After walking the ramp for the biggest designers in India and internationally, Gaurav Arora decided to march his way into films. Discovered by the Bhatts, Gaurav has already signed a three movie deal with the camp. Talking to Viraj Sawant about his first film, the sizzling Love Games, Gaurav Arora shares his experiences.
How did Love Games happen for you?
I have been modelling for a long time and I have been a part of all the top fashion events or fashion weeks. I have walked the ramp for Manish Malhotra, Rohit Bal, Tarun Tahiliani and even modelled abroad but I always wanted to get into films. During my graduation days, I would see many models getting into films so I always thought modelling is like a stepping stone to get into films. So while I was modelling, I started preparing myself as an actor. I kept doing acting workshops, I started doing theatre as well. I did 2 years of theatre and travelled to places and it was a great learning experience for me. Meanwhile I also met many film makers during this course of time. At one such instance, I met the entire Bhatt camp for a film but due to some reason the film didn’t workout. I got a call from them two years later and they called me over to talk about Love Games. That was the first time I met Vikram sir and we barely spoke for two minutes. Within those two minutes he decided to cast me in the lead for the film and Mukesh Sir and Mahesh sir also agreed.
What about the script of Love Games made you sign this film?
It has to be my character. When Vikram Sir narrated the story of the film to me, I got hooked on to my character. It’s got a nice graph to it. The character is that of a party animal, he is into love games, sex and drugs. In this age where social media has taken over our lives and you have around 5000 friends on Facebook and plenty of followers on Instagram, ironically, these friends aren’t available when you need them. Number of friends are going up but, at the same time, loneliness is also increasing. My character in the film does not have a family, his mother leaves him alone and his father is shown to be a busy businessman. He has too much of everything, including money and has never really struggled for anything as such. He is a loner. So out of loneliness he starts doing self harm, he starts cutting himself and then this pain actually makes him feel alive. So this guy he does not believe in love initially, and then he falls into love and then starts protecting his love. So this entire story actually got me hooked onto it.
How did you prepare for your first film and the role?
When I heard the story I was actually taken aback. Since it’s a story about love in the times of lusty relationships and swinging which happens in the society. It’s not an unusual concept, a film like this has just not been made in Hindi Cinema. So I went online to research on it and that’s when I realised that self harm and swinging is happening all over the country, not just among the upper class or metro specific, it is prevalent among the lower middle class and upper middle class also. It’s happening all over and you even have pages on Facebook on swingers. Self-harming is something that too happens in the society and I got to know of this from my own social circuit. I have a friend, who after his break up started cutting himself to get over the pain of the heart break. So I started watching documentaries, read about it online, met a lot of people and that is how I prepared myself.
The Bhatts are considered to be in a league of their own. How was your experience of working with them?
Bhatt sa’ab has made films like Arth, Saransh and Sadak, and then we have today’s films like Murder, Raaz along with Citylights, Aashique and Jism. Now we have Love Games which is ahead of all of them. They are known for making films which are different. When Murder released everyone started demeaning the film and the actors, Emraan Hashmi and Mallika Sherawat. People said that the two actors were just kissing all over in the film but the film went on to become a cult film. They are known for their bold content. They have a heart to launch new talents. My experience of working with them was mind blowing. I remember Bhatt sa’ab telling me, ‘You are the dark horse of the industry and I am putting my money on you.’ So these small things make you feel special and boost up your confidence.
Romancing on screen is considered very tough. How was your experience of filming romantic scenes on camera?
Honestly, even if I am crying in front of the camera with 40 people looking it is a difficult task. It’s not about a romantic scene or a serious scene. But all thanks to Vikram Sir and my co-stars that it went well. At the end of the day we are all actors and we are here to perform and get our job done well and that is how it is supposed to be done.
Tell us something about your two co-stars, Patralekha and Tara Alisha Berry.
Before the release of the film and after the release, all the compliments were about our chemistry in the film. It’s a different chemistry onscreen with Patralekha and a completely different one with Tara. All this has been possible because of the amazing friendship that we share with each other. Apart from work, we also go out together and hang out with each other and we have developed an amazing friendship which shows on screen as well.
