EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW! Gashmeer Mahajani: You Should Be Known For Your Body Of Work & Not Because You're Visible

'I Use Voice Modulation To Keep My Character As Sensible As Possible'

Q. From all your work which I have followed so far, I've observed that you have been making a more detailed use of voice modulation, body language and use of gaze in your performance as Aditya Kumar Tripathi in Imlie as compared to your earlier acts. For example, the scene where Adi and Imlie are having a conversation at the bus stand and Prakash interrupts in. He asks Adi, 'Kaunsi patni Imlie ya Malini?' For a second, your character gets shocked, he turns towards Imlie who signals a 'No', composes himself quickly and gives it back to Prakash. One saw a similar emotional transition in another scene where you bump into Imlie at the forest in Pagdandiya post Dev-Mithi-Satyakam's confrontation scene. This is something which I have particularly seen in your work in the last 10-11 months. What has brought about that change in you?

A. Firstly, the amount of voice modulation that I use in Imlie is actually not needed. If you watch my films, you will realize that I don't modulate my voice as frequently as how I do in my TV show. This is because Imlie is a daily soap. To create drama and twists, many a times the written material which comes to me is sudden and random. So, there's no detailed thinking behind Aditya's reaction which he is supposed to give in a scene. It's just written, 'Abhi Aditya ko Malini pe vishwas karna hai or Aditya ko yeh karna hai yaa woh karna hai.' For the twist, frankly speaking nobody has the time to look back at Aditya's behaviour in the last 11 months because it's a daily soap. You are shooting day after tomorrow's episode today. The writers too, don't get enough time. Suddenly, you get the material and you are like, "Arey yeh main kaise justify karunga kyunki Aditya aisa hain hi nahi ki woh iss tarah se react kare!" I can only do a few improvisations but I can't change the material because for that, the other character's material will also need to be changed. Now as an actor, I can't change other actor's script. I don't have that right. So, I have to keep his/her material intact. He/she will act in a certain way which is written in the script and I have to justify my character too as to why he is reacting in a certain way. That's where I use voice modulation as a tool.

I try and make my character look sensible with voice modulation. I try to put a new emotion in it which is not present in the written material at all. I use voice modulation so that the audience may think, 'Arey yeh iss waqt aise react kar sakta hai kyunki woh thoda sa gullible aur vulnerable hai.' At least to make him not look stupid, I have to add those voice modulations. So, I use this as a tool right now which is actually not the correct way to do it. Cinematically speaking, you don't need to make so much use of voice modulation if the script is written in a way keeping in mind the entire journey of the character. But this is not possible to do in a daily soap. This is something which I have realized now. I can't blame them (writers) because they too, have deadlines to meet and have to bring a certain amount of 'twists' in a certain time. So, they can't think about what the characters had done 11 months back or their thought process. They just write random twists like Aditya has to react like this or that. Now, how do I justify them as an actor? So, that's when I use voice modulation. Through this, I make the character sometimes more emotional or more vulnerable. So then, it becomes believable that he may react in a particular way. I have to make this work but it's not the right way to act.

See in films, you have your character well-defined so there, I don't make much use of voice modulation because the written material itself is justifying my character. But here, I have to use voice modulation because the written material sometimes doesn't justify the character. It lacks depth. I am told, 'Aditya ne aisa kar diya...' So, I ask, "Lekin woh kaise believe karta hai?" They tell me, "Arey usne aisa bol diya naa toh tu believe kar le." (laughs) But it doesn't happen that way naa. Nobody will immediately believe in something. But then, that has to be done because the show has to go on. The material has to be shot and sent for post-production in time. So then as an actor, I have to use voice modulation as a tool. I have no other option. I modulate my voice to justify Aditya's character. That's why it's done so frequently. It's liked by people but only I know the pain that I have to take for that (laughs). I use voice modulation to keep my character as sensible as possible and as much as I can in the capacity that I have as an actor. That's the whole idea. It's to give depth to the character which is missing in the written material. That's my skill as an actor and that is what I charge money for, that if this is what is going to happen on the material end, then I will use my skills to make him more deeper. That's what I am paid for, so I use this skill.

