GAURAV GERA had watched Chachi 420 and Mrs Doubtfire but says inspiration for his present role comes from his own experiences
Comedy is something that happened to him by coincidence, but he has been loyal to the genre for long. Stand-up is not something he feels he is “cut out” for and therefore, he keeps looking for different concepts. This is why he agreed to play the lead of Mrs Pammi Payrelal on Colors. If you have seen the trailers you would agree that Gaurav seems perfect as a fashionable, sassy woman.
He has seen films like Chachi 420 and Mrs Doubtfire but says that they were not an inspiration to play the character. “I had watched, enjoyed and admired both the films, but those scripts were different. In a daily soap you have to present many shades of the character over a period of time. So my reference was only a woman who believes in dressing up well and has a certain body language. Developing that body language was difficult initially,” he added.
Gaurav says that in comedy there are new concepts coming on small screen. He feels he has been lucky to play different roles. The actor’s role in Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi made him a household name and he says that Nandu was taken as a comedian, but he actually was a happy guy. “I keep doing films as well, so it is my nature to keep trying out different things. I don’t continue playing one sort of roles. To keep the variety I do ads, feature films and TV,” said the actor, who was born and brought up in Delhi and was studying fashion merchandising.
“I didn't have the body structure that one thinks is necessary for an actor. Nobody in my family was in the film industry, so it was unlikely that I would even dream to be an actor. But while I was studying fashion merchandising I thought to myself that I have time to experiment. I told my family, they supported me. I started doing theatre and then went to Mumbai and did many ad films,” he shared.