‘I am not under the pressure of EMI and bills’: Gulshan Devaiah on what drives his career choices

Gulshan Devaiah. Pics/Instagram, By Special Arrangement

Imagine going back to your childhood. That was a tempting prospect for Gulshan Devaiah, and a strong enough reason to front director Kaushal Oza's Little Thomas.

"When I read the script, I had a smile on my face. I felt my character, Desmond, is a grown-up version of Thomas. I liked understanding Kaushal's vision for the film. It's about the innocence of childhood and it took me back to my own childhood days," Devaiah told mid-day of the family dramedy that also stars Rasika Dugal and child actor Hridansh Parekh.

The actor with Rasika Dugal in ‘Little Thomas'

Anurag Kashyap has co-produced the upcoming movie that did the rounds of international film festivals over the past year. Devaiah isn't surprised by the association. After all, the filmmaker and he end up finding each other project after project. "Anurag Kashyap seems to be a ghost that doesn't get off my back," laughed the actor, before adding, "We acted together in Bad Cop [2024]. He gave me my first credit in That Girl in Yellow Boots [2010], produced Shaitan [2011], and many more. He is a constant in my life."

Anurag Kashyap

There's another constant in Devaiah's life - his hunger to have a career built on diverse stories. "I want to have an interesting career and do things not just for money. I see that people around me have ambition. When they taste success, they want to be perceived a certain way and spend enormous amounts of resources trying to build [that perception]. I don't do that. Maybe that's the right thing for me. I am not under the pressure of EMI and bills, and that gives me the freedom to choose. I had the patience to invest in myself, not be influenced by what the world thought of me, and let things happen."

Ready to roar again

Gulshan Devaiah is excited to return with the second season of ‘Dahaad', also starring Sonakshi Sinha and Vijay Varma. "I have never wanted to go back and [reprise] any character, except for Devi Lal Singh. I really wished I could be Devi Lal one more time, and that was granted," he smiled