After shooting continuously for 12 days and five nights for Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s Faadu, he finally got a day off. A seemingly good day to call Pavail Gulati, and disrupt his afternoon siesta. “Lazing around in bed after exhausting days is so satisfying,” the actor starts off with a laugh.

But the mere mention of Iyer’s show is enough to get him sprightly. But Gulati still had jitters, as he didn’t know anyone on set. “I knew of Saiyami [Kher] before. While the shoot has been tiring, we are having a ball.”

Without divulging much, Gulati reveals what attracted him to the eight-part SonyLIV series. “[It’s a] poetic love story between two people who are different from each other, set in the background of poetry and literature. The series reflects the many dark elements and layers of society. It delves into how you lose bits of your personality to become the person you hope to become,” he explains.

Gulati, who was last seen in Anubhav Sinha’s Thappad (2020), received back-to-back offers — Anurag Kashyap’s next Dobaaraa, a role opposite Amitabh Bachchan in Goodbye — so much so that people doubted he would return to the web. “I am moved by the scripts and directors. When I found out Ashwiny ma’am is directing [the series], I wanted to do it. While platform and storytelling format matter, the power of content can take the world by storm.”

Shouldering a solo project is a first for the actor. His last web outing, Haq Se, an adaptation of Little Women, was with an ensemble cast. “The prep for it has been extensive — from nailing the walk, talk, and psyche. I had a month off to soak the character in. Ashwiny ma’am has a clear vision and creates personal bonds with her actors. She familiarises you with the world of the stories,” adds the actor, who has now “become good friends” with his director.

What’s the most telling sign that Pavail Gulati has climbed the ladder of success? According to the actor, it’s the fact that he has moved straight to narrations, from endless hours of auditions. His line-up of films could well be another barometer — after his breakout performance in Anubhav Sinha’s Thappad (2020), he has shot for Anurag Kashyap’s Dobaaraa. “Thappad gave me the ground to showcase my talent. I never wanted to be an overnight sensation. Jo bohot jaldi upar jaate hain, woh bohot jaldi neeche aate hain,” he begins.

The actor had worked with Kashyap on the ambitious television show, Yudh, in 2014. Seven years on, as he reunited with the filmmaker, Gulati is happy to note that the filmmaker’s set remains one of the most creatively stimulating places. “He is an instinctive director, so the prep happens entirely on set. The script was constantly being worked upon through the pandemic. I was prepping intensely for a particular sequence, and he postponed the scene’s shoot only because I had prepped for it. His set is a beautiful chaos where people might not know what they are doing, but they have the utmost conviction in him.”

He believes working with Kashyap has helped him hone his craft. “He will bring out your raw self in every shot, and you gain confidence on his set.” That the thriller has him sharing screen space with Thappad co-star Taapsee Pannu is another incentive.

If he describes Kashyap as “a film school”, his next, Goodbye has him rubbing shoulders with Amitabh Bachchan, an institution unto himself. “I chew his brains to get trivia on his past films, and he is kind enough to indulge me. The real learning happens behind the camera,” says Gulati.

In this series, which gives an insight into the struggles of actors who are perceived as ‘outsiders’, Pavail Gulati talks about what kept him going to pursue his Bollywood dreams despite many hardships
Onkar Kulkarni (BOMBAY TIMES; July 3, 2020)

It took Pavail Gulati 12 years of struggle to fulfil his dream in Bollywood — that of becoming a lead actor. Today, while he is happy with the appreciation he garnered for his performance in Thappad, he can’t forget the hard work that has gone into reaching this point in his career. Pavail tells us, “The problem is, there’s no formula to become an actor. Sometimes, I feel it is easier to become an astronaut than an actor. For the former, you know what the academic qualifications and eligibility criteria are. But, here, there are no fixed rules. I can’t follow Ayushmann Khurrana or Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s path, expecting the same amount of success. What worked for them might not work for me.”

