Actor Suddharth Shaw, who is winning hearts with his recent project Do Gubbare has surely brought him to the picture with his performance. In an exclusive chat with The Pioneer, he takes us through his formative days, and working on this project.
Tejal Sinha
Moving away from home is an emotional roller coaster. A part of you is looking forward to this independence, while another part is concerned about being alone in a strange environment. Moving away from home is an adventure that brings with it the realisation of life’s truths. It also brings with it a number of worries, including loneliness, financial hardship, and failure. However, lucky are those who find a family away from their family. And that is what we get to see in Jio Cinemas recently released Do Gubaare. Directed by Varun Narvekar and written by Kalyani Pandit along with Varun, the show marks Varun’s directorial debut in the Hindi webspace. The series features Mohan Agashe, Siddharth Shaw, Malhaar Rathod, Manasi Parekh, and Hemangi Kavi.
Do Gubbare follows Rohit (played by Siddharth Shaw), a young man who moves from Indore to Pune and becomes a paid guest at Ajoba’s home. Ajoba, a grandfatherly figure who has travelled a similar route, provides Rohit with counsel and support, easing his transition into adulthood. Ajoba, who is lonely following his wife’s death, finds peace and companionship in Rohit’s company. A beautiful friendship forms between them as they negotiate their new lives together.
For Siddharth’s journey, which has been no less than a rollercoaster ride with ups and downs, believes that through this he has learned to be calm and come what may. “I feel Perseverance and Persistence are they two key Ps of being here. One has to be at it constantly trying to hone their craft at the same time being able to attract work, at the end of the day if we’re good we’ll keep getting work. I am an outsider with no sort of connection to the film fraternity, we are blessed to be actors in todays time where a process called casting exists and we can test and audition to get work on the basis of merit. I’ve been active in the theatre circuit in Mandi house in delhi, cut to Advertisements cut to my first feature Love Aaj Kal 2 cut to the pandemic with the silver lining of OTT’s Boom and here we are today.”
While he was pursuing a degree in commerce from Delhi University, while actively doing theatre and advertisements there, he found out that renowned casting director Mukesh Chabbra was going to come to Delhi. As Siddharth dropped the venue, he was asked to stay back and give a test. And what happened next, was no more than a surprise, and he says, “To our surprise we were blessed by the presence of Mr. Imtiaz Ali , I still remember he said “ We’re making a film and I hope we get to work with all of you!“ And just like that I was only 19 years old with a dream of wanting to work at the movies got my first role in a feature film. After finishing college it was too late to even look back and have second thoughts. I shifted to Bombay.”
Having been away from his family, and following his passion that has now turned into a profession, Siddharth has his own initerest towards the project. His character Rohit is the good boy of today’s times, one with good family values, ethos, and lots of love to give. Hailing from Indore, he complets his B.E, and shifts to Pune to work in the IT sector. The real reason or the person instrumental in this is Manu. His girlfriend whom he also used to go to school with. While she shifted to Pune a few years ago and wanted Rohit to come here for better prospects, Rohit is someone who hates breaking his comfort zone. Going ahead and sharing more deets, he says, “Even after taking this life-changing decision, he remains utterly nostalgic about the ‘good old days of Indore’. This often reflects in his language which slowly fades out as he begins to settle in Pune. Growing up in a secured, sheltered household, with parents and protective older brother, he has a habit of leaning onto people for the emotional support. He finds that in AJOBA, the elderly gentleman he is staying as a paying guest with, in Pune. He is caring. He is kind. He is understanding. He is most certainly not a push over. He might have the naiveness of a small town guy but one certainly can’t take him for granted.”
Through the course of the story, Rohit transforms into a young man who is ready to spread his wings and explore the new phase of his life. He matures into a caregiver and a strong support for those who were supporting him initially. We get to see a lot of similarities not only in his reel and real life but also many of us would feel relatable to the character. And so did Siddharth as well, as he says, “I feel as actors our characters have shades of us in different quantities. Here if I may talk of myself in third person(without sounding pompous) Rohit = Siddharth’s good habits * 100. The way Rohit is with Ajoba is exactly how I am with elders. Unfortunately my grandparents are no more, I lost them at a very young age. Id always seek love and affection from my friends Nanu Nani’s or dadu dadi’s.
I’m very grateful that I could play a character who is such and received all the love and guidance from Ajoba ( Dr. Mohan Aghashe). Rohit’s relationship with Aarav the young boy in the show is very similar to that of what I have with my own nephews and nieces. In fact I have a nephew/niece of every age ranging from Teenagers to toddlers. How he’s is with Radha the house help superbly played by Mrs Hamngi Kavii is exactly how I am with Sunita didi our most amazing cook in delhi, she’s been there at ours before my parents got married and is actually like a grandmother to me.”
Though he had no experience of staying in a PG, but coming from a boarding school, he definitely understood the homesickness one goes through, the feeling of being out of place, making new friends, breaking into circles and being able to fit in.
“Intact when I first shifted to Bombay, was all by myself here and didn’t really know how will I make a place for myself in this city. But as Ajoba says “naye shaher ko apna bane ke liye apne log milne chahiye” and now I can also live in Bombay forever.”
The feeling of finding a family, a person who is a family is very very difficult in a different city. In context to this project, he quotes the example of Shakespeare’s “The Seven Ages of Man” which talks about the different stages in a man’s life. Ajoba who is probably at his 6th stage has lived his life and Rohit is at the 3rd or 4th stage where his just begging his life as a young man. “In this case if someone whose lived their life can share their experiences it always adds up. Especially when one is feeling lost or confused in life, some words of wisdom from elders definitely cheer us up and put us on the right path. Having a mentor and guide like Ajoba is blessing and Aise life guide sabko mil jayen to sabki life set ho jaye,” shares the budding actor who on the work front has Chamak, a series on the Punjabi Music Industry which comes out on Sony Liv in September, where he play a gray character completely opposite of Rohit in Do Gubbare. If Rohit is Mr.Right he says, “my character in Chamak is Mr.Wrong but definitely with reasonable logic. There’s a horror feature film called “Bokshi” which is now in post-production and comes out next year.”