'It's A Very Taxing Task To Genuinely React To Unbelievable Circumstances; But That's My Tenacity As An Actor'

Q. Action and dance is your forte. But on a personal note, I connect more with your emotional scenes. Now by emotional, I don't mean only crying. It can be any of the other emotions like angst, jealousy, fear etc. It's said that acting is a liberating experience. We see actors using the emotional memory technique wherein they revisit real life experiences from their past to derive certain emotions from there. But at times, acting can also be a traumatic experience because while performing a scene, sometimes you might get shocked at your own reaction. Have you ever been in such a situation in the past while enacting emotionally intense scenes and how did you deal with it?

A. Once or twice, I have been in such a situation. But I don't use emotional memory which is a Lee Strasberg technique. Instead, I follow the Stella Adler acting method. Both the techniques have derived from Stanislaviski. But Stellar Adler's method works more for me because she uses circumstantial reactions wherein you imagine yourself in a certain circumstance and react to it rather than deriving from personal life experiences.

See, if I use the emotional memory technique, I slip out of my character. For that moment, I am not thinking about what the person in front of me is saying...I am thinking about what had happened to me in the past and enacting in that scene. That's wrong. I feel if you do this, you are being dishonest as an actor. You have to only react to what is being said to you and what circumstances you have been put through in a particular story that you are a part of at that time. So, I always believe in circumstantial reactions. But I do tend to get surprised by how could I react like this. If I use emotional memory then I will react the way like I had reacted to any past trauma that had happened. Then, there will be no newness to it because I will remember the past experience and the reaction would be the same as what had happened a few years back while I was facing that circumstance. So, I have to imagine myself in a new universe where I am faced with these new circumstances...where my character (Aditya) is forced to do a marriage with a girl. So now, here when I am reacting, how can I make use of emotional memory? Because in my personal life, I have never been forced to do a marriage at gunpoint. Also, if I enact here thinking about breakup with my girlfriend in the past then I am being dishonest as an actor. That's a fake emotion. So, emotional memory technique doesn't work for me. I feel that actors shouldn't be using it as well but then that's each to his own, whatever works for anybody.

But I feel when I am using emotional memory, it's dishonest. The performance becomes dishonest. I have to react to circumstances that I am put into by the writer. If the writer tells me that 'yeh hua hai tumhare saath', so I am Gashmeer Mahajani and now, I am a journalist. They call me Aditya Kumar Tripathi. But the fact is that, I am Gashmeer Mahajani. But I have to start believing that I am a journalist. Okay so, I am a journalist so I will research a bit about journalism, a few basic traits and information about the profession. Then, you will tell me that my character is married to a girl at a gunpoint. Now, I have to only react to this circumstance. I cannot search for any emotional memory for that. I have to think like, I am Gashmeer Mahajani but now I am a journalist who has been forcibly married at gunpoint. The reaction which will stem from this circumstance will be fresh, genuine and honest. So, I don't use emotional memory at all. I react to only circumstances and that's where you get surprises because you are reacting to a new circumstance which has not happened in your life. Suddenly, you only end up surprising yourself that 'Arey baap re, how could I react like this!" That's how I ended up reacting. So, I do get that.

See in films, you know how it's going to start and end. So if there are say around eight set of circumstances, twists and turns and plot points where you need to react, you know them beforehand. But in daily soaps, new circumstances are added every day and sometimes they are very unbelievable ones...like something which never happens in real life. But it's added to create drama. So, it becomes traumatic to genuinely react to them because you have to really believe that it's happening. I have to genuinely react to it with depth. It's a very taxing task. But I feel that's my tenacity as an actor. It's a good practice before I move on to bigger and better projects. But this ends up annoying a lot of people around because they think 'Yeh apne jaise hi karta hai.' (laughs). But anyway, it's okay.

'I Have Struggled, Fought And Gone Through Extreme Trauma To Maintain Aditya's Integrity'

Q. Gashmeer in your last Instagram live session which you did from the sets of Imlie, you had mentioned something which actually caught my attention. You said that in the upcoming track, your character Aditya will behave in a certain way because of which people may or may not like him. See what I will be pointing now is my personal observation of your character. When I look at Imlie from my perspective, it's not a show about a forced marriage. Instead, I see it as a story of three characters who will be going through their respective journeys wherein they will be making mistakes and learning from them. One of the biggest reasons which drew me to the show was Aditya Kumar Tripathi which I felt is one of the most well-written flawed characters on Indian television right from the way it was fleshed and how you brought it to life.

