About her character, Gauahar said, "It was about complexities, contradictions. It's about every woman who feels they always have to put others first."
Actress Gauahar Khan, who has impressed the audience with her performance as Mayanka Kapoor in the recently released Amazon Prime Video web series 'Bestseller', says that she had a blast shooting it and is even happier with all the love pouring in for her portrayal of the character.
Gauahar who has previously featured in OTT projects like Tandav, plays Mayanka, the supporting wife of popular novelist Tahir Wazir, essayed by Arjan Bajwa who is experiencing writer's block. However, he gets inspired when he meets a stranger Meetu Mathur played by Shruti Haasan and decides to write about her violent past. Haasan's character Meetu works in a cafe and apparently is a huge fan of Wazir.
Meanwhile, in an exclusive tête-à-tête, Gauahar Khan spoke to DNA about 'Bestseller', why did she take up the role, what was it that was most challenging about playing Mayanka and her experience of working with veteran superstar Mithun Chakraborty. Gauahar also spoke about dealing with social media trolls and whether she's ever feared losing out on a role because of how boldly she presents her views on social media.
'Bestseller' and why was is challenging playing Mayanka
When asked how did she bag the role, Gauahar said, "I was extremely grateful that this character was given to me by Siddharth (producer). When they were writing the series, Siddharth and Kavish who is our casting agent said that we should approach Gauahar. I was ecstatic because when I read the script I was completely engrossed and I said are you sure you don't want me to audition because I am willing to audition for this part but he said no...we are very sure we want you. I am so glad that it came to me."
READ: Shruti Haasan shares fun pictures, videos from 'Bestseller' sets with Mithun Chakraborty, Gauahar Khan
Ask her why she calls this the most challenging role she's essayed so far in her career? Gauahar told DNA, "The most difficult thing about any character is if it's so real...if it's so close to life...if it's an everyday character...it's the most difficult thing to do because you have to make it that much more believable."
She added, "With every character that I do, I want to make sure that the audience can believe them. So, it was very challenging."
Gauahar further said, "It was about complexities...contradictions...it's about every woman who feels that they always have to put others first, not just her husband but the needs of others. I think it's a 'woman thing' to always nurture, give people the benefit of the doubt and that for me was very interesting in Mayanka."
Social media and trolls
For the unversed, the psychological thriller, 'Bestseller', which gives a glimpse into the lives of the characters in the form of a riveting plot, also showcases how a social media troll - @WazirIsGod! creates nuisance in the life of Tahir and how others are impacted by the troll's actions.
So, we asked Gauahar, who never shies away from speaking her mind and actively tweets and expresses her opinion, about how she deals with trolls and if the trolling and negativity impact her in any way, to which she replied, "There was a time when it used to affect me. There was a time when I used to feel I have to answer to everything. But now I'm at a stage in my life where I tell myself I know how this machinery works and I know what their intentions are. I know why a certain agenda is playing, why an area is targetted upon. So, I'm like I won't give them my time of the day. Now I've become extremely mature and in no way am I going to make them feel that they are of any importance to impact my life. I'm very happy with that (approach). I've mastered the art of ignoring."
Ask her about death threats on social media, the 'Tandav' actor agrees that trolls do tend to threaten on social media, but she says 'you have to figure out and gauge ki yeh geedadh dapki hai yah iska koi agenda chal raha hai." She added, "I don't think it (threats) comes all of a sudden. It will come with some kind of an agenda or something and then you have to tackle it that way. There's now a system in place where you can report things when it gets dangerous."
But does she fear losing out on a role or project considering she doesn't mince her words and is quite expressive on social media, Gauahar retorts, 'why is that even a question'. She then explains while stating that she doesn't fear losing out on a role, that her 'agenda on social media has never been about others'. Gauahar said, "It's about what I feel in my moment. It is my moment to speak about what I want to speak about and there is no agenda. My life is not like other people's where there is some kind of machinery supporting their social media or they have certain topics....I am a person who is driven by current affairs, reality shows, by things in life that move me and I'm an emotional person...so, my social media is no agenda at all."
A 'Bestseller' that changed her life
Coming back to 'Bestseller', when we asked Gauahar if there was any bestseller that changed her life and affected it in any way, she said, "I'm not much of a reader. But, I like to read quotes and the one quote that really did make an impact in my life was which I read when I entered the Bigg Boss house. It was a line written on the entrance wall. It read, 'Nothing worth having some easy' and it's absolutely true. Whatever it is that you really want to work hard for, whatever it is that you desire to be at or wherever you want to be in your life personally, professionally, mentally, nothing is going to come extremely easy. is it's worth having then there's going to be an uphill climb and you should be ready for it!"
Working with Mithun Chakraborty
Legendary actor Mithun Chakraborty who has an impressive repertoire of over 370 films, is seen in his first-ever digital series. He plays a top cop in the series. So when we asked Gauahar how was the experience working with the legend, she said, "He's just fabulous. He's somebody I look up to. He's been very generous with his compliments to me and he's behaved in the most humbling fashion with all of us on set. He is the nicest human being, a superstar. When he is performing, there's so much to learn from him and I love the fact that I got to work with him. It was on my bucket list, and am glad it happened."
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