Actor Gulshan Devaiah says after a decade in the industry, he has finally started to pitch himself for projects he is interested in. Devaiah has been a part of several acclaimed films, starting from his 2011 breakthrough Shaitan, Hunterrr (2015) and Vasan Bala’s 2018 action-comedy Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota.

The actor says even though it’s a “bit too late”, he has began to put his feet in important doors to break casting stereotype and land roles that would, otherwise, not come to him. Devaiah admits he started doing this after realising it’s difficult to measure a person’s talent with another.

“You can’t do that with a performance. What is it then? It’s all about perception. We are in the business of perception which is why actors like to control their perception through PR, Instagram, wearing expensive rental clothes, by shaking the right hands.”

He goes on to add that many do it “subconsciously” because one knows meritocracy can’t exist in art. “I’m conscious about that too, so I can’t keep whining that I’m not getting opportunities. Because you’re in the place of perception, if you don’t hustle then your career won’t go forward,” he explains.

Though Devaiah has garnered considerable acclaim for his performances, the actor says he could have done better. “If I had one film that was a smashing box office success, then I would have been empowered. It puts you in the spotlight. But when that’s not the case, you have to try and look for opportunities. The pitfalls of merely wishing to do better but not actively pursuing those opportunities has resulted in people from the industry often looking at him and wondering ‘Damn! Why didn’t we think of you’,” he elaborates.

Devaiah’s attempt is to now gently remind people of his talent at every given opportunity. “If I feel there are certain directors or projects that I find interesting because I’ve heard about them, I’m going to find out if there’s something in there for me. They can say no and so far it has only been no! I’ve come really close many times but nothing, zero so far. But I’m happy that I can hustle,” he says.

Talking about the kind of roles he has portrayed, he admits he is bored with the negative characters. “I don’t want to do similar roles even if I’m told that people love me in negative roles. I’m happy people want to work with me, it’s unfortunate that they’re offering me villain roles. It’s not their fault,” he ends.