Like I said, Imlie is a character based show and when you have something like this, there are four elements to it. First you give a backstory to the character, then you give it a conflict followed by a clear point of view and finally, you respect the character's integrity. Now, your character has gone through all these stages. In the initial episodes, we saw his backstory, then there was a point of conflict where Aditya was confused between his love for Imlie and Malini, then there was a clear point of view (realization track) followed by the respect to the character's integrity. Now my question to you is how can I invest in a performance when the character's traits go off the track? To be more specific, if I have to define Aditya, I will say that he is a man of principle. He is impulsive. Also, he is someone who has to be given the push...he reacts only in extreme situations. He realizes things only when he finds himself in extreme situations. However recently on the show, there were a lot of instances where I felt that Aditya's actions were not matching with his traits...there were places where I felt the script was going off the track.

I remember there was one scene which I found a little difficult to connect with. It was the scene where Aditya records a video message for Imlie. In that scene, your character is talking about how in order to be a good journalist, one needs to keep the truth above all relationships and how he is lately unable to figure out what's going in Imlie's mind. Now if I go back a few episodes, there was a confrontation scene between you and Imlie after Satyakam enters the house post him trying to kill you. There, you are speaking to her and she's like if Satyakam has to be punished then even Malini needs to be punished. When I see that scene for me there, Imlie's character is keeping the truth above all her relationships. Secondly, she has always been clear about her thoughts. In fact, if you remember there's a scene post Malini-Adi's bike ride wherein Imlie comes to you and warns you for the first time that 'Malini didi badal gayi hai.' Your character instead brushes her off and calls her 'immature.' Now, the whole track is focusing on the cracks and the lack of trust in their relationship. According to Imlie, 'kuch cheezein logic pe nahin vishwas pe chalat hai'...that's the whole idea of relationship for her. I just felt that the makers couldn't give a valid reason for Aditya to brush off Imlie's concerns regarding Malini. Now what happens is because of all this, it becomes difficult for me to enjoy your performance because when I see your character, I am unsure about the reason behind his actions. I'm like 'Arey yeh toh uska character trait hain hi nahin..'which kind of disconnects me as an audience...I have no problems with Aditya behaving in a right or wrong manner. That's the reason why he is a flawed character. If he would have done everything right then he would have not been a flawed character. In this case, it's not about right or wrong, it's about his traits going off the track...

A. Basically that's the makers' issue. The problem is that the subject which has been chosen is based on a Bengali show (Ishti Kutum). Those people are extremely sensitive and very deep. I don't believe that we have the capacity of carrying the show of this magnitude in the same sensitivity and the depth which those guys create. We are far behind them. That depth has to come in the writing. The maturity has to come in the writing where a character's integrity is not hurt. Here firstly, the time is not permitting the writers to do that because they have to deliver on a daily basis where they have to make sure that another episode is shot and aired within a day's time. That's what happens. So as an actor, I try to maintain the character's integrity through improvisations and my performance.

Now speaking about that video recording shot which you mentioned, I will tell you what thoughts I had kept in my mind while shooting that scene. I realized that in the written material, there was no thinking about the entire process of the last 11 months. It was just superficially written that 'Woh ab believe nahin karta.' Bas khatam. 'Woh Malini aisa kar sakti hai believe hi nahin karta' Only that much was written. Uss se jyaada woh kyun nahin karta kyaa nahin karta, nothing was mentioned. Bas ek line mein bol dete hai ki Malini ne aisa kaha toh isliye woh usko believe karta hai. This can't happen like this. So, there has to be depth in the writing. There has been a thought about from where that character is coming and that it can't react like this until a valid reason is given.

