Give intimacy its due credit: Gulshan Devaiah

He’s four films old in the industry, but Gulshan Devaiah seems to know well what he wants. Dum Maaro Dum, Shaitan, The Girl In Yellow Boots and now, Hate Story — the actor has quite a variety to his credit.

“I would fantasise about seeing myself on posters and billboards since I was eight years old! I loved watching Hindi films and listening to film music. My parents had quite a collection of Hindi film music and I’d keep listening to them,” he recollects.

So, it didn’t come as a surprise to him or his family when he decided to move to Mumbai in 2008. One film followed the other but his latest film, Vivek Agnihotri’s Hate Story, sees him in a role that he hasn’t attempted before. “Shooting for the film was a completely new experience for me, even though the film almost entirely belongs to Paoli (Dam). I joined the crew in Delhi when they were already a few weeks into the shoot but Vivek had made it very clear from the very beginning what he wanted of me. He and Vikram Bhatt (producer) had visualised Hate Story to be an on-the-edge erotic thriller, for which all actors needed to shed their inhibitions,” he states.

Of course, the erotic content of the film is being talked about quite a bit. “Intimacy and sexuality are undoubtedly a very strong part of the film and should rightfully get all the attention. Once I said yes to the film, I was a little unsure if I had done the right thing and whether I would be able to handle it. Frankly speaking, I was quite nervous about handling those intimate scenes. But that’s the reason why I submitted myself to the director — he led me,” confesses Gulshan.

The actor, who has been busy with theatre ever since he was in school, feels that films, today, have come of age, literally. “When I was growing up, sex and physical intimacy was a taboo on screen. But look at the way it is portrayed in films today. After all, we are living in real times,” ends Gulshan.