Gaurav Gera is an Indian actor and a great comedian. He made his debut as an actor in the Indian television soap ‘Life Nahin hai Laddoo’. He got name and fame by his roles in popular shows like ‘Sanskruti, Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin and The Great Indian Comedy Show’. Nowadays, his Chutki videos on Youtube are gaining much popularity and are liked by most. He was born on 23 September 1978 in Gurgaon, Haryana. He completed his studies in New Delhi. After earning a diploma in fashion and working for a while with a production house in New Delhi, he moved to Mumbai and began his career in acting with the role of Laddoo in ‘Life Nahin hai Laddoo’ (Star Plus). In 2003, he signed up for the role of the Nandu in ‘Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin’. He has also given cameo appearances in movies.
Nikita Nagwani: Who is Gaurav in real? Who are you as a person?
Gaurav Gera: I am… (Thinks) a person (Laughs :D). I am an actor and I am passionate about life. I feel I am quite unaware of things in life. But yes, am human, I love people. I get bored really easy, cannot sit in one place for long and I have a very fickle and a wandering mind. I like to eat good food. I like comfort and I am not very hard working, am lazy. I don’t feel jealous, am happy in life, I don’t stress out. And I believe god is with me.
Nikita Nagwani: Why and how did you choose comedy?
Gaurav Gera: I think comedy chose me! Before I moved to Bombay, I did theatre and everything. My first show, ‘Life nahin hai laddoo’ where I played the character Laddoo, was a comedy show but it had all the emotion and then ‘Jassi jaisi koi nahin’ happened where I played Nandu, was very popular and was broadly called comedy. So, people call me a comedian. But I never made any conscious efforts to head towards comedy.
I just do it as an actor without really thinking about comedy. But yes, when I play a part I play it to the fullest. If the script is funny then I am funny, I go according to the script. Comedy has to be spontaneous, it can’t be nasty. It has to be thought upon. We have to work to make it funny. Though, it looks casual but a thought has to be given to it like the way it should be presented and all. But I personally feel it is as easy or difficult as doing any other genre.
Nikita Nagwani: It is difficult to please people when u do comedy, has it ever happened that you find something extremely funny but your audience doesn’t?
Gaurav Gera: Yeah…That happens. Because a lot depends on people’s mood as well as in you are happy or not. When I upload the videos, there are 100 people who write: so funny, Hilarious and there are some 2-3 people who do not find it funny. So it’s the zone you are in, what state you are in, it depends on that too.
Nikita Nagwani: Have you ever made a fool out of yourself? While doing comedy.
Gaurav Gera: Yeah, I have (Laughs). Actually, it was an event in Indore. We were doing ‘Jassi jaisi koi nahin’ then. I was a new actor and was enjoying the newly got success and as we know how the channels do, suddenly they said, Go take over the stage and do a stand up comedy. And I was not prepared with anything! Yet I went on the stage did something, said something and came down running. And I was like aise thodi hota hai, there’s some preparation, script has to be thought of, we need to take care of what to say – what not to say. And since we’re on a platform any random shit is not accepted. So, I did make a fool of myself when I realised, it wasn’t funny (Chuckles).
Nikita Nagwani: What are the challenges that you have faced? The struggle that you have gone through.
Gaurav Gera: I think I am fortunate and god has been with me. I didn’t have to go through too much as in, some shows ended up and the new ones began. I haven’t faced much of hard times. Like I said, I feel I am god’s favourite child. I have been lucky in life.
Nikita Nagwani: How lucky are you and why?
Gaurav Gera: My mom said I am lucky; she made me believe I am. When I was a kid we played Tambola and she felt if the ticket was bought in my name, we used to win. So, she made it happen for me. She started telling that I am lucky and it started happening.
I believe everything in life is based on Faith. If you start believing that you’re good for nothing, you’re bad and nobody likes you, you’ll get in that zone. But if you start believing that things are happening for you then it’ll change. There’s a book called ‘The Secret’, it has that ‘Law of Attraction’ which says: ‘Make things happen’. Though, I haven’t read the book but my mom has read it and she said; unknowingly her thoughts are very similar to ‘The Secret’.
I totally believe it because I achieve what I want. When I got my first show, I clearly remember saying to god: ‘God, this is the first show you’ve given me, where I am in the lead role, and I am too young, mera dimag khisak jayega, itni success mat dena ki dimag palat jaaye mera’. And that’s exactly what happened, god gave it to me for six months, I was established and people got to know that he’s an actor and after that I didn’t enjoy success. It was after three years, in ‘Jassi jaisi koi nahin’, when I succeeded and until then I was more mature to handle it.