I had improvised all the lines in that video recording scene. It wasn't written in the script. I had improvised those lines which talked about how a journalist keeps all his personal things aside. Now, Imlie says Malini also needs to go to the jail. That's why I had added those lines that 'Patrakaar ko emotions side mein rakhne hote hai aur facts pe dhyan dena hota hai.' I had also improvised another scene with Imlie which wasn't written. Imlie is seen saying, 'Malini didi ko jail bhej do toh main Satyakam kahan chupa hai bata dungi.' There, Aditya tells her that Satyakam had openly shot at him and accepted his crime. He says to her that he is both a victim and the witness. He says, 'Tumhe sirf Satyakam ne bola jo khud ek mujarim hai aur bhaag raha hai. Usne bola ki ek mahila ne hume phone kiya.' So, it's Imlie's assumption that it's Malini. So, I have always kept that 'Ho sakta hai agar Malini ne bola bhi ho, aapke paas usko jail mein dalne ke liya proof hai kya koi? Can you prove the point that it was done by Malini? So, the first right thing to do is to put Satyakam in jail because he is openly the culprit. I had even improvised a scene where Aditya is seen blasting Satyakam and another one with Amma (Mithi) where my character tells her, 'Bhale Malini ne bola ho lekin kal ko agar Malini aakar mujhse kahegi ki Imlie apke saath dhoka kar rahi hai aur main bagair puche, bagair jaane seedha bandook nikal ke usse goli mar deta toh aap Malini ko doshi tharaogey ki mujhe tharaogey?' Who will the culprit? I will be the culprit because I took out the gun without thinking. It's an extreme thing to do.

You have a man who has also supported you, he has always written nice things about you in the paper and got you off the hook from the government. The government is searching for you, aap baaghi ho. He has written good things about you and fought with the government to get you off the hook. He has accepted your daughter and is saying that he will always stay with her. Uske baad ek random aurat aapko phone karke bolti hai ki woh dhoka kar raha hai aur aap seedha bandook nikal kar bagair puche goli chala lete ho. There, the biggest culprit is Satyakam. After that, you come and tell 'Malini didi ne kiya hai.' But what's the proof? Even if Malini has done it, Imlie first needs to search for the proof. Only then, he can put her in jail. But that doesn't mean she should help Satyakam in absconding. Let him serve his term. Let him be punished for the crime which he has committed and openly admitted as well. He is the primary culprit over here. Now, who has instigated him or told him things, that has to be figured out later on. You have to gather proof and facts for it and after that you have to file a case against her. You can't randomly tell the police that Malini has done it. Then on what basis will the cops arrest her? What are the facts? So, I had improvised all those lines there.

Now our audience knows what Imlie knows but Aditya doesn't. So, he will ask for facts. Aditya knows that Satyakam had pulled the trigger at him. So, he will always ask for Satyakam to be jailed first. That's the right thing to do. After that, we will gather proofs about who misguided and misled him and take action against that person. You just can't randomly ask Malini to be put in the jail. Where's the proof that she called? Even if she had called him, she had just said a few words that he isn't in love with your daughter; he is in love with me. For that, you will pick up the gun? What message are you giving to the public? There was a line where Imlie says 'humare dadda ne wohi kiya jo ek normal ladki ke papa karte." There too, I had improvised a line, 'Kaunsi normal ladki ke papa aise karte hai. Ki damad uske beti se pyaar nahi karta toh seedha bandook leke goli chala lenge?' This is not a normal reaction. What Satyakam had done was absolutely abnormal. He had taken the law in his hands for which he needs to be punished. That was Aditya's take and that's why in his video recording, he tells Imlie that you need to keep your personal relationships aside when you are a journalist. If you have to be a journalist, you have to deal with facts. If the facts are not available, you make it your mission to find the facts and proofs and after that, you take action. So, that was the whole graph for Aditya.

Now the problem with the Indian television audience is that they are in the living room every day so they start treating these characters as real people. They need to accept that these characters aren't real. In a story if a character has to believe something then he is going to believe it. So, they can't say that 'Aditya aise kaise kar sakta hai. Arey usne kar diya bhai. Woh story ka hissa hai.' (laughs) If they say Gashmeer aise kaise kar sakta hai toh theek hai woh aisa nahi kar sakta. But, Aditya is not a living man. He is a figment of imagination. So, he will only react as per what's written for him in the script. Now, the audience knows Imlie is right about Malini calling up Satyakam because that scene was shown to them. But Aditya has not seen that! So, how can he ask for Malini to be jailed until he collects some proof? But Aditya has seen Satyakam shooting at him. Ek choti se baat pe usne seedhe goli chali de, jaan se maarne ki koshish ki. Then, how will he put Malini in jail and let Satyakam go scott-free? One needs to understand that. But what happens in Indian television dramas, you are so used to seeing a guy who is Ram and the heroine is Sita. Aditya is a tactical guy but at the same time, he is also very impulsive.

