Gurfateh Peerzada has been making headlines lately and for all the right reasons. The actor who rose to fame with Kiara Advani’s Guilty and Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt’s Brahmastra has taken the internet by storm with his portrayal of rebel Neeraj Valmiki in the film. Netflix Show class.
The Ashim Ahluwalia show revolves around the clash of two worlds when three middle-class students enter an elite school in Delhi. Gurfateh, who plays a Dalit man constantly fighting against casteism, talked about his role in the series and how some of his scenes are based on real-life incidents. Being an outsider, the actor also shared his opinion on nepotism.
Excerpts:
What was the reaction of your family members and close friends after the series came out?
Everyone has responded well except half of my family haven’t fully watched it. I think it is too much for them. My mother has seen parts of it. I started watching the show with my mom, but I think half an hour after the episode I told her I’d rather watch it separately in my room. It can be awkward to watch some things with the parents.
It takes time to get out of this mindset.
Yes, and I’ve done totally dark things. I think my mother was essentially only happy with Brahmastra because it was all clean. In Guilty, I had a dark character and the classes were a bit too online. So the next thing I’m doing is hopefully better and happier. This is something my mom would really appreciate and would say she is proud of me because I did something nice and clean.
How similar are Neeraj and Gurfateh?
no way. I would not say that I do not have those parts of Neeraj as I can only play something that I can relate to. If I can’t relate to the character, I wouldn’t want to play it. Not many people know this, but Neeraj’s story and the way he crafted it was based on a real life incident. This is the story of this Dalit family where the father named his children after the person he was working for, like ‘Thakur’ or the landlord of the village. Because he was an activist and a Dalit, he did not like his children to have the same name. The landlord raped the laborer’s wife and finally killed her. And he was not allowed to perform the last rites of his mother. So these two little kids and their father had to pick up the body and throw it in a manhole and then eventually, they changed places. So the anger at the injustice of the world and between the upper and lower classes comes from that. I channeled it and tried to read a lot of books and watch a lot of movies that were made back in the day about class differences.
The only thing I could relate to was their being around Delhi. I live in Delhi and study in one such school which was full of very rich kids. I was there because of my mom’s job as she was working at the school. My education was really free. I loved being in school, but hated it because I didn’t have an identity of my own. I was someone’s child there. It wasn’t like I was from a very wealthy family so obviously, I dealt with the identity crisis of being an outsider despite being in that place.
Tell us about your bond with your co-stars.
I think this is great. I was watching The White Lotus Show and when I finished it, I counted that there were about 21 main characters who all had really different arcs and stories going on. And I thought it was wonderful because when does this happen in India? When do 20-21 big actors come together to do a series and are happy with whatever they get? In the class, out of 11, eight of us were brand new and it was great to come together like that. I hope that after a few years, all these people are still okay to work with other people and new actors. I remember meeting a magazine editor recently who asked me if any of the cast felt they were stars now. Because there is still a long way to go.
The class also sees conflict between the rich and the poor, and between insiders versus outsiders. Do you think it reflects our industry to an extent?
I would say yes and no. I am an outsider, I moved to Bombay in 2014 and reached here with my family from Delhi to Punjab mail with a suitcase and little money and nothing to go back. no contact. We took it day by day, giving 5-6 auditions a day and doing commercials and TV serials. Film auditions were even less. And at that time it was not so systematic. The casting directors had just started coming. It is difficult for outsiders. The only thing that nepotism accesses you. I felt it myself. when i go to Bollywood Parties, of course, everyone is very invited and nice, but he is not familiar. It is easier for people in the industry to mingle with the crowd than it is for a person like me. But what can you do? there is no substitute. If I become a big star one day and I have kids who want to be actors, I will help them. I would tell them to learn as much as possible and be a good actor first but if you want to fight this conversation, then it doesn’t make any sense. My journey has been good except for the struggle.
Ever since I started getting work, people who liked it have messaged me and contacted me. I remember Ranbir (Kapoor) messaged me after watching Guilty and he appreciated my work. He didn’t need to do it, there was absolutely no reason. But it says a lot about him as a person that he appreciated good actors. That is what is important and that is what I would like to do. I’m an outsider and some days I hate it, some days I love it but there’s no choice.
It also depends on whether the actors are able to impress the audience or not.
This is also true. But what makes nepotism, what makes stars? People make it. In such a situation, if there is a star kid who has just brought a film, then the people who are arguing about nepotism are the ones who will go and buy tickets. This may be because they want to rub the crap on them or because they are already a fan of their parents or relatives. But they’ll see it. If they stop watching it then we can debate on nepotism. The fact is that people watch his films, so why fight with him? First film is always easy but when it comes to a long career of 10-15 years after one or two films, nepotism and outsiders don’t matter. What matters is whether you are a good actor or not.
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