“I didn’t choose the movie but the movie chose me” – Gauri

Making her acting debut with a black and white film Frozen, young and charming actress Gauri"s work has already been appreciated in various international film festivals. Let"s find out what the actress has to say about her debut film and many more.

Tell us about your role in the movie?
I play the character of Lasya who is around 18 year old girl and this girl is actually very bubbly and rebellious sort of a character. She has created her own world; her world has only her father and her younger brother. She doesn"t like to go beyond her world. She doesn"t like anybody to enter her world. She usually likes to play and doesn"t like to go to school.

How did you bag this role?
I have done a music video called chana ve ghar… by Kunal Ganjawala. The producer of this music video and this movie is the same, Shivajee Chandrabhushan. Post the shoot of chana ve… he was planning to make the film. He had told me that it"s a story about a brother and a sister and that I would be playing the role of sister, so that"s how I got the role.

Why did you choose a movie like frozen for your debut?
I didn"t choose the movie but the movie chose me. I know it"s a bit art type of movie but everyone does commercial cinema and in future even I am going to do commercial cinema. Getting this kind of a role is a big asset as it doesn"t happen to you everyday. I think I am really lucky that I was a part of this film. I don"t come from a filmy background or have done any acting course or something so I got to learn so many things and from my first movie. I also had a nomination for best actress at Russia and Greece festival. And this being my first film and getting a nomination for best actress and that too on the international level in itself was a big thing for me. So I am happy I got a movie like frozen for my debut.

Frozen is a Black and White film, but its being called the most colorful film…
It has lot of colors because I think the story has got many shades. Every character has got different shades. The character graph is such that I feel there is a lot of color added to it. It is very universal movie and it will appeal to everybody.

Tell us about your co stars? How was it working with veteran actor like Danny?
It was very good working with Danny. In this movie he doesn"t carry villains" image like in all other his films. He is very kind and we had a very good comfort level and off screen also he used to sing songs and tell us stories about his shooting days. This role of his required a very subtle acting rather than what he usually do and he has done it amazingly well.

You all shot in Ladakh. So how was your experience shooting at high altitude as you face problems relating to low oxygen and low temperatures?

Yes there you face these problems but we were taken care by the production very well. We went a week before to get familiar to the place and Shivaji being a mountaineer and trekker knew exactly what things we will all need to survive in this conditions. We were provided heaters, food and the production took care of us very well. Even our costumes were designed in such a way that we can wear two three warm clothes inside. Despite all this, yes of course, the cold was too much and especially when we had shoot outdoors. We used to run towards the light as soon as our shot used to get over in order to get the warmth out of it. But I think the excitement of working in the first film was too much that it blew away all the cold.

The film deals with father and child relationship tell us about that? What type of relationship you share with your father?
Its actually about this family; father, daughter and the younger brother who stay in a remote place in Ladakh and army camp is setup 100 meters away from there place, so the difficulties and the problems that the family faces after the army camp is setup and everything is shown through the eyes of this girl who is played by me. The relationship between father and daughter is very subtle. It"s shown in a very subtle manner. For her, her father is everything, so that sort of relationship is shown between Danny sir and me. I share exactly the same relationship with my father too. He has always supported me and he is like a friend to me.

It has won 18 awards in film festivals so how does it feel? Are you nervous with the release of the film in India?
It feels amazing and really nice because getting recognition internationally and winning so many awards is always special. I am very nervous and excited too.

Your future projects?
I am doing another art film called Khargosh. My talks are on for many other projects but I don"t want to talk about it right now.