In the ongoing track, Imlie had showed him the proof against Malini. From hereon, I don't know how much of my improvisations would be retained in the final cut but I try to justify my character maximum through improvisations when I am performing my scenes. Now, after getting proof against Malini, she should be jailed right? But always remember that for a man or any woman for that matter, I am a father of a two and a half year old kid so any bachelor will not identify with the feeling that I would identify with. When a child comes into the picture, then sab kuch usse bacche ki liye ho jaata hai. In my forthcoming scenes, I have justified that we can't send Malini to jail because we have learnt that she is pregnant. Sab facts theek hai but hai toh woh insaan naa? Aditya ek patrakar hai woh theek hai lekin personal level pe itni badi cheez ho gayi, kaise bhi hua ho haadse se hua ho yaa dhoke se hua ho, but now she is pregnant with his kid. He can't send a pregnant woman to jail! He can't have his kid being delivered while his mother is serving a term for rape. He can't do that to the kid. So, his decision is for the kid. It's not for Malini, Imlie or any one else. It's because there's a kid on the way. So, any man or woman will always think about the kid ki yaar ab yeh baccha aa raha hai. Ab yeh kaise hua, kya hua woh sab ke baare mein sochne se pehle usse bacche ke baare mein sochna hai. He can't bring the kid in such an environment where people are filing court cases on each other, fighting and hating each other. Should he allow the kid to be born in an environment where his mother has been thrown into the jail? You tell me which guy will behave like this. 'Nahin nahin hum patrakar hai toh isko jail mein bhej do. Pregnant hai toh hai pregnant hai. Bacche ka kya hoga dekh lenge.' Only a sick-minded guy can think like this. No human being will behave like this. 'Jab baat bacche ki aati hai toh insaan ka duniya ko dekhna ka nazariya badal jaata hai'. So whatever Aditya will be doing from hereon, it will be for the kid even if he takes care of Malini.

In art they say that it is a two way thing. Ek artist jo paint karta hai woh society ka reflection hota hai aur society ke taste ke hisaab se bhi painting hoti hai. It's painted as per their understanding as well. So, is our audience mature enough to understand all this? Do they understand that such complex emotions also exist in humans? Every thing can't be black and white. Chalo proof de diya usko jail mein daalo. Arey, she is expecting a child. A man will always think about his kid at that time. He may be a cop, a journalist, a minister or anybody. Even a man in an extremely powerful position also. He will think about the kid and step behind saying this is not right for the kid so I won't do it. Only a sick-minded and perverted man will not think about his kids. Are you understanding? So, 'yeh cheez maine sirf Aditya ki rakhi hai ki Anu ne bola usko ki nahin sab maine kiya tha, Malini ne kuch nahi kiya tha usko to maine nasha karwaya tha. Woh video delete karta hai aur court mein Malini ko jail mein jaane nahi deta hai. Anu ne aisa bola woh bol raha hai upar se. If you watch that scene, you will realize that he says that dryly. But uski woh mental state nahi hai us waqt.

Imagine what all has happened with Aditya! If there's no depth in the writing, the audience too lacks a depth somewhere naa. The problem begins from there. Everytime the writing is not at the fault. Also, if the writing lacks a depth, it's because the audience also lacks a depth. They fail to understand complex emotions. A man is standing up and saying that 'Anu ne mujhse kaha tha usne kiya thha Malini ne kuch nahi kiya thha toh ab hum usko jail mein nahi dal sakte.'

