Gulshan Devaiah has a personal connect with 8 AM Metro

Sheetal

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Gulshan Devaiah is busy promoting not one but two of his projects. While web series Dahaad released on Prime Video last Friday to positive reviews, the film, 8AM Metro, is set for a theatrical release.

Excited about the latter, Devaiah remembers his special appearance in Badhaai Do. But technically his last theatrical release in a full-fledged role was Commando 3 back in 2019. And ask him about his last theatrical outing with friends or solo, he immediately takes the name of Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer Afwah.

“Although I didn’t pay for it as it was a premiere show, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience,” he jokes. And as why people should come for 8 AM Metro, he says it is a ‘sweet and melancholic’ romance drama, mind you ‘not romantic’.

In this Raj Rachakonda’s directorial debut, Saiyami Kher is paired opposite Devaiah and the latter feels that they look great and gel along both on and off-screen.

Truth be told, the biggest reason to bond was ‘cricket’. He says, “Besides all the gup-shup, the best part is to be able to hold a conversation with her on cricket. While there are other girls too who watch cricket or know about it but with Saiyami, you can throw any technical term at her and she would know it. She is someone who can talk, understand and play cricket. In fact, she is also hosting a special show on the sport.”

On how the film came his way, Devaiah mentions the special person in his life—Anurag Kashyap, who told them about this filmmaker from South with a beautiful script that they should read. And that’s about it! But there’s another special person associated with the film. Poet, lyricist Gulzar has penned six poems and also launched the poster of the film. Devaiah can’t name one as his favourite from those six. “I am not the right person to do so. My character Preetam in 8AM Metro is that of a kahanikaar, who writes and reads, whose world revolves around poems and books but I am the opposite in real life. So, it was a challenge to remember those beautiful poems by Gulzar and recite those as if they are mine. But truth be told, I don’t even have the right words to appreciate his (Gulzar’s) work. All I can say is I feel fortunate to have met him,” he explains.

As the name suggests, 8 AM Metro talks about two strangers, played by Gulshan Devaiah and Saiyami Kher, who meet in a metro and how that leads to finding themselves and each other. Devaiah related to the script as it reminded of a platonic friendship he shared with a girl named Anjum when he used to commute by bus when he was in school. He recalls, “Our talks were anything and everything under the sun. But then she graduated and I really missed her during my bus travel. Although I knew her brother, I never talked to her again. I am happy that a script like this came my way and I was able to translate those feelings and emotions into the film.”

On the positive response coming his way for playing cop Devi Lal Singh in Dahaad, Devaiah feels humbled. Appreciated for getting his dialect right for the Rajasthani character, his response is quite different than a thank you. “I only had about 28 classes with our dialect coach, Varad Bhatnagar, who also played a small role, Qassim, in the series. But yes, I am happy that I got it right considering that I not a Hindi bhashi. In fact, even though I am from Bengaluru, I am not fluent in Kannada. We speak Kodagu (a dialect of Kannada) at home.”

Story behind Super Gullu

“When I was teaching design at Wigan & Leigh College in Bengaluru, a student named Anees was consulting me for his project. During one of those Eureka moments, he used the word ‘SuperGullu’ for me. It fascinated me, so much so that it became my email id and now it has become my Twitter username.”