when I’m doing it, I don’t think about the results. So I try to keep my focus on what I’m doing in the process and try and concentrate and enjoy the process and try to do as well as possible on a day-to-day basis. Because I feel that I have no control over the results. I cannot manipulate people to like me more or less or anything like that. So it’s for them to freely decide what they think of your work and the story that you’re a part of. And it doesn’t exist for me to make that story to people. It takes hundreds and thousands of other people as well. So I have very little control. So I’m like, why worry about things that I cannot control? I can worry about and I can put effort into my work. And that’s what I do. And it usually works best for me because sometimes expectations are met with disappointment also. So I kind of suffer a little less from that. So I wasn’t thinking about expectations. I was just thinking about this is my job. Let me try and do it as best as possible.

What’s your strategy to pick out-of-the-box roles?

I just like doing things that I’m genuinely interested in. If you ask me what do you want to do next, I don’t know what I want to do next. But when something presents itself, I assess it. And I’m like, oh, this is interesting. Maybe I should do this. Or I don’t know if I’m genuinely interested. Maybe this is a path. So this is my process. And I’m also trying to constantly surprise myself and also be surprised with the kind of projects that come to me. I don’t have any set pattern or something. I’m conscious that the only thing that I’m conscious of is that I’d like it to be diverse. I’d like to have my career be quite diverse and versatile as possible. As much as I can handle.

Tell us something about Guns and Gulaabs with Raj & DK…

It’s a crazy series. Those two guys are also nuts. So, they allowed, they gave me full freedom to do whatever I wanted to do. I know that they have released some pictures. I was like, please don’t show anything. Let the audiences experience it and all that. But there’s a lot more to it than what meets the eye. And it’s just, it was a fun, I got COVID while shooting it, so that wasn’t fun. But everything else was just crazy. I hope it gets a season 2. It’s one of the craziest parts I’ve ever done. They gave me full freedom to interpret the part in terms of how to play the scene or the character. But also, like, you know, what kind of costume, hair and many other things. There are some appliances that I use, which I won’t tell you about. But they gave me like, yeah, you pretty much do whatever you wanted.

The series has a very fun and quirky starcast. Any fun anecdote to share from the sets?

Rajkummar Rao is one of the most boring people to work with. He comes, he does his job and then he leaves. There’s no chit chat, there’s nothing. Like, one would imagine me and Raj would be sitting and talking about the craft and this and that. Nothing (laughs)! He just comes, he does his job and he’s gone. I’m like, I don’t know, like, you know, many times I try and initiate a conversation with him. Like, I feel like he just wants to be left alone. Most of the time I’m sitting and chatting with Raj or DK. I’m chatting with them or like with some other actors who are there. Some people are curious, they come and ask me questions. Like, they want to know me better. I’m happy to do that. But I thought that, me and Raj would be like, you know, best friends. One would imagine, right, that two actors who are appreciated for their work, one would imagine that the two people would sit and talk about the craft or, you know, something like that. Nothing! ‘Kaisa hai tu, haan theek hai’, this is our random conversation.

Duranga season 2 is coming up, any message for fans…

Yes, yes, yes. Because it’s going to pick up from where it left off and Amit Sadh is also now part of the show. And he’s nuts. He’s a total nutcase. And he’s interpreted this part in a very crazy manner. And it’s going to be really entertaining. And it’s an emotional journey also for me and Drashti. So, I think there’s a lot of things that the audience can expect. I mean, I get messages on a daily basis. But sooner than, very soon, within the next couple of months, I think it should be out.

Does OTT interest you more than films?

See, I don’t mind doing both. Because they’re both long format. And I like working in long format. So, I don’t mind doing both. If I’m interested in that, if I feel that the story is interesting to me, the characters are interesting, I’ll do. But right now, see, I’m doing both. Like, 8 A.M is a theatrical release. My next project, which I’m going to start shooting, Ulajh, is a theatrical release. It’s a feature film. I’d like to sort of do both. And, you know, to be perfectly honest, the theatricals are difficult to succeed because the business model is that much more difficult to succeed. So, if you do succeed, and because it’s difficult, so it’s that much more satisfying also. That you’ve got audiences into the theatres, you’ve compelled them to watch a movie. And which is why I feel that the film stars are like Paramount. Because it’s that much more exponentially difficult for you to succeed with a theatrical release. So I would like to keep chancing my arm there.

 Gulshan Devaiah has more than one reasons to celebrate. Dahaad has received an amazing response, he has a busy schedule ahead and his birthday is also around the corner. BollywoodLife gets into a candid chat with the star.