Now understand Aditya's plight! He was forced into a marriage at gunpoint, he was in a seven-year relationship with a friend (Malini) who is an emotional blackmailer. Usko jab koi bhi cheez sunni nahi hoti hai aur woh usko batata hai toh woh faint jo jaati hai aur hospital pahuch jaati hai. In a way, yeh saat saal mein bhi chalta raha hoga naa uske saath even before he got married to her? People say 'tumne Malini phasa diya, phasa diya.' Arey, he had tried to tell the truth to Malini before their marriage. In fact, he had even told her the truth but she fainted and landed up in the hospital. So, that character must have been doing that with him for the last seven years as well. Whenever he tells her what she doesn't want to hear, she faints and ends up in the hospital. That's a kind of emotional blackmail only naa. At the end of it when he realizes that now he is in love with Imlie and this can't go on, he tells her the truth. But she cuts her wrists. Is this the right thing to do? Matlab aap kya message de rahe ho ki aap ka kal ek saat saal, eight saal yaa dus saal ka relationship workout nahi ho raha toh aap apni wrist kaat lo aur suicide kar lo? No, that's not the right way to do it. So, Aditya is a victim of emotional blackmail. He has been a victim of forced marriage. He was intoxicated and raped. After that now he has realized, that woman has conceived and he has a kid on the way. After being a victim to so many things, should he try and destroy the kid's life or should he not? He shouldn't destroy the kid's life naa. His life is already screwed up entirely. On what basis or grounds will he destroy the kid's life? So, he will at least try to save the kid's life and he won't take a drastic step even though he has the evidence that Malini has done something wrong. He will not put her in jail because she's pregnant with his kid. And the only human thing to do at that time is to think about the kid and that's why he deletes the video. Then he gives complete charge to Imlie that you take all the calls whether you want to stay with me, you want me out of the house. Whatever will happen will happen as per your decision. But I won't let anything wrong happen with the kid. Now, I have to think about the kid also. So, I have to take care of that as well and I can't put the mother of my child in jail even if I have been conned and made to sleep with her. Still she's pregnant and there's a kid on the way, I can't put her in jail because of the child.

So yeh jo gehariyee hai, yeh samaj ne ki gehariyee toh humare audience mein bhi nahi hai. The other side to it is in order to understand this, it has to be written in a certain way with a certain amount of depth. It has to be shot with a certain depth. That also isn't happening. What I am trying to tell you is that it's a two way thing. In order for the makers to be mature, the audience too needs to be mature and vice versa. Both the tides are not working towards maturity. It's still yeh ho gaya hai woh kar do, woh ho gaya hai yeh kar do. So as an actor, all I can do is try to maintain the integrity of my character through my emotions, slight improvisations in my lines, voice modulation and body language, which I am doing. That's the farthest I can go. After that the next step would be to just say that 'Bhaiyya, I can't continue this any more' which I obviously won't do because you have a challenge and you want to go ahead with it. But all these factors have been imbibed by me in the character. These are not written factors.

Even in the upcoming scenes, I don't known if they will retain it or not. But from my end, I have struggled, fought and gone through extreme trauma to maintain the integrity of Aditya and I will continue doing that as long as I am there on the show. So, it's a very sensitive and deep topic. It can't be handled frivolously. There's a lot of frivolity which happens because of which the audience gets turned off. Slight, slight justifications which could be given are not given. There's no depth. There's no scene like that. Now, I can't go, write the entire scene and make them shoot it. See now, I have explained the whole graph of Aditya. Now, when I explain this to you like this, you will start connecting with him. But that has to come in the scenes naa. They need to be particularly crafted like that naa. All I can do is put that integrity across through my lines. But I can't write a new scene and make them shoot it ki sab actors ko bulao aur yeh bhi scene shoot karo. That's not my job description also. I am not the writer or the maker of the show. That's what the makers have to take care of. But that much depth needs to be there naa. It's the matter of depth. The subject is such that it requires a lot of maturity, care, sensitivity and depth to deal with it in the long run. So, usme toh main kuch nahi kar sakta. Usme toh main kya karoon? Then, I should have been the maker of the show (laughs). As an actor, main sirf apne scenes mein apna joh meri boundaries rakh ke mujhe diya gaya hai, usmein main jitna add kar sakta hoon woh main karta hoon. I try to do these minor, minor fine nuances. woh audience ko kaha tak samaj mein aati hain pata nahin because those nuances get edited. But the trick is 'Bhaiyya, I have to keep trying and adding nuances.' So, it's a very traumatic thing to do. It becomes very difficult for me at times. But still, I will be maintaining that.