While the actor agrees that nepotism exists, he is also of the opinion that the industry gives a fair chance to many outsiders. He elaborates, “We have so many examples of outsiders making it big in Bollywood, and insiders fading out in a short span of time. Shah Rukh Khan, Irrfan Khan and Rajkummar Rao are a few, who came from nowhere and made a name for themselves. On the other hand, there are so many industry kids who disappeared after one or two films. We can’t keep complaining! If my dad is running a business, he will pass it on to me, right? So, nepotism exists everywhere.”

Though he has always wanted to be a hero, Pavail says that over the past 12 years, he never sat idle waiting for a meaty role to come his way. “Acting was my aim, but I took up whatever came my way to earn money, make contacts and polish my skills,” he explains. He began his career by assisting a couple of casting directors, and also acted in a few ads and the TV show, Yudh, starring Amitabh Bachchan. His meeting with Anurag Kashyap became a turning point in his career. “Anurag sir saw my performance in a web show and gave me a role in a digital series he was making. Anubhav Sinha (Thappad director) saw my audition for that and asked Anurag sir about me.”

The mantra to survive in Bollywood, Pavail says, is patience! “I survived, because I have seen my parents face the same struggle to pursue their passion. For 20 years, they were in government service, and lived in a 4-BHK house with two lawns. But, one day, they gave it all up and shifted to a 1-BHK apartment, because they wanted to follow their true interests. Today, my dad is a theatre actor-director, while my mom is a radio producer. Yes, I went through depressing times, too, but my parents and friends kept me going,” he shares.

Thappad's 'bad guy' Pavail Gulati says Vidya Balan's reaction to his act is much cherished
Uma Ramasubramanian (MID-DAY; March 15, 2020)

As Taapsee Pannu's 'ideal husband' until he slaps her in a fit of rage, Thappad actor Pavail Gulati has been garnering rave reviews for his act in Anubhav Sinha's latest. "It has been overwhelming. The film has opened doors for me. I have received several scripts and that has never happened."

A call from Vidya Balan was one that particularly stayed with the actor. "I had goosebumps while talking to her. She said, 'I hate you; and I hate myself for liking you in the end'," he says of her comment that was testimony of his act.

Essaying a negative character could be tricky, but Gulati found promise in Sinha's narrative. "Vikram was a layered character. Sir wanted him to [come across] as a nice guy so that he could be related to. We wanted people to hate him, but also sympathise with him."

As for working with Pannu, Gulati, was at no point disillusioned about the fact that she would be "the face of the film". "Taapsee comes with stardom. It wasn't about who had the bigger part. We all connected with the story since it belongs to the both of us. It wasn't anti-men. It had the right balance."

Pavail Gulati says Thappad more about gender inequality than about domestic violence
Letty Mariam Abraham (MID-DAY; February 21, 2020)

Even as he is grateful that the trailer of Thappad has sparked a much-needed conversation on violence against women, Pavail Gulati insists that the film is not about domestic violence. "It is about the relationship between a man and woman, their egos and their life," informs the actor, who plays Taapsee Pannu's husband in the drama.

Through its protagonist who seeks divorce after her husband slaps her, the Anubhav Sinha film argues that casual violence has no place in society. Oddly enough, a section of netizens felt that the film had a male-bashing tone. "Initially, I thought it will be a male-bashing film. But my perspective changed after reading the script. It has perspectives of both [partners]," he says.

Mention to him that the film is being viewed as an antithesis to Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Kabir Singh, and Gulati shares that Sinha developed the story way before the Shahid Kapoor starrer. "He narrated the story to Taapsee on a flight, after which Mrunmayee Lagoo and he developed it. [Kabir Singh reflects] the [makers'] way of thinking. I can't comment on that. But Thappad is not an answer to Kabir Singh."

