Exclusive: Gulmohar Actor Gandharv Dewan On Working With Sharmila Tagore, Manoj Bajpayee

During an exclusive interview with Zee News Digital, Gulmohar's Gandharv Dewan talked in-depth about his role in the film, experience of working with an ensemble cast and the overwhelming response received during screenings.

Photo Courtesy : Instagram

New Delhi: A tale about family, conflict, cracks and relationships, ‘Gulmohar’ traces the journey of Batra family who are celebrating their last day in a house where they have lived for generations. What follows later is a series of deeply inter-women events that reveal their long-buried secrets as relationships are put at a stake. Boasting of a stellar star cast featuring Manoj Bajpayee, Sharmila Tagore, Amol Palekar and Suraj Sharma, Gulmohar is being loved by audiences for showing real and hard-hitting emotions.  

During an exclusive interview with Zee News Digital, Gandharv Dewan who plays the role of a packing supervisor in the film talked about the experience of working with a fine cast, the response they received during the film’s screenings and the challenges he faced while shooting the film. Gandharv also shared some very interesting behind the scenes anecdotes with us. 

Q - Gulmohar seems to have a very interesting storyline about a family and cracks in relationships, so how did you land up on this role and what got you excited about it? 

Gandharv- The film has a very good casting team of Sanjiv Maurya and Dilip Shankar. I gave zoom auditions due to Covid and initially felt that I was not fit for the role, but the team pushed me for it and made me believe that I could play the part. I work as a chief supervisor from the packing team who is working for the family in the film. So, I was delighted to be a part of the beautiful script. 

Q -  What makes the film special for you? 

Gandharv- It’s a Delhi based film and I am from Delhi so it was very special. I am working with a bunch of fine talents from all across the country. Of course, there’s Manoj Bajpayee and Sharmila ji but there’s also Simran, Suraj Sharma, Amol Palekar Sahab whose work I am very fond of. It truly has an ensemble cast and a lot of love has been showered on the film. After all, what’s better than a bunch of good people making a good film? 

Q - What has been your experience working on the sets of Gulmohar? 

Gandharv - We all have created a very special bond while working on this film. I feel very honoured and privileged to work and share screen space with all these stalwarts. Everyone in the film is so good and hence, it has been an amazing experience. 

Q - Any feelings you might want to share about the film’s screenings? 

Gandharv- There were a lot of feelings from my childhood in the screenings. You see people who have watched on screen while growing up watching your film. People like Bobby Deol, Farah Khan, Boman Irani, Gulshan Devaiah, Jaideep Ahlawat have watched the film. My family watched the film with me in Delhi, so it was a great feeling. In fact, my packing team from the film were also called for the screening, which is very rare. Meera Nair was also there, and she appreciated my work. All these things make you feel that you are doing something right.  

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Gandharv Dewan (@gandharvdewan)

Q - Any challenges you faced while shooting with respect to your character? 

Gandharv - My character Irfan in the film is a hustler. He has big dreams and wants to go higher in life at any cost. For the preparation, I interacted with people from packers and movers and even drove a truck. We did a workshop with Puja Swarup, along with our director (Rahul Chittella) where we carefully mapped the relationship between Reshma and Irfan by doing the scenes in different ways and discussing their background, history etc.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Gandharv Dewan (@gandharvdewan)

Q - Any interesting behind the scenes anecdote? 

Gandharv - This film has been special for me on a personal level as well. With the signing amount I received, I proposed my now wife and sponsored my honeymoon. In fact, I was shooting a few days before and after my wedding. Our wedding reception and the film’s wrap party was on the same day so me and my wife Shweta rushed to the party after wrapping our reception and it was really incredible.  

Q- Do you relate to any particular character in the film?

Gandharv- I can’t reveal much but Suraj Sharma’s relationship with his father in the film is what I connected to the most. Because all of us want that approval from our fathers that we have achieved something in life. There are a lot of ideological differences as well. So, I think all the boys will relate to the relationship shown between father and son.  

Q- Since you have worked on theatre, web series, films, ads etc, What kind of space do you enjoy the most? 

Gandharv- I enjoy the roles. I see acting as a cricket match and all these are different formats. Good film acting is very challenging. You need to be vulnerable and easy in front of the camera. As an actor, work is work. Yes, there's difference but that’s internal. What I have learnt is you should just act. In fact, Manoj ji never goes and sees the monitor, he just acts. So it keeps things easy.  

Q - Where do you look forward from ‘Gulmohar’? 

Gandharv- I would love to work with directors like Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap, Raj & DK, and Mira Nair. I would want to work on international projects as well. Currently, I have a YRF web series in the pipeline about which I am very excited.

Directed by Rahul Chittella, 'Gulmohar' is streaming on Disney+Hotstar.