In the upcoming episodes, you will see that he (Adi) will keep saying that whatever is there, there's going to happen for the kid. He will apologize to Imlie for deleting the video because of which she lost the case and everything. But whatever he did, he did it for the kid. I cannot let the kid come into a world where people from one family are about to slit each other's throats and put each other in jail. I can't let the kid arrive into this kind of world. I have to change the world for him/her. You know there's this debate that why there's no human touch in Satyakam's case. Arey, that guy had done a grave crime of trying to kill Aditya and that too only because of a call by a random woman. Practically, he is acting like an animal. How you can show a human touch to that? He has to be put into the jail. But I (Adi) can't put a pregnant woman into jail who is going to be a mother of his kid. So, wahan pe human element aayega hi aayega whether it's a man or a woman who was happens to be pregnant. The latter can't be put into the jail unless she is a threat to the kid's life. So, that's Aditya's graph right now. So ab woh dil ko chhune ke liye, woh mera jitna main perform karke uske jyaada se jyaada aapke dil ke kareeb le saku utna main lane ki koshish karta hoon lekin isko aage main nahi kar sakta hoon. Thereafter it has to be present in the material. Agar woh material off track jaye yaa uski geharayee ko bahar na laaye, usmein main kya kar sakta hoon. My hands are tied. I can only improvise lines and change my body language to convey the reason why I am behaving in a certain way. I can't go beyond that and change the material and write fresh things for him. I can't do that. That's the problem.

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Q. After completing around 11 months in the television industry, Gashmeer do you think this medium still has a very long way to go when it comes to content? After all creativity thrives only where there is respect for the medium and the art. Do you think TV shows are all about ratings? Also, honestly what do you think about this culture where the makers sometimes don't take the medium seriously. I personally feel TV has a better reach than films. The audience which you garner here is very loyal as compared to movies. You will watch a film for 3 hours and then you might have that material in your head for say around 48 hours and then, it might just evaporate from your minds. But when it comes to TV, you are being watched 20 minutes every day around the year. So, there's a greater connectivity. Also, I feel the audience generally focuses more on the lead pair rather than on the story and that's because of the frivolous story and the way makers percieve this medium. What's your take on this because you are planning to venture into production in the future?

A. I can function in a particular way when I am doing the show as a maker. I cannot function in that way when I am doing it only as the capacity as an actor. Secondly, it's a TRP game. There's no denying that thought. So, I will tell you, everybody has his or her own reasons to make or be a part of a particular show. I joined Imlie because I was out of cash. I was running out of money because of the lockdown. Otherwise, I would never have had the opportunity to take up television. Back then, there was no work in any other medium. This was the only medium. I found the story decent and thought that it would be fun to take this up. So, I took up the show clearly for financial reasons. But the idea was that agar main kar hi raha hoon kaam toh main dhang ka karunga. So, my mission was and still is that whatever happens with the show, obviously I will bother about the show also as I want it to do well for a longer period of time. But when things go out of my hand and I am not in control of everything, so then I am in control of only my performance. So my idea behind this is that I get paid and secondly when anybody sees it, they should get the right intentions ki baaki sab chhodo yeh banda accha kaam karta hai. Yeh bahut genuinely kaam karta. Baaki kya chal raha hai, kis cheez ko logic hai ki nahi woh sab bhool jao bas iska kaam dekho kyunki yeh woh bahut badhiya kar raha hai. That's the only mission which I have now.

I will just stay connected with my character and try and make him as relatable as possible and maintain his integrity and soul intact with the tools which I have. My tools are only my performance and the improvisations which I do. Beyond that the storyline and where they want to take it and how they want to take it, I don't have those tools with me. I can't control those tools. The reason why makers are doing the show is none of my concern. I cannot judge them for that. They have their own right reasons to do a particular show because they also are answerable to a few people who are sitting above them. So, that's their prerogative. They are doing it for their reasons and I am doing it for mine. So, they are not judging me and I am not judging them. They are just trying to do the best in the given setup. That's the whole idea. But my focus is that at the end of it, you get a few good scenes from me and whatever the storyline might be whether you like it or don't like it, you will end up saying that this guy is genuinely working hard. If I achieve at least that, that's more than enough for me because I can't control beyond that. I will have to make a show to control it. If I do that in the future, then I can take care of those things and say that 'Arey yeh TRP game hai. Isme mujhe yeh karna hai woh karna hai." I cannot comment on that right now because that's not my point of focus and it doesn't come in my job description. That's something which only the makers can comment upon.

