Exclusive: Gaurav Khanna: Having a co-star like Rupali lifts my performance too

Gaurav Khanna recently entered Star Plusrsquos lsquoAnupamaarsquo as Anuj Kapadia and has been receiving a lot of love from fans as the show continues to top the charts and trend over social media Gaurav plays Anupamaarsquos Rupali Ganguly former classmate and now business partnerYour recent entry in Anupamaa has created a lot of buzzhellipThat feels really nice as an actor because Irsquove been doing television for a while but the love and appreciation I received within two weeks of entering the show has been humbling I can only thank the Almighty for giving me this lovely role the response has been immenseWhat was it that attracted you to the character of AnujWhen the character was narrated by my producer Rajan Shahi I realized the character has uncanny similarities to me The way Anuj reacts to situations and potrays himself is something I do too so I was interested in playing a character so close to the real meHow was your look plannedThe creative team of the show is very supportive of my ideas Like I said I have some uncanny similarities with Anuj so I like wearing suits and that too in a certain way They were very receptive of my ideas I have modeled for suitings and shirtings in the past so I had that look in mind The glasses were a unanimous decisionWas Anupamaa a show you had already been watchingI was working on another show so I didnrsquot have the time but my family has been ardent followers My mother was extremely happy when she got to know I might be joining the show She was the one who forced me to take it up saying I suit the roleWhat is your rapport with costars like Rupali Ganguly and othersI have shot the most with Rupali Deepakji plays my caretaker and confidante on the show Both are very experienced actors and extremely supportive Rupali was already a big name since Anupamaa has been topping the charts we all know she is a fabulous actor With a costar like her it lifts my performance too because she understands my impromptu actions and expressions This has helped me to play Anuj the way Irsquom doing it and Irsquom happy people are liking the subtle nuances If I didnrsquot have wonderful costars my performance would have fallen flatAre there any roles on genres on your bucket listI have been around since 2005 and I had certain producers directors and creative teams I wanted to work with Rajan Shahi had always been on the top bracket of my list Every time I bumped into him at awards show we both wanted to work together but our dates and times never matched I was lucky things worked out this time around He is a magician and had always told me I want to use your talent in a way that the audiences havenrsquot seen you yet He was right and it shows in the audiences loveWhat is happening with your web seriesI had been shooting an OTT project since the past year and it is completed now It should be releasing anytime now I play a musician a young boy next door character Irsquom sure people will love itIs music something you are passionate about in real life as wellI had to learn for the character because I donrsquot have a musical bone in me Thatrsquos the life of an actor we get to play different livesAny plans to get into the moviesI havenrsquot really tried although most of my friends are doing films and doing well for themselves Irsquove been the guy who will take up work if Irsquom convinced about the role no matter what the platform isWho are the costars you are closest toI have a tight bunch of friends and Irsquove always maintained you donrsquot have to meet your real friends everyday whenever we meet we catch up from where we had left off Irsquom close to my friends from my first show which was Kumkum Hussain Kuwajerwala and Vivaan Bhatena Anuj Sachdev is another close friends I love hanging out with these guys