Gunaah actor Gashmeer Mahajani: ‘I don’t have an entourage’

Even though he is miles away in Romania Gashmeer Mahajani is constantly keeping tabs on the audiencersquos response to his latest release Gunaah During the day the actor is busy shooting for Khatron Ke Khiladi 14 KKK and by night he is transported to the world of the Disney Hotstar series But then multitasking has always come easily to himmdashin his 14yearcareer he has juggled Hindi and Marathi projects It has afforded him a ringside view of the functioning of both industries In a recent chat with midday Mahajani talks about juggling the two industries the rising costs of entourage and how he goes to the set only with a spot boy in towEdited excerpts from the interviewHow has the response to Gunaah beenI am loving the audiencersquos response they are talking about it on X and Instagram People have also been sending me congratulatory messages on WhatsApp I am missing witnessing it in person because I am in Romania shooting for Khatron Ke Khiladi Usually after a show Irsquod often meet people in my buildingrsquos lift or at the gym who would approach me and talk about my showAre you watching the episodes as they are releasingYes every night I finish my shoot come back to my hotel room watch an episode and then hit the sack We have shot the first season which is streaming now I have enjoyed playing this character so much that if the makers plan another few seasons I wouldnrsquot say noSurbhi Jyoti and Mahajani in GunaahWith two shows going on how are you mentally dividing time between bothKKK is entirely dependent on luck not only on skill So I can multitask from here Even if you are the best stuntman in the world if something goes wrong at that moment of doing the stunt or luck is against you you could fail While doing such a show you have to realise that itrsquos not in your control so there is no point in stressing over itWhat is your takeaway from GunaahI usually donrsquot learn much from my characters I believe that an actor lends a lot to the character he plays unless it is a biopic With Gunaah the character is a figment of someonersquos imagination So to make it real you have to lend it bits of your personality One thing about Abhimanyu that stays with me is his goodness He is a grey character who then becomes an antihero and is on the path of revenge but every mother will pray for a son like him There is inherent goodness in him that I feel has been transferred to me Some tell me that itrsquos not good to be nice to people They say if you are too nice people will take you for a ride But I suddenly see myself being too niceHaving worked in Hindi and Marathi entertainment what is the one thing that each industry lacksIn Marathi cinema we are not preparing heroes We have content but we need a bit of heroism that can create mass appeal We have to be bigger with our imagination The breakout time is just around the corner As for Hindi cinema I think we lack work ethics and the discipline of working within a stipulated time and controlling budgets For instance if you take four days to shoot a scene that actually requires only two days you are creating a loss for producersRecently producers have highlighted that actorsrsquo entourage costs often burden their productionsI am sure that happens on a bigscale movie An actor must evaluate his value as per the revenue he can earn for his producers However this is for films that are budgeted beyond R100 crore Smaller actors also bring their entourage but they shouldnrsquot be overpriced I donrsquot have an entourage I have a boy with me I adjust my fee to incorporate his reimbursement I do my own makeup When I went for the KKK promo shoot they had asked me if my makeup and hair team was coming If they want to give me extra money I donrsquot have a problem with it but I believe in creating value for both the actor and producers You have to decide your value Say I charge you R10 then I should earn you a profit of Rs 15How has your experience on KKK been so farIt has been a different experience You know you have a retake while doing stunts in films or series But here if luck doesnrsquot favour you you are gone Even if you are the worldrsquos best stuntman you might lose