Pavail Gulati knows where to draw the line; justifying his actions in his first film saying his character Vikram is not a wife beater
Ankita Chaurasia (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 19, 2020)

At an age when his classmates were aspiring to become engineers and architects, Pavail Gulati announced that he wanted to be a hero. His father was a documentary filmmaker, his mom a radio producer, so Bollywood cropped up regularly in conversations. Pavail took theatre and dance classes, and an Akshay Kumar-fan, he also learnt taekwondo and went on to become a Delhi state champion, believing the big break would happen soon. But after two years of film school and a 10-year struggle, the only thing that kept him from returning to Delhi was the absence of a plan B. “I did theatre with Naseeruddin (Shah) sir and two films, which never released. I played Mr (Amitabh) Bachchan’s son in the TV series Yudh, but nobody watched it,” he confides.

The actor, who makes his debut with Thappad was on his way to London to shoot for an Anurag Kashyap short when, during a layover in Abu Dhabi, he noticed a flurry of missed calls from the maker and his manager. “Since I couldn’t return them, I assumed I was being replaced or that the film had fallen through,” he laughs. On reaching London, he learnt that he’d landed the lead in Anubhav Sinha’s next. “Anubhav sir liked my audition tape and called Anurag who gave me a sparkling recommendation.”

He plays Vikram, Taapsee Pannu’s husband who slaps her in the film and triggers off a chain reaction. Pavail found himself justifying his character’s actions even as they shot. “Vikram is not a wife-beater,” he avers, adding his “teddy bear” director and he had long debates on Vikram on a set dominated by women, who bullied him since he was a newbie, but in good humour.

Prod him on the ‘slap’ and he admits he was sweating, scared that the firebrand Taapsee, who had become his back-slapping buddy, would return the favour. “When I was in the 4th grade, a girl had slapped me hard and I had retaliated, boasting about how I’d made her cry to my mother when I returned home. She made me walk 7 kms to apologize to her. Since that day, violence was to be avoided at all costs,” he shares, adding that Taapsee hugged him after the shot and told him to chill.

But surely, he was apprehensive about playing a guy who slaps his wife in his first film? “That apprehension dissipated when I read the script. There’s a Vikram is all of us. We make mistakes and misbehave because we take relationships for granted. For instance, when our mother goes out of her way to do something for us, we think it’s her duty. It’s not. The same applies to romantic relationships,” he asserts, admitting he got a lesson in appreciating everyone when an air hostess reminded him to say “please” when he asked for water. “Since then, I use ‘please’, ‘sorry’ and ‘thank you’ generously.”

Now that he has slapped his co-star on camera, would he be okay playing a slaphappy doctor like Shahid Kapoor’s Kabir Singh? The debutant chooses his words carefully, “I’m okay with playing the character but without slaps. There has to be a reason to slap someone, and it can’t be love or passion. It’s an icky feeling to slap someone without reason,” he signs off.

Subhash K Jha (DNA; June 10, 2014)

The relatively unknown Pavail Gulati has bagged the pivotal role of Amitabh Bachchan’s son in the TV serial Yudh. Opening up on his break, Pavail says he had to go through some agonising suspense before getting the coveted part. “When the casting director Mukesh Chhabra asked me to audition, I was super-kicked. But then I heard the part had gone to another actor,” he says. However, the joyless tidings proved to be false. Says Pavail. “Later that same night I got a call saying, ‘Congrats you are Mr Bachchan’s son.’ Apparently, Anurag saw my audition and loved it.”

The gravity of the opportunity provided to the newcomer sank in much later. Pondering on the moment when he faced the camera with Big B for the first time, Pavail says, “If I have to describe the experience of playing Bachchan sir’s son in one word, it would have to be ‘awesome’. It was another world that opened to me.” It is also a very big thing for Pavail’s parents. “They have loved him since they were young. He was their hero. Now their son plays their hero’s son. It’s surreal! I am happy to make my parents proud. They couldn’t have asked for a better father for me.”