Three years back I saw a show in Delhi, ‘Kingdom of Dreams’. Hussain and Gauhar Khan did a show there ‘Zangoora’, I was watching that and I prayed, ‘God I want to do something like this, this is something I’ll be proud of for the rest of my life’. And you won’t believe Nikita, within 4 months, I got a call from this show and there I did a live entertainment show – Jhumroo, for three years. I came back from Delhi in 2014.
So you always have to ask God. If I ask god for something, I make it happen. If you won’t ask for it, you won’t get it. And you need to ask it right, be it world peace that you want or the good of others or anything.
I hope I am not sounding like a Mahatma (Giggles)!
Nikita Nagwani: Your chutki videos have gained a lot of attention; did you initially expect it would be this succesfull?
Gaurav Gera: Yeah…chutki videos I guess thankfully, dubsmash came out at the right time. The videos that gained popularity were: Aww+Aww and chaddhi dena. Girls these days do so much of Aww… so everybody liked it. And basically, chaddhi is just a piece of clothing, it’s like a piece of shirt. Just like we call a shirt – a shirt similarly there’s a name for other garments.
And I did not know whether they’ll be successful but I always wanted them to be successful. I started making videos 5 yrs back. So first I created Chutku and Chutki(the brother-sister) then I was doing the show ‘Kindgom of Dreams’ in Delhi, and I stopped making videos. But when I came back to Bombay, I got back to it. I have given a lot of thought upon it as to what should I make, what will be liked by people, what should be the length of the video, what should be the content. And then, God gives what I ask for, so I got it.
Nikita Nagwani: The videos look so casual. Like there was a random thought and you made it. You make it look so effortless. (Although I personally believe there’s a lot of homework and hard work behind it).
Gaurav Gera: I don’t know if people get the underlying things but there’s a thought behind it. I know that a girl wouldn’t do such a thing. May be she won’t do it because she’ll feel shy and in our country girls are not given that amount of freedom, its like guys can talk anything but a girl cannot. And I talk about things that are not shown, neither in TV nor in movies. What’s the point if I do what is already happening on TV? So, the thought was to create something which is usually unseen and you (audience) might find it silly but there lies an underlying message.
It’s about a woman saying things which a girl might not say. Chemistry with a stranger is seen, though she has nothing to do with the shopkeeper but she still flirts. If a girl would do something like this then she’d be labelled as characterless and shameless. So I want to portray in a way that if people understand the message, well and good, but if they don’t they find it funny.
I also feel that since I am a professional actor my experience of expressions always helps me. I am sure other people make good videos but because I have the experience, the skill of acting, the thought and context – I add all of it to the video along with emotions and that’s how I play on.
Nikita Nagwani: Your own favourite chutki video? One that you enjoyed making.
Gaurav Gera: There are so many…but the nonsense one, where she calls the shopkeeper so many times but he doesn’t listen and when he finally does she says ‘Watever’. So thats what happens with me as well, I call my driver 4 times until he removes earphones and then answers. And this is today’s generation, they are all about headphones, earphones and as is it said, removing earphones is the new way of paying respect.
And then there is another video, where she says ‘Jon snow is dead, Game of thrones’ and the shopkeeper replies ‘upar vala ache logo ko jaldi bula leta hai, my uncle also passed away’ and she says ‘How does that concern me, so random!’. The video will look very casual but there’s a hidden message here that we are so engrossed into fiction and TV shows that we don’t sympathize with people. Like chutki didn’t care about the shopkeeper’s uncle and she was like: what do I have to do with your uncle I will talk about what happened in the movie.
So, on analyzing you’ll find things in the video that have hidden meaning.
Nikita Nagwani: What kind of reactions have you been getting? How are people responding? Do you think you’ve touched audience’s hearts with your recent series of videos?
Gaurav Gera: I get beautiful messages, Nikita. In my inbox, Facebook, Instagram everywhere, I get messages like:
• I am self harming. I am very depressed in life. I try to harm myself every single day. Yesterday I saw all your videos back to back. God bless you. I slept well and thank you so much for being there.
• I am going through cancer therapy and I have smiled after a very long time. God bless you, stay like this.
I will call it an achievement when people will actually start feeling that chutki is real, whose beard might be visible but she’s a girl and that shopkeeper is a real person who exists, that will be my achievement as a maker of videos.
Nikita Nagwani: And what does your family has to say about it?
Gaurav Gera: My family is really proud. They know my thoughts. I don’t discriminate on the basis of religion, I am a vegetarian: I love animals. I do gardening: I love plants. I love people. My parents already know all of this. But just like people write, or they make paintings, I make videos. It’s just my way of expression. People might think there’s a team that works along with me but I do it all by myself. I shoot and edit on phone and then upload. So mom-dad are prouder.
