When the Dubsmash app was launched, it became a huge sensation with celebrities posting videos mimicking popular dialogues. But what Gaurav Gera, the popular face from Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi, Mrs Pammi Pyarelel among others did was to bring miniscule comedy capsule Chutki and the Shopkeeper series.
“A very ‘odd and weird girl’ on Dubsmash helped me generously because Dubsmash was launched just when I conceptualised the idea and we ended up benefitting each other. In the Chutki and the Shopkeeper series, the kind of flexibility and acceptance was welcoming,” Gera tells
Metrolife. With 21,000 plus followers on Twitter, 8,000 subscriptions on his YouTube channel and 25,000 likes on his Facebook page, he is back with Chutki on Big Magic channel. “We would be presenting 15-second capsules on 92.7 BIG FM radio and 30-45-second gags on television which will be run between the shows the entire day in both English and Hindi.”
He adds, “Tarun Katial (of Big Magic) had seen my videos and he met me one day and discussed his plans with me. Things fell into the right place. Probably, it’s the first time when an actor has created something which will be going on-air on the channel because normally we get scripts and we act according to it. Now, I am working as a creative person and act in it as well. It has never happened before and it's a huge
achievement for me. I am quite happy about it.”
Having tried his hand at radio, ad films, theatre and fashion designing, he says, “Delhi has changed a lot in terms of its acceptance of careers. I did Fashion studies from Pearl Academy and did not tell my parents about acting till college. In the middle, I wanted to quit but my father told me to continue my graduation and get job experience. My first salary was Rs 26,500.
But I put all my money in the savings account and took only pocket money. I kept
myself poor.”
While male actors dressing up as a woman has become quite a rage on such shows, Gera tells Metrolife, “Initially, I hesitated as to how people will react. But I got
compliments like you look ‘pretty’ and I did not feel awkward. It was part of my job and I got confidence from people who made me want to do it more. People do ask me why I play a girl but out of 100 per cent, 97 per cent like what I do and that is beyond the 60:40, I was expecting.” He adds, “I take the variety of roles because it excites me and makes me happy. I used to do 10 characters a day, so playing a woman was among that of a djinn, old man characters.”
“In the sixth standard at my Convent school, I went up on the stage for a debate (My mother is a Masters and M.Ed. in English so I wasn’t that bad at the language) but I could not even say a line. That stayed in my head. I wanted to be able to speak and that was probably the beginning of my acting career.”
He adds that belonging to a family of doctors and engineers, it was a hard choice. “I wanted to be taken seriously. The older you get, the difficult it gets for you. I spoke to my father about what and why I was doing and he started supporting me from that day and respecting what I do.”
Competition is a part of any industry and television comedy has seen it grow in leaps and bounds. Gera states, “I don’t feel threatened by Kapil as we belong to different genres of comedy altogether. He is a master at communicating with people. I am a purely fiction set-up guy.”