'I Don't Want Followers Because I Am On Instagram All The Time Doing Reels And Attending Promotions

Q. Grammy-winning actress Michaela Coel recently said something which is very relevant. She said, "Visibility these days seem to somehow equate to success. Do not be afraid to disappear from it. From us. For a while and see what comes to you in silence." Now speaking about you, you are known to be quite low-key. Is that deliberate attempt on your part? Do you consciously chose to stay away from all the noise?

A. It's not deliberate. I am on your TV sets every day naa for the eleven months. The idea is that you should be known by your body of work. I always believe that. And not because you are visible everywhere, going for this and that promotions. Like you had told me that there are people who are writing about my work. That doesn't happen with Indian television actors. I get so many fans commenting about my work on every post which I share on social media. They write detailed reviews about what dialogues I said and how I said it and everything. That doesn't happen with other actors. So, I might have 10 followers and the other actor might have 10 M followers. But my 10 followers study my work and they react to it. They follow my body of work. That's more valuable that having 10 M followers who will just watch me for eye candy that I am looking good, the light is nicely falling on my face, press the like button and then forget about it. That's not the kind of following that I want. Over a period of time, my number of followers will grow slowly. Whoever they are, they will be there because of the kind of the work that I do. They will be genuine followers. They wouldn't be looking at me whether I am visible. They will be following my work and that's why they will be commenting or liking on my posts. So, this kind of body of work and this kind of fan base takes time to develop. I don't want followers because I am on Instagram all the time doing some reels or going to some promotions. And because of that, my followers suddenly rise to 1 M, 2 M or 3 M and I get likes. Aap comments dekho jiske Instagram pe 4 M followers hai uske posts pein aapko around 1400 comments milege? I have just 200 K followers but still you will see 1500-1700 comments and they all talk about my work and not some random comments like 'nice', 'aag' etc. A lot of them talk about my work so then the interaction is much higher that anybody who has around 4 M followers. That's something which the work commands naa. That's more valuable and long-lasting than just being visible here and there. So, it's just the way I am. There's nothing deliberate about it. It's just that I am doing my work and over a period of time, log judte jaayege genuinely because of my work. These people will remain with me forever and follow every work of mine. Even if they don't know Marathi, they will still watch my films with the help of subtitles. This will take its own time. It takes time to build such genuine fan base. Yeh frivolous, general, visible ho aap toh isliye fans banege but these are not fans. They just like your posts on Instagram.

'I Really Get Turn Off By Incompetent People'

Q. Lastly you are somebody who is known to be brutally honest about what you speak. Does that come with a flipside?

A. There might be, I don't know. I don't think about it. It might be turning off a few people. I might be facing a lot of problems and I might not be even realizing that. Sometimes, I later on think 'Arey maine interview mein uske baare mein thoda sa bol diya tha saccha-saccha to isliye abhi thoda sa he was rude to me or he was like this or that to me.' It later strikes me that now this person is trying to push or press me down because I said something which he or she didn't expect me to speak. So that happens a bit. But now if you are swimming against the tide, you will have to put in more efforts and you will have to struggle all the time. Secondly, you can't make everyone happy. So, the only focus should be towards making yourself happy. That's all. So, kyunki woh diplomacy rakhke, yeh karke, sabko khush karte raha is very difficult, I respect only good work. I am least bothered whether you are a good or a bad person. If you are doing your work very well then I will always respect you wholeheartedly. I have nothing to do about what kind of a person you are in your personal life. So, I feel incompetence is the biggest sin of all. I really get turn off by incompetent people who don't know how to do their job well. If a person is not doing his job, then I voice my opinion that it is not being done correctly whether that voice is heard or not heard irrespective of that. My job is to just raise the voice and share my opinion.