THE WHITE TIGER GAVE ME CONFIDENCE IN MY ABILITIES

The first time Adarsh Gourav made an impression was in Ramin Bahrani's 2021 film The White Tiger, a gripping adaptation of Aravind Adiga's Booker-winning novel.

- POOJA BIRAIA JAISWAL

INTERVIEW

Adarsh Gourav actor

In the character of Balram, an ambitious lower-caste servant in a rich home who pulls himself out of the shackles of servitude, Gourav was unmissable and sharp, especially in a hard-to-like role and in the shadow of co-stars Rajkummar Rao and Priyanka Chopra Jonas. It was not his first film—he played the young Shah Rukh Khan in Karan Johar's My Name is Khan in 2010. We also saw a lot of him in the past three years in the teen drama Hostel Daze, Guns & Gulaabs and Kho Gaye Hum Kahan.

Gourav is that actor who is not running the race; he is moving at his own pace and doing his own thing. He has studied music and drama and hopes to take lessons in direction. He is currently in Bangkok shooting for Noah Hawley's series Alien. “Here, every day on the set is like being at an amusement park,” he says on a Zoom call. “Everything is so new for me; the Central World building is so incredible that I'm fascinated and overwhelmed. I'll be playing one of the key characters in season 1.” The show will be out next year.

Gourav has also put his music lessons to good use in his latest composition, his new single Bechaini, an ode to teenage love, in collaboration with OAFF. “I like trying out different things; it drives out the monotony,” he says. His Superman of Malegaon is due to release this year. He also has plans to fulfil his dream of working with Alia Bhatt, Wamiqa Gabbi and Nimisha Sajayan. Excerpts from the interview: