Gulshan Based His ‘Guns & Gulaabs’ Character On Hollywood Film

MUMBAI, (IANS) – Actor Gulshan Devaiah has had a terrific run this year in the movies and in streaming shows with projects like ‘Duranga 2’, ‘8 A.M. Metro’, ‘Dahaad’ and ‘Guns & Gulaabs’, playing the audience favorite ‘4 Cut Atmaram’ in the latter.

Recently, the makers announced the second season of ‘Guns & Gulaabs’, sending the fans of the series into a frenzy. The anticipation for the return of ‘4 Cut Atmaram’ in the second season and his face-off with Rajkummar Rao’s ‘Paana Tipu’ is highly awaited.

Talking about his process of approaching ‘4 Cut Atmaram’, Gulshan said, “I initially based ‘4 Cut Atmaram’ on Anton Chigurh played by Javier Bardem in ‘No Country for Old Men’. They’re not similar but certain things about them do overlap, there’s a quirkiness to them, a sense of danger and they both cannot be defeated. So, I thought I should draw from Anton Chigurh.”

He continued, “I imagined that I’m in a spaghetti western, so many positions and stances that I take in the series are influenced by the spaghetti western genre. I requested for a pocket to be built like a gunslinger, ready to draw my knife to inflict the deadly 4 cuts. I didn’t try to humanize him as well; I treated the character as a figment of imagination. It helped me put the character in perspective.”

Gulshan has done his graduation from NIFT. Later, he got job in the fashion industry where he worked for 10 years. He also taught fashion to students at the Wigan & Leigh College in Bengaluru.

Talking about how his bent of mind as a student of design helps the actor in him, he shared, “Studying design gives me an advantage in analyzing the aesthetics of a physical space and not just the props or the costumes. I use my sense of design to interact with the space, it’s almost like having a third vantage point.”

Sharing his learnings from 2023, the actor said, “My decision-making has improved. It’s like an algorithm, it’s not a very rigid system, there are basic rules that I follow but I ensure to make room for sufficient changes as may be required with time. Sometimes you get it wrong also but that’s fine, it’s a part of the journey, and the journey is more important for me.”

The sense of morality in artwork has long been a point of discussion for artists and the audience. How important is it for artists to function under the umbrella of morality in artwork?

The actor said, “Some people want to challenge the idea of morality in their artwork and that’s where new grounds are broken in terms of telling a story or creating something which has never been a part of the society. Some people want to uphold a sense of morality which leads to conservative art. I think both are necessary.

“Again, most artists are somewhere in the middle. Then there are those like me who believe that the idea of freedom of expression cannot be absolute. The push and pull are extremely constructive for the growth of society and the art itself.”