Wamiqa Gabbi: Mumbai made me accept my loneliness

Theirs isnrsquot a story of love at first sight Instead itrsquos a story of two parties taking an initial dislike to each other looking past it to patiently learn about one anotherrsquos strengths and frailties and coming together to form a lasting friendship ldquoI had eyes like Aishwarya Rai Bachchanrsquos I believed that Mumbai was waiting to give me a redcarpet welcome that every filmmaker would be eager to cast me A lot of my delusions were broken by this city My parents gave birth to me and took care of me but Mumbai made me an adultrdquo smiles Wamiqa GabbiMumbai figured in Gabbirsquos plans for as long as she could remember From a tender age she had only one goalmdashto be an actor Even as she was raised in Chandigarh she tried her luck in Hindi films At 14 she made a blinkandmiss appearance in Imtiaz Alirsquos Jab We Met 2007 as Kareena Kapoor Khanrsquos cousin After two years she had a walkon role in Love Aaj Kal 2009In 2013 at the age of 19 she was emotionally ready to leave Chandigarh to actively pursue her dream of seeing herself on the big screen When she packed her suitcase to try her luck in Mumbai her father Govardhan Gabbi had only one piece of advice for her ldquoAise rehna ki raat nu neend aa jaye aur jab sheeshe vich dekho toh khud ke saath nazre mila sako Live life in such a way that you can sleep peacefully at night and face yourself in the mirrorrdquoBut Mumbai and she werenrsquot quite ready for each other What followed was a string of auditions some bit roles and staying in rented apartments Like any new girl in the city Gabbi was initially shocked to see matchboxsized flats that often housed more than one person ldquoI remember seeing a room online and finalising the deal When I got here I saw they were matchboxsized which was a stark difference from my Chandigarh house The room adjacent to mine had two girls living in one room Even when you opened the windows you couldnrsquot feel the fresh air I went to a friendrsquos place called my dad and told him that I could not stay hererdquo recounts the actorThe multiple rejections also took a toll on the actor ldquoI used to feel special in Chandigarhmdashat home in school in collegemdashbut Mumbai made me feel ordinary That is when you understand that you need to become extraordinary on this ordinary ground I canrsquot call my experiences a struggle when there are so many people who donrsquot have the same privileges that I was born with I never had to worry about where my next meal will come from But I came to do one thing act and I was unable to do that I was underconfident and started disliking myself But that was also part of my personal journeyrdquoGabbi then trained her focus on Punjabi and south films largely shuttling between Chandigarh and Hyderabad and flying to Mumbai only if a project came her way Yet something told her that Hindi films would happen eventually Sure enough Kabir Khanrsquos 83 2020 came her way and by the end of 2019 the actor shifted base to Mumbai renting a bungalow in Madh Island where she lived with her six dogs and helpThis time around Gabbi had wised up and knew that the city rewarded only those who persevered And persevere she did Between 2020 and 2022 the actor landed three big projectsmdashDisney Hotstarrsquos Grahan Netflixrsquos Mai and Amazon Prime Videorsquos Modern Love Mumbai Finally it felt like the island city was beginning to accept her ldquoIn my initial years I never felt Mumbai was my city because I never considered it as such Once I changed my views on it things got better The city taught me to be independent During my first stint my electricity supply would often get cut because I would forget to pay the bill How could I accept a city that made me feel so lonely But the most beautiful thing was that Mumbai made me accept my loneliness Thatrsquos why I fell in love with this cityrdquo she smilesThis year she broke through with her performance in Vikramaditya Motwanersquos Jubilee in which she played a rsquo50s aspiring actor who rises to the top She followed it up with Modern Love Chennai and Vishal Bhardwajrsquos short film Fursat and the recent Charlie Chopra There is a lot happening on the personal front too The actor has bought a house in Andheri and is in the process of shifting there ldquoIt is way smaller and way more expensive than my Madh houserdquo she laughs left helpless by the cityrsquos unreasonable realestate marketShe has grown up a lot in the past three years Now when she loses a film she doesnrsquot lose sleep over it instead simply moving on to her next ldquoMy dad always says lsquoJo hota hai achche ke liye hota hai Jo nahin hota hai woh aur bhi achche ke liye hota hairsquordquo And is there anything that hasnrsquot changed in these years Her awestruck reaction to Gateway of India she says ldquoEvery time I go to Gateway I cannot take my eyes off it When I go to south Mumbai or in the nooks and corners of Bandra it feels like Irsquom in the city of dreamsrdquoMumbai meri jaanLove about Mumbai That it has a mixture of good and bad people But once you find your tribe especially in the art scene itrsquos beautifulHate about Mumbai The waterlogging but I do love the rainsExpectations from Mumbai I have no grand expectations I believe it has been extremely kind to meDid Mumbai live up to it Growing up I always saw myself playing a rolein Devdas Jubilee came close to that for me So in a way yes it didWill it remain forever home I love being in Mumbai But for me home is where there is a lot of space and where I can see the sky without skyscrapers