Actor Jitin Gulati in the frame. (Photo by arrangement)

Actor Jitin Gulati, known for his work across films and OTT, is now preparing for two very different projects, ‘Mahakali’ and ‘Fauzi’, after appearances in ‘Broken But Beautiful’, ‘Bambai Meri Jaan’ and ‘Maa’. From spending hours in makeup for ‘Mahakali’ to working alongside Akshaye Khanna and Prabhas, Gulati says every role comes with its own demands and requires him to find a different way into the character.

Excerpts from an exclusive interview

How do you decide when a role demands transformation and when it demands restraint?

I feel every role comes with its own set of requirements. Every role requires transformation—whether physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual. It would be very difficult to play a role strictly from where you are in your own life as an actor, because your character’s life will be very different. That transformation is determined by the script, the writers, and the director. I completely go by what is written and required by the script and for the character.

After playing such varied characters, what kind of role still manages to unsettle or surprise you?

I have been very fortunate with regard to the roles that I have got to play, but I still feel that I have a long way to go. Every role comes with its own challenges, and it has to unsettle you as an actor; otherwise, there'll be no fun in playing them. I do look forward to roles that are set in a totally different world, where the requirements of playing them require a lot of preparation, and there’s a journey to be taken to get to those roles and to that mental state. I think that is the joy of being an actor.

What did ‘Mahakali’ demand from you as an actor that your earlier roles didn’t?

I always believed that I was very patient as an actor, but ‘Mahakali’ took it to the next level. When you spend close to six to eight hours in the makeup chair, and another two sometimes to remove that makeup, it really teaches you a lot about patience. There’s one more skill that I have added, which is an immense amount of patience with regard to getting ready for a role. I think that's all credit to ‘Mahakali’.


How does sharing the screen with an actor like Akshaye Khanna change the way you approach a scene?

I wouldn’t say there’s anything that has changed, because every actor has their own process. You really can’t define a process, honestly how do we prepare and how do we deliver? That’s why it’s an art form; it’s not a science, and you really can’t peg it down to a few steps. But the one thing that I have clearly observed in him is the level of intensity he puts in his roles. It all comes from a strong believability, a strong sense of truth that he has as a person himself. In real life also, he is a person of great conviction, and that is why he’s so believable in all his roles. That’s something that I really observed and carry back with me as an actor.

In a large-scale film like ‘Fauzi’, how do you hold on to the intimacy of performance?

Many a time the scale of a film might override or take precedence over the nuance of an emotion. But all credit to our director here, Hanu Raghavapudi. He has such a fine understanding of the honesty of each and every word spoken on screen that he’s a great reality check for all of us as actors. Though it’s a large-scale film, I can assure you very well that you will find an equal amount of nuance and depth in emotion, which will really connect with the audience.

Why do you think the South Industry is growing at a rapid pace? Also, what is the biggest differentiator in the way they function?

One of the main reasons definitely is that they are making great films technically brilliant, great scripts, great narratives, and very well performed. That is one of the prime reasons that people are really flocking to see South Indian cinema. Coupled with that, credit goes to OTT, where it has really opened the doors for different languages and people are just very comfortable now watching good content from any language.

Tell us about Prabhas’s working style

If I were to describe his style in one word, it would be ‘collaborative.’ He is a producer’s actor, he’s a director’s actor, he’s a co-actor’s actor, and he’s a technician’s actor. In one word, he’s really a joy to work with for anybody on the set.

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