Nikita Nagwani: What is the next big thing on your mind?
Gaurav Gera: I don’t really know. Right now I am doing two shows on TV one is ‘Hansi he Hansi…mil toh le’, which telecasts on Sab tv on Saturdays and Sundays and other one is ‘Comedy classes’ which telecasts on Life ok. And when I get some time in between I make videos. Sometimes I make videos inside the vanity van also.
And you say you’re not hard working! Who does that?
I … (thinks) do it because I like it. I like to reach out to people. And the technology attracts me because it’s instant. With the likes on video we can determine which one is liked the most. The reaction is instant.
Nikita Nagwani: An idea that changed your life?
Gaurav Gera: Long back, I did a course which was called ‘Landmark forum’, like there’s yoga, dhyana, vipasana similarly there’s a landmark forum which is not about god. It was about relations, about people. It was in 1997 when I realised, life is different. I understood that ‘Whatever you see is not the reality, and whatever is the reality, you don’t see.’ And I think, because of that I feel I am very forgiving in life I usually read comments on my videos which go from, ‘what bullshit is this’ to ‘I love this guy’, and I understand that a video might not be appealing, you might not get the idea behind it when you watch it for the first time. But that’s what I want to communicate that there are things behind which there is no motive. I am not getting anything by making people laugh but I like to do it and why can’t I be different.
But if there’s a comment which says: I hate this guy. I prefer to block that person.
Does this mean you are not open to criticism?
No, I am open to criticism in a healthy way. I have to be happy in order to make people happy. If negative things take over me, I think it’s better to block out negativity. Because I believe my videos are a happy zone and I love to be happy and make people happy.
So, how do you respond to criticism?
I don’t really respond – I ignore. I am sure everybody faces this. Even Salman Khan gets a lot of negative comments. So, I think it’s better not to respond because some people do it for attention. So never take online criticism as well as praise too seriously. I believe in what I do.
I know that the videos are weird; I am not unaware of it. For discussing wise things, Nikita there are wiser people out there. There are people who discuss politics, world welfare but they have the equipped mind for it. I work on a human level.
Nikita Nagwani: Tell us about your upbringing?
Gaurav Gera: Oh, I had a lovely childhood. I’ve never seen my parents fighting. I have seen a lot of love around. My dad has given me all the freedom. I told him I do not want to be an engineer like you or elder brother, I want to pursue fashion designing and he allowed me. After sometime I said, I don’t like fashion designing and I left the course midway. Then I said – I want to be an actor and they agreed. And now I do not have anybody to blame. I have no regrets. I feel thankful I had such liberal parents who supported me and believed in me.
Nikita Nagwani: Who are the people that inspire you?
Gaurav Gera: I like original people. I like people who do things differently be it any field. People who have faith in themselves who have strong will and desire to do things.
In actors, I like an international character, Sacha Baron Cohen. He’s done movies like Ali G, Borat, and The Dictator. I love him. He’s the kind of actor who indulges into the character so much that he doesn’t let one know that he is Sacha Baron Cohen himself.
Nikita Nagwani: What do you have that none of your competitions have? What is that one thing that sets you apart from others?
Gaurav Gera: I don’t think I am very much different from my colleagues. I am just like anybody else. But I am passionate about what I do. Thankfully I have time and knowledge of how to create videos. And I am also aware of people’s pulse. That’s where I get an edge.
Nikita Nagwani: Your personal favourite role so far, one that you have played?
Gaurav Gera: I liked Nandu (Jassi jaisi koi nahin). And in one of the shows ‘The Great Indian Comedy Show’ I played the old man, I liked that character. I use to like and feel how I would react when I will be in that age, the way I will walk and speak. I liked the thought I used to be in while playing the character. And I like the weirdness of chutki.
I like these three different characters.
Nikita Nagwani: What kind of a girl can impress you? What pleases you the most?
Gaurav Gera: I like girls who are really casual. Who don’t make simple things too complex and complex things too simple. I like happy girls not the ones who keep on criticising themselves. I also like girls who respect everyone. It is important for me to analyse how they behave with the spot boy or with the driver or the guard because with me everybody behaves their best but how do you treat people who are on a not so fortunate, is what matters to me.
Nikita Nagwani: One thing that comes to your mind when I say, (Only in one word)
Fun Everything.
Family Small and beautiful.
Friends Few.
Food Rajma-Chawal.
Comedy Fun.
Marriage Should be well thought of.
Life Beautiful.
Randomized Me 