EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Imlie Star Gashmeer Mahajani On His Character Aditya, Atif Khan And Sarsenapati Hambirrao

‘My Work Is Powerful Enough To Generate Emotions In Viewers’ Mind’

How does it feel to make a big mark in the Hindi TV industry with Imlie?

You get success for whatever you do whether it's small, big, or medium, if you're acknowledged by people. You get commercial-critical success and awards You are always going to feel great about it. So, if Imlie is doing great and people are loving the character that I'm playing, any actor would feel great. But I don't think I've made any big mark as such; the character made some space in people's hearts which I do attribute the credit to myself for. But the big mark is yet to be done; it takes years and years of slogging and working hard with various projects to be able to make a mark in the Hindi industry.

Your character Aditya from Imlie has made a special place in everyone's hearts. People often hate your character for the choices he made and love him for the strong opinion for his loved ones. What do you have to say about people's reactions?

Some might love him, and some might hate him for the choices that the character is making. But the idea is, whenever you're playing a character, the most important thing for an actor is if you're generating any emotion in the viewers' minds, you are a strong actor. Now when you say emotional, it doesn't always mean crying. Emotions can be fear, angst, suspicion, happiness- everything is emotion. So, if someone is getting mad at me for doing something on the show, I think I'm a strong enough actor to create emotion in that person- that he's strongly reacting to what I'm doing on-screen, so that makes me a good actor. If someone's loving me for what the character is doing, I feel like I'm a good actor, again. That means my work is powerful enough to generate emotions in viewers' minds. If I'm doing a character and no one's feeling anything about it, that's the day you'll know that you're not a good enough actor and that you need to work on yourself. But the trick is also not to obsess over the reaction of the viewers or it will contaminate your work. If I make changes in my character just to please people, I won't be able to impress the audience. But if Aditya is supposed to do something else, he has to do that. I can't be afraid of being my character because people might not like it. If the character demands it, I have to do it that way and I have to do it with so much conviction, that it will generate emotion in people's minds. So that's happening, and that's good.

‘Atif Khan Keeps On Reinventing Aditya Kumar Tripathi On Screen’

Imlie director Atif Khan had told in one of our earlier interviews that Gashmeer puts his own inputs to develop his character on the small screen. He said that you understand the complexity of your character and you are a blessing for a director. What is your comment on that?

I felt very delighted after hearing that coming from him, as I have a lot of respect for Atif as a director. Also, as a person, the way he conducts himself on the sets and the way he carries his work forward; I have a lot of respect for him. I have voiced this to him personally as well because I'm someone who likes to believe that I know my job pretty well, and my learning never stops. I try to keep on improving myself every minute of the day. And whenever I come across a similar kind of person who knows his job pretty well, I try to go that extra step ahead every time to make his job better. He's the kind of person who is never satisfied with what he's doing and always tries to do better. So, there is a mutual respect that gets developed in my mind for that person. I'm glad that I am working with a person like him on my first Hindi project. If it wasn't for him, shooting every day and playing the same character can get very monotonous. So, it's important to work with the right kind of people. Having Atif Khan as the director is one of the strongest motivations that gets me trying new things with my character; because he's going to understand what I'm trying to do, and he's going to add on to it when he's taking the shot. That matters to me a lot as an actor. He's one of the main reasons for me to keep doing better, and keep on reinventing Aditya Kumar Tripathi on-screen.

How was your experience shooting in Hyderabad for Imlie?

The experience was amazing. We had gone there with the preparations of a 15-day shoot, but it got extended over 2 months. I was glad to be there because we could make use of some of the phenomenal structures built at Ramoji Film City. I was amazed at the cleanliness maintained throughout the film city despite its expanse. The professionalism and humility of the staff and technicians were commendable. All in all, it was one of the most professionally satisfying shooting experiences I have had so far in India. I will make it a point to take one of my film projects to shoot in Ramoji in the near future.

‘My Father Ravindra Mahajani Has Never Given Me Any Special Advice’

You are quite famous in the Marathi film industry and nowadays, many Marathi actors are establishing themselves in the Hindi industry. Do you think that actors from the regional industry have more opportunities in the Hindi industry to explore their skills?

Any actor in any industry has an equal and similar amount of opportunity to grow and thrive in any industry of any language, anywhere across the globe. It just depends on whether you're at the right place at the right time and whether you're working hard enough, and who sees your work. It's just that. Everybody has equal opportunities everywhere. It doesn't matter which region they come from.

Being the son of legendary Marathi star Ravindra Mahajani, have you ever felt nervous to live up to the audience's expectations? Has he ever given you any special advice about life or acting?

No, my father has never given me any special advice as such. Talking about the audience's expectations, I've always treated myself as a competition, I compete with myself. I always work in a way that I do better than what I did yesterday. Doing better than what somebody else has done is not in my peripherals. I'm just focused on myself. The competition stays with me and ends with me. Expectations of any other kind do not matter or exist for me. They don't impact me in any way. They don't make me nervous or generate any kind of emotion in me.

‘Sarsenapati Hambirrao Is Going To Be One Of The Biggest Movies In Marathi Cinema’

Your look from Sarsenapati Hambirrao as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was loved by all. Fans can't wait to see you on the big screen again. How did it feel to play Shivaji Maharaj on-screen for the first time?

Sarsenapati Hambirrao is going to be one of the biggest movies in Marathi cinema. It shall be released in theatres when they start functioning at hundred per cent capacity. I have played Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's role in that, which I feel is a very big responsibility. Talking about how I feel playing Shivaji Maharaj- once I wore the makeup, prosthetics, the costume, and once I stepped into the darbar, which was created by the art director, and when the lights came on, and I could call the mantri mandal in the darbar, I got a sense of being a king. And then I started moving, walking, talking, looking, standing and sitting in that way. I don't know where it came from; it came from some cosmic connection I feel. I can't put it into mere words really, but it just came to me, it just happened. I'm not being spiritual about it, but sometimes it's just a magical thing that just comes to you and you don't have to do anything for it. Once you're in that attire, atmosphere and put in that setup which is brilliantly created by our art directors and shot by our DOP Mahesh Limaye, that aura comes to you. If you try too hard to find it, you'll never find it- it just has to come to you. That's what I felt like. I felt like a king, I started delivering lines like a king. It just came to me at that moment, and I felt blessed that I got the opportunity to play this character in the biggest Marathi movie. I feel blessed that I'm a part of this film.

You are also making your directorial debut in Marathi. Tell us something about the project?

I'll soon be launching my production house which was supposed to start this month. But due to the pandemic situation, we just selected a few scripts and kept them aside, so we can start working on them as producers when things start functioning normally. Maybe by the end of 2021 or the beginning of 2022, I will start my own production house, and start making movies the way I want them. I don't know whether I'll direct any of them or not, but production is certainly on the cards, and